i just called 10+ exhaust shops in the area.. not a single one can do mandral bending...

well actaully, one of them could, but not 3"

i called the shop back up from a little rinkadink town back home where i had my mandral done for the 95...

they can do it... 3" and all... thank god for small towns

she quoted me $12 for the 3ft of pipe with bends.. not bad!

then i asked about the installation, she suggested clamping.. i said welding... she said call back later when her husband is in...

my question... would i even want to think about clamping this?

doesnt the pipe have to have a special fitting on the manifold end and what not?

As far as I know, the exhaust always clamps to the manifold/header. The pipes are intended to be replaced, but in theory manifols should last the life of the car/engine. Wouldn't make much sense to weld them together....

From the manifold back, though, you definitely want it welded

ok maybe i said that wrong...

should there be a peice welded to the top of the downpipe to bolt to the manifold

welds after that make sense

I've heard that you want to clamp everything, because of vibration and movement of the exhaust pipes and stuff putting undue stress on the manifolds/headers. Granted, the old hot rodder who told me this was pushin 600 horse with a wild cam, so the engine moved around a LOT! Maybe with the bonne'* you can weld it, but I had mine all clamped. No problems yet!

Oh boy...lol

Andrew..the pipe to manifold has a flare and a piece that slips on and can spin etc for mounting. The other end would typically have a flange welded on it to bolt to the flange on that catalytic.

thanks bill... i can visualize that now...

the exhaust guy should know what to do with that flare...

does this car have the same donut gasket as my 95 did?

Am I right about what I said?

*^$%*(^*)!~!!!!!!!!

called the shop back tonight...

apparently.. the wife did not know what mandral bending is... he cant do it either.. WTF...

i know a bunch of u have done it... how did u do it???

what is so different about the W body ones