mk3
Veteran Member
At 6 yrs and 150k miles in WI I found that the hanger bracket on my rear exhaust pipe had completely rusted through and broken off. The rear pipe will not come out of the car without being cut into two pieces (I'm mostly sure) so I needed a way to fix this in my garage without a welder.
This is what I came up with.
parts:
2 X 2" muffler clamps. These will just fit over the 55mm OD factory pipe
2 X 3/8" U-bolts. I got these at the hardware store
1 - 3" x 6" x 3/16" piece of steel. I got a 12" section from McMaster-Carr and cut it myself.
Tools:
- Rotozip with cutting tool or any tool of your liking to remove the cross-shaft from the broken hanger.
- Drill Press or hand drill if you are really comfortable with one - and very careful.
The fabrication involves only drilling 8 holes for the 4 clamps. The holes are really close to the edge of the 3" steel so you have to be careful to get the bolt pattern centered to avoid the holes ripping out the side.
I had a 12" section of tube available so that is simulating the exhaust pipe in these pictures - it is not part of the repair.
I think anyone needing this repair would be able to figure out what I've done from the pictures. I took the large sheet metal sub-frame off the body of the car - this was pretty easy to do.
This is what I came up with.
parts:
2 X 2" muffler clamps. These will just fit over the 55mm OD factory pipe
2 X 3/8" U-bolts. I got these at the hardware store
1 - 3" x 6" x 3/16" piece of steel. I got a 12" section from McMaster-Carr and cut it myself.
Tools:
- Rotozip with cutting tool or any tool of your liking to remove the cross-shaft from the broken hanger.
- Drill Press or hand drill if you are really comfortable with one - and very careful.
The fabrication involves only drilling 8 holes for the 4 clamps. The holes are really close to the edge of the 3" steel so you have to be careful to get the bolt pattern centered to avoid the holes ripping out the side.
I had a 12" section of tube available so that is simulating the exhaust pipe in these pictures - it is not part of the repair.
I think anyone needing this repair would be able to figure out what I've done from the pictures. I took the large sheet metal sub-frame off the body of the car - this was pretty easy to do.