Exhaust Help! need advice on how to bend a exhaust without many or any tools?

[fetor56]

$26 doesn't sound like it's on special but nevermind....read my thread in how i suggest it's done.
Also for your own peace of mind(before u buy anything) ring a few exhaust places & get a price...ya never know,someone might say bring it in & we'll do it for nothing.

 

[tskrem]

ah. lets hope so. yeah it was 24 bucks

 

[bubbatgs]

Old school trick!

I like to use the old school trick! Fill the pipe with sand and lay it on a bench top. Using C-clamps you can bend to the desired position without deforming the pipe!

 

[Huntington]

Any mechanic shop will have a torch and vise. I bet they wouldn't charge much to bend it for you. I would say about $20. Its easy enough to do yourself, if you wanted to spend the money on tools. Personally, I would buy the tools and do it myself. Part of motorbiking is building and your only as good a builder as the tools you own. I dont know if you have a harbor freight around you but its a super cheap place to buy super cheap tools. You can get a small vise and torch for around $25-$30.

To do it, first plain your attack. Know where your going to bend. Sometimes you might need to expand the angle or twist. Place your pipe in the vise, the spot your going to bend should be about 1/2 from the vise jaws. Heat with all you got, if you can get the pipe red hot it will be easier to bend. I use a scrap piece of metal rod, stick it in the pipe to use as leverage. Bend slow and reheat as needed. your pipe will be all black and dirty but thats okay. clean that thing up with some sand paper or steel wool and paint with high temp engine paint found at any auto store. The end result will be, hopefully, a perfect fitting pipe with a better then factory paint job.

I would also recommend at least a 6 pack of cold beer, 12 pack for the more experienced mechanics.

(Or just take that 6 pack to the mechanic and offer a trade)

 

[tskrem]

lol thanks.. i just bent it in my uncles vise, working fine.

 

[Rab Ari Kohain]

Fill it with sand and you can probably cold bend it. That is if you only need a little more clearance. Sand packed into the pipe will keep it from flatening at the bend point.

 

[V 35]

Electricians use a tool, called a Hicky to bend conduit. The trick is, bend, don't kink.
It takes more than propane to heat metal soft enough to bend the way your thinking.
Propane torches are used in sheet metal work to soften [ aneal ] metal prior to
working it, the plan is .. not red hot ... very warm, slow cooling.

A nifty bender can be made out of old pulleys bolted down to a sturdy bench.
Some fill tube with sand, to retard kinking. Hammer out kinks as they happen, don't let them grow !

 

[HeadSmess]

theres two replies mentioning sand bending.

a great option, if your starting from scratch and have a few inches excess either end to seal the pipe, and compress the sand.

then you need heat.

anyways. i have no tools. ok, i have some. but i have a knack of being able to find a skewball use for something as ordinary as a door jamb.... they do make fairly decent vices...

yes, violence always wins

so, basically...try some clamping and pressure... then maybe heat, and if it is a really huge bend job...plumbers have oxy sets... welders...in fact, its surprising just how common they are when you start looking...and beer is a mighty powerful persuader

 

[AussieSteve]

Pretty hard to beat the local muffler shop. They did a great job on my stock pipe, grinding the weld off the flange then re-welding and refused to take any money.
Yes, HeadSmess, beer is a wonderful persuader, even after the fact. I took him a dozen stubbies of my home brew in gratitude.
Guess where I'm taking my expansion chamber for the bending and welding?

 

[TucsonDIrect]

if you are going to bend the pipe heat it cherry red and bend it slowly