Topic: Welding old Honda exhausts, is it possible?

[Hush]

With chromed original Honda exhausts, is it possible to weld/repair cracks/rust holes etc.
I remember having some old pipes gas welded years ago, are Honda pipes too thin?

[fuzzybutt]

i would think that by the time theyre rusting through the metal has gotten too thin to weld on. brazing is possible i suppose but again, if the metal has gotten too thin, there wouldnt be a whole lot of point to it. my $.02

[greenjeans]

I just tried repairing some of the small holes on my pipes with some muffler repair
epoxy of some sort I picked up at the local O'Reillys auto supply.  It's pre-mixed and
goes on with about the consistency of bondo.....bit thicker than a normal epoxy.  It's
almost like a paste.  It dries over night and cures gradually with the heat from the pipes.
I've take a few short rides and so far it seems to work.  Came in a reddish orange can
a bit bigger that a shoe polish can....7 bucks.  worth a shot,

[Gregorymoto]

Yes you can but it depends on how big the hole is, and how much of the thickness of the pipe is metal and how much is rust.

O it will also fuk up the chrome and you will need to seal the weld to keep it from rusting. if you have a TIG or MIG let me know and i'll tell you how i do it.

[troppo]

If you have access to a tig or mig its easily possible as Gregorymoto said..
the standard of the weld would depend on your level of experience and what you have at hand. Your finish would definately not be chrrome and prone to rust so some sort of high temp paint would be called for.
Cheers
Troppo

[Hush]

Cheers guys, will come back to this thread when I finally lay hands on some pipes.

[ChrisR]

I'd interested to hear the best way to go about doing the repairs, gregorymoto. I've a mig welder with a limited range of settings. Would I need to grind away the chrome or will the mig weld through it ok?
I'd like to get my old set of pipes functioning again if possible as it seems a shame to junk them if they can be repaired. A new set from DSS is getting on for £400 once you include postage etc and while it's great that you can even get a new set at all it's still a lot of money.
cheers Chris

[Honda!]

I just tried repairing some of the small holes on my pipes with some muffler repair
epoxy of some sort I picked up at the local O'Reillys auto supply.  It's pre-mixed and
goes on with about the consistency of bondo.....bit thicker than a normal epoxy.  It's
almost like a paste.  It dries over night and cures gradually with the heat from the pipes.
I've take a few short rides and so far it seems to work.  Came in a reddish orange can
a bit bigger that a shoe polish can....7 bucks.  worth a shot,

I tried this on my CL-350 mufflers, and it worked for a little while, but it doesn't stick to chrome well.  If removed the chrome first, and then used the putty, then it would probably stay.  Otherwise, welding is the only way to go, IMHO.

[roysohc]

I TIG welded my mufflers and believe me, at some places they where really thin.
When you start welding at the rusted and thin parts, you will burn one hole next to the other. Just keep burning those holes just until material gets thick enough to weld.
Then bend some (1mm) stainless steel plate and size it so it covers 1/2 diameter (then you can weld it at the place where both halves off the exhausts join.) Make the plates long enough so you don't have to weld 1 plate next to another.
Also, use stainless wire to weld with.(this extracts impurities from weldspot and works much easier)
You can polish the stainless steel. it will look chromed.
Those mufflers you see on my profilepicture are welded on several places.
It takes some time and patience, but saved me more then 700 euro.

good luck

Roy

[greenjeans]

I just tried repairing some of the small holes on my pipes with some muffler repair
epoxy of some sort I picked up at the local O'Reillys auto supply.  It's pre-mixed and
goes on with about the consistency of bondo.....bit thicker than a normal epoxy.  It's
almost like a paste.  It dries over night and cures gradually with the heat from the pipes.
I've take a few short rides and so far it seems to work.  Came in a reddish orange can
a bit bigger that a shoe polish can....7 bucks.  worth a shot,

I tried this on my CL-350 mufflers, and it worked for a little while, but it doesn't stick to chrome well.  If removed the chrome first, and then used the putty, then it would probably stay.  Otherwise, welding is the only way to go, IMHO.

Nah.....I agree, welding would be the way to go, but my lack of patience combined with the memorial day holiday & lack of a tig lead me to try the cheap fix.....maybe it will hold for the summer, maybe not.

[BobbyR]

I TIG welded my mufflers and believe me, at some places they where really thin.
When you start welding at the rusted and thin parts, you will burn one hole next to the other. Just keep burning those holes just until material gets thick enough to weld.
Then bend some (1mm) stainless steel plate and size it so it covers 1/2 diameter (then you can weld it at the place where both halves off the exhausts join.) Make the plates long enough so you don't have to weld 1 plate next to another.
Also, use stainless wire to weld with.(this extracts impurities from weldspot and works much easier)
You can polish the stainless steel. it will look chromed.
Those mufflers you see on my profilepicture are welded on several places.
It takes some time and patience, but saved me more then 700 euro.

good luck

Roy

Roy can you provide a larger picture of your avatar so we can see the result.

[Jim F]

I can try to laser weld them if you want to send me a pipe we can give it a try
search for laser welding in the search box and you can see some of my work
call me at 770-367-7320 if your interested
Jim

[Donzon]

Had a bunch of rust holes in mine and they brazed up just fine.  Also had a dent in the header, so I cut it out and tigged in a new piece.  Looked strange but once everything was ground down and sprayed with header paint it's been fine. 

Don

[crazypj]

I used to gas weld them all the time. even made 'new' systems by the time everything was welded.
 Either try the exhaust paste ( which does the job but looks awful) or just get new silencers from wherever is cheapest this week (unless you like welding rust?)
 When I was younger I thought the 'challenge' of fixing it was cool, now I know better
PJ

[mrbreeze]

The guy I sold my 77 Kawi LTD1000 to brazed a patch to a Kerker 4to 1 muffler where the kick starter rubbed a hole into it. I would have to say that it depends on the condition of the metal and your proficiency as a welder/metalurgist.