Date:         Tue, 15 Jun 2004 23:20:26 -0600
Reply-To:     Gnarlodious <gnarlodious@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Gnarlodious <gnarlodious@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: whats the book time for installing a new exhaust OR...
In-Reply-To:  <1c4.1a7a9b2a.2e010848@wmconnect.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Entity Gary Goldey spoke thus:

> I am about to purchase a new exhaust for the 1984 Vanagon named "Squeaky" and
> I was trying to figure out the book time to remove and reinstall a whole new
> exhaust.
>
> OR should I be toting all of my parts down to Midas or Meineke or to Joe
> Mufflerhead. I should know this but I am not too proud to ask for advice.

I will tell you, doing an exhaust yourself will make for a much better job.

The Vanagon's muffler is critically positioned with rubber mounts and
muffler shops don't understand the dynamics involved. They may take
shortcuts forcing the muffler to be bolted down under tension which will
surely cause antiresonance and premature breakage of the mounts.

Ideally the system must be "floating" when tightened down, that is, it
should be subject to no external forces. This is hard to do and may require
a few disassemblies with appropriate spacers and niggling. Your average chop
chop can't do it right, resorting to welders, prybars and hammers.

The VW exhaust system is like a musical instrument, when installed properly
it will have a charming ring to it. That's your reward for a job well done.

-- Gnarlie