I received my exhaust back from Lewis Welding.

More supplies!  Dynafile sanding belts from McMaster.

A fresh supply of 22ga brushed stainless steel.  Next project: Continue with my heat shield.  I have actually already started this, but I'm too tired to copy the photobucket links and write captions tonight. 

I finished tacking up the exhaust and delivered it to Bill Lewis for final welding.

Check out this fixture he made for a header he's working on for another customer!

Earlier this weekend I smashed the cable in my SK hose clamp pliers.  Replacement cables are no longer available, but I figured I could make one.

This is the factory ferrule that was clamped to the cable.  I figured I could duplicate this on my lathe and crimp it to a new cable.

New piece turned, installed, and crimped onto $2.34 worth of 1/16" steel braided cable.

Back in action!

New tools!  This picture contains the highest quality tool and lowest quality tool I have ever purchased.  I bought the O2 sensor socket from Advance... it got the job done, but it's the ugliest piece I've ever seen!

I have been looking for a good deal on a Dynafile for a few months, and I scored this new-old-stock Dynabrade Dynafile II on eBay. Occasionally I will buy a tool and wonder how I ever lived without it, and this is quickly becoming one of them.  I've borrowed a friend's import version a few times, but everything works so much better on the Dynabrade.  It makes finishing welds so easy, it's like I'm cheating!

I wasn't happy with the muffler mounts I made last week, so I re-made them from a piece of 3/16" thick solid 304 stainless steel.

I don't have a mill... but I have a lathe!

After some finishing work:

Here is a closer view of the old mounts, which shows why I wasn't too happy with them.  Not only were my tack welds and gaps unacceptable, but I decided that the material I used (22ga stainless) was a little too thin for the stresses this hanger will see.

Much better.

The rest of the exhaust is creeping rearward.  I started cutting and fitting the bent and straight sections.  I have been saying this for 3 months now... but I might actually be able to weld the exhaust this weekend!

I'm still working on my exhaust.  I got the front half all fitted and tacked together. 

Friday night I went to visit my buddies Dave and Ian at their shop.  There were a few sweet vans in their shop!

We got a fire going; it was so cold in Pittsburgh this weekend.

I made muffler hangers for the Vibrant muffler I'm using.

This is really a terrible picture.  I think my photography skills are getting worse.  If you use your imagination, you can see that this is a folded up piece of 22ga stainless with one TIG fusion welded seam.

I'm happy with the design of this hanger, but I butchered it trying to tack weld it to the muffler.  I might redo this one.

I'm still working on the exhaust. 

I tacked up a V-band flange that will connect the two sections of the exhaust.  I'm starting to get a little more confident tack welding with the TIG.

Here is the joint and hanger all tacked up.  This is just below the rear seat.

I fabbed up a few more fixtures to hold the catalytic converter in place while I fit the tubing around it.

Fixtures everywhere!

I made a few temporary exhaust brackets to hold everything up while I'm working on a new exhaust.  It's hard to hold everything while fitting and welding the pieces, so these are like temporary hands. 

I spent this weekend making a new exhaust hanger.  The factory piece was bent, I think it happened while the shell was being media blasted.

I bent up a section of 3/4" x .065" wall DOM steel tubing.

Then I tack welded it to a piece of scrap steel so I could hold it in my lathe at various positions.  This will all make sense in a minute.

Center drilled:

1/2" dilled through one wall.

Hole sawed through the center:

Nice tight fit!

After I had the center piece TIG welded, I cut it off of my jig and tapped in two steel caps.

After a few more welds and some grinding, this is the result!  The rubber hangers will hook onto the stainless steel piece I made a few weeks ago, which will be welded to the exhaust tubing.

I also whipped up a snow mobile stand this weekend.  There was an engine stand and a snow mobile in my way... so I combined the two and moved them out of my way!

Some scrap aluminum plate and old VW suspension bolts:

It even cradles the track so I can wheel it around the shop while the suspension is removed!