Exhaust slip joint not tight

[rmfreeze]

I've got a slip joint at the header collector and the exhaust pipe just won't tighten up on it. The exhaust pipe goes over the header collector fairly easily - it isn't tight. I would say it's snug - not sloppy. The kit came with a band clamp and as I tightened it I had my doubts about the allen head bolt on the clamp. Sure enough - the allen stripped out well before the pipe was tight. I just don't have luck with allen head bolts in tight situations - the allen strips out too easily. So I changed the bolt out - it was a 6x1.0mm and I just happened to have one with a standard hex head. I could get lots of leverage on it and got the clamp as tight as it's going to get but the pipe is still loose. I can pull it off by hand. So I then tried a standard exhaust clamp and it was a little tighter than the band clamp but still not tight - I could pull the pipe off. I tried using an impact on those nuts and ended up breaking the u-bolt.

I'm refraining from welding this because I want to be able to take the exhaust pipes off without cutting them off. I thought about making a thin cut in the exhaust bell to let it compress easier on the collector. Any hints?

 

[bronco italiano]

what brand setup do you have?. BI

 

[rmfreeze]

BC's flangeless headers

 

[Cactus killer]

If you cut the slip pipe in an X about 1/2" down the clamp will squees the pipe.

 

[rmfreeze]

Are you saying to cut an "x" into the bell about 1/2" down the bell?

 

[Cactus killer]

Yes on the pipe about the thickness of the band clamp, You shouldn't have to crank it down to much. You don't want to weld it that is for sure.

 

[rmfreeze]

No, I wasn't going to weld it. I thought about making a slice in the bell about 3/4 of the length of the bell to let the metal come together but the "x" sounds better - less risk of a leak I think. I'll give this a shot. Thanks.

 

[bronco italiano]

We should ask Cuck at BC to ring in on this idea. My thought was it was a easy deal. If Chuck thought we would need to cut an "x" I think he would have sent it to us that way. BI

 

[70EB]

I had the same problem. BCB Flangeless headers and his exhaust kit. Kit does not fit at all. Had to get the ends opened up to fit over the collector ends. Still does not fit right ( hits frame, crossmember, etc) and I probably have to have an exhaust shop fix it.

I used these SS band clamps from Dynomax (Summit Part # WLK-33226) and after wrenching them down with an impact gun, finally stopped leaking.

Any one looking at the BCB headers, I would recommend the ones with flanges.

BCB has some great products and the headers are very high quality, just have a sealing issue with flangeless.

 

[rmfreeze]

70EB, I bought some of those from Summit after failing to get the kit installed last weekend. Did you get them to work at the header? They header collector seems to be bigger than the standard 2.5" lap joint and it also flares out quickly on the header side because of the individual tubes. I bought some of those and some others from Borla that are more "moldable" and don't have the lap joint seam. The Borla's look like butt joint connectors but are more pliable. I cranked those on there but they didn't do any better than the band clamp or the standard exhaust clamp. I didn't hit them with an impact, though.

Since you brought up the overall kit, I'll say the headers are a nice fit. I had intended to go to the fenderwell but that didn't work like I wanted so I bought Chuck's kit. After fighting this flangeless fit, I would agree that a flanged collector would be better. I even thought about pulling these off and welding on a ball and socket. As for the rest of the kit, I didn't have any trouble with the other slip joints fitting. When the first pipe didn't go on the collector easy (read - needed to hammer it on), I looked at all the flared ends and they had the metal squeezed in where the machine cut it. I ran a file around all those ends and they go on and off easily now. My first passenger pipe is too short. I assumed it was because I have a 351 in there and with the block 1.3" taller the pipe stops 1.3" higher but Chuck assured me they work with both 302 and 351 blocks. Anyway, I cut and lengthened that pipe by 1.5" to get it right under the cross member. It almost fit right above the cross member and with a 2" BL I guess I could have done that. The driver's side pipe hit right at my atlas so I had to shorten it and have it now going right under the cross member. So now my end pipes aren't together and I've got to fabricate a pipe to bring the driver's side even with the passenger side at the muffler.

I just assumed this was par for my luck.

 

[Cactus killer]

Their instruction guy has not finished the instructions yet and it will include cuting the X in the pipe but you are right the X should be in the pipe when you get it. I am sure it will from now on to avoid any problems.

 

[ponch0v]

did you get the instructions with the kit?

http://bcbroncos.com/exhaust.pdf

 

[70EB]

did you get the instructions with the kit?

http://bcbroncos.com/exhaust.pdf

Nope.

 

[rmfreeze]

did you get the instructions with the kit?

http://bcbroncos.com/exhaust.pdf

I just double checked the boxes to make sure but no I didn't get them either. The pipes seemed self explanatory to me so I didn't think much of it until I had trouble getting the pipe to actually tighten. I checked the site and I swear I couldn't get the PDF to download the first time I tried but I can now. Anyway, I figured cutting the pipe would work just wanted to check with others.

I tried cutting the "x" on one side and it didn't tighten up much tighter than before. I cut down from the end of the pipe to the "x" and then 180 degrees around from the "X" I cut about a slice about 3/4" long and that helped a lot but I can get some slight movement when I attach another piece of pipe onto the end so I'll probably pull it off and make 4 total notches in the pipe.

I still like the lap-joint band clamps better than the supplied clamps.

 

[chuck]

I missed this post until someone yesterday told me about it and I looked it up. To everyone, if you have a problem with my products please call me. I even have a toll free number. The head pipes have been cut for a while now but if you use your own pipe you will need to cut them and the instructions should be in the box and are on line. This is the same cut that was in all exhaust in the old days. It allows the end of the pipe to calapase so it will tighten on the header. If you use a regular exhaust clamp it will be very hard to get it apart later and will damage the header.