Updating the Super Street Mopar

[ckessel]

Been working at the behind muffler section over the last couple of days. I cut the over axle section from the rest of the pipe to make it easier to work with. From there I cut it into two sections. I trimmed the former into muffler portion down 3" to help pull it forward and better fit the v-band flange. I tacked it to the flange and put it into place to see how it would do. It looked ok but I had an idea to try the other portion as the bend is greater. That worked out better. I trimmed it down some, cut the tack welds on the first portion, then held the two together to visualize. That will get be past the frame, have room over the diff, more space for the tank, more space for the shocks. Tacked those two together and this is the result. I think it's going to be fine. I had an idea originally about using oval tubing in areas but as I'm counting pennies I experimented on a remnant piece. Squeezed it down in my vise. Same dimensions as what I could buy. I'm thinking I might be able to get creative on the rest of the tailpipe. Squeeze it down in the tire area then keep the round the rest of the way out, cut and reclock some. We'll see.

 

[ckessel]

So I thought my routing solution was going to work. I sat back, looked at it and realized, close but no cigar. The pipe running under the rail would interfere with the caliper and hose plus some other stuff. My current thinking is to cut through the rails and put a pass through sleeve in[ welded to the rails of course]. I tossed around a few iterations with either over or just round. I looked to see what I might be able to use with a large enough id for the pipe to get through but small enough od to fit into the space available on the rail. Looked at some different possibilities but nada. Then I thought about driveshaft tubing. Turns out a 3.5" od tube will just barely fit the rail, by what I'm measuring, plus the pipe can get through. A driveline shop not too far away has a remnant I'll pick up to see if it might fly. I do already have a 3.5" holesaw in my arsenal. Today I put the car back in the air to visualize, mock up with templates I made etc and see how it might work. I'll need to get 3 180's, 2 90's and a pair of 45's. The 180 will hook onto a short 90 off the muffler to go over the diff, get trimmed down just as it crests, have a 180 split in the U to give me a sharp 90, go through the sleeve, come outside of the rail with an immediate 90, come down a little to the 45, then head back along the rail towards the bumper. I wanted to get an idea of where the tire/wheel will be in that area so I made a cardboard template and marked the inner well with a white crayon to show the tire arch. Behind the diff tube the well comes out some, it's not flat since I just widened the stock one. I mocked up the dimension of oval tubing along the rail in that area with some lumber. Checked that to the well. Looks like I can pull that off if I oval the pipe after it comes through the sleeve and let to go back to round after the wheel well. I need to make some sort of slip sleeve joint on the inside of the rail so I can assemble/dissassemble that unit when needed. At least thats what I thought of today. I spent some time earlier pulling weeds at here at home while I was thinking up solutions. Whenever I start brain farting, I stop for the day. Usually mid afternoon. I'll toss things around throughout the night while watching the tube, taking a shower, plus surfing. Who knows, I may change my mind again the next time I look at it.