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Restoring mufflers, part 2

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bridgeman11:
Another problem in restoring your mufflers is how to deal with dents. If the dents are shallow with no stretching of the metal, you might be able to get them out using air pressure on the inside while you heat the area of the dent from the outside. This will require a fixture, like the one in the attached photos, and an oxygen/acetylene torch to get the metal red hot. You'll need a couple of rubber laboratory plugs to plug both ends of the muffler. One plug needs a hole for a tube to admit the air pressure (lab plugs can be bought with proper holes). Looking at the photos, you can see the inlet tube and regulator setup going into one end of the muffler. Flare the tube end inside the plug to keep it in place. I used 80 psi inside the muffler. Notice how the wooden fixture is sized to hold the plugs in place when pressure is applied. Don't underestimate the force wanting to push these plugs out of the muffler when under pressure. The fixture must be sturdy and you'll want to force the muffler in place between the fixture uprights with some shims to really push those plugs in there. Strap the muffler to the fixture. Definitely wear eye and face protection when doing this. Once you've got the muffler in the fixture and air pressure inside. start heating the dent with your torch. Go slow and bring the area of the dent to a dull red. It's hard to see the movement of the metal when it's red hot, so you may want to stop and start a few times to get what you want. Don't go too far, too fast because it's even harder to get the metal back down if you end up with a bump where your dent used to be! Of course, your muffler must be cleaned of all combustible oiliness before this process. It's a lot of work but sometimes you have no choice. We're all here for a good challenge, right? Good luck and be careful.

Richard Clark BS parts:
Gary

Great article. I will be trying your outline for muffler repair, as I have never tried it.  Will definitely use face protection.

Will start on building my holding fixture this weekend.


Questions? or need Bridgestone parts? call:

Richard Clark
812-944-1643  8am-6pm EST Weekdays

moonpup:
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! ..... haha

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