Bending a PaceSetter exhaust to make it fit? Or: went EMPI.

[hurst_dave]

Just as the subject asks; has anyone had to "alter" their PaceSetter in order to get it to fit? Mine arrived and it looks like the flanges are about 1" too close and one flange may need to be rotated slightly.

See here:

I have it reversed against the OEM exhaust in this pic. The left end is mated properly to the triangle flange but notice where the right end lands. Not only is it bent inward an inch, but it's also below the level of the alternate flange.

Up close of left end; notice that I've run out of room for adjusting the angle in the bolt slots:

Up close of right end misalignment:

I've contacted gowestyautoparts.com about the issue but their return policy is strict and I'm afraid they're going to say "you signed for it, it's yours!" and PaceSetter's return policy for warranty repairs has me paying shipping to them (not likely cheap for such a big box) and then trusting that they will properly fix the problem.

Should a local muffler/machine shop be able to take care of this? They will likely have to remove one of the flanges or twist a pipe in order to fix the alignment issue, as well as bend the pipes farther apart.

Any thoughts?
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1978 Deluxe Campmobile Westy, 2.0L w/ FI.
Don't believe everything you think.

[Krautski]

I'd make a plywood template of the one that fits and go to a small time muffler or metalworking shop, and see what they say. more likely to get a fix from a small shop than the chains.

Probably easiest to cut off one of the pipes and weld in a section to push the flange out to where it needs to be. Otherwise your angles will be different and most likely give you sealing problems.
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[borninabus]

[VDubTech]

I'd be fitting it to the heater boxes, not trying to line it up with the old exhaust that came off the Bus. How it lines up with what's on the Bus is important, not how it lines up with something that came off.
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[hurst_dave]

[busdaddy]

When you sit the flanges flat on a flat surface (table, straightedge) are they both flat? or is one tweeked inwards like the muff got tossed off the UPS loading dock onto it's end?
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[regis101]

C'mon. Somebody say it. Cheap crappy after market shizat. Been there. Done that. Return it.

You should use the OE crossover with the J-Tube. Ixna the CAT and stock muffler. Purchase the CAT eliminator pipe, maybe $20 in the classifieds, and adapt the single quiet muffler or a glass pack until the dilemma gets straightened out.
Just my opinion.
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[SGKent]

use a tape measure to measure it correctly and if it doesn't fit send it back. Flipping it over like you did changes all the angles.
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[hurst_dave]

[SGKent]

[boxxcar]

a while ago now the Pacesetter was one of the first things I bought for a 75 Westy I've been working on. I came upon fit issues also. =-( A cut to the Pacesetter, a FLAPs repair coupling and some welding got it working. I'm not thrilled with the Pacesetter exhaust sound but it wasn't an issue NOTEworthy enough to change out for me. The Pacesetter seems to be very bullet proof corrosion wise though.

These 75 year heater boxes and "afterburner" tubes.... did they go this route to get tuned length out of the exh. plumbing? Is it a decent setup performance wise with the pacesetter?

does the dual 74 year heater box exhaust better/figuring an empi or some such header/collector/muffler doing the out-tro duties?

Eric
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[fusername]

well if I may add my own note. I have the bugpack exhaust, the two piece w/ a bolt on mufffler, and fit was pretty horrendus, and the thing sit about 1 inch off the ground. exhasut is junk these days. I would make sure go westy sends you a new one, although there is a decent chance it will fit just as bad. then the welder simply must come out, wether you do it or the muffler shop.

now if you could convince go westy to pay for this, or pace setter, as they should but wont, that would be best.

if pacesetter is rust resistant, stick w/ it. my empi is lasting less than a year it looks.
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[SGKent]

they added afterburners to allow the mixture longer to burn in the exhaust system before hitting the heat exchangers which cool the gasses. They truly are afterburners. It lowers smog the car produces.
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[busdaddy]

But that pipe sticking out of that muff isn't for the afterburner system, it supplies the EGR system, recitculated exhaust gas lowers temperatures in the combution chamber reducing oxides of nitrogen.
The afterburner system injects air at each individual exhaust port in the head.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
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[germansupplyscott]

[hurst_dave]

Mike at GoWesty said they'd take back the PaceSetter (but I may have to pay for the return shipping--ouch!), though they normally wouldn't since it was purchased through their parts-only website. The emails exchanged were very friendly so that was a good experience with GoWesty at least.

As it stands now I think I am going to stick with my stock setup until I can find/afford the 72-74 heat exchangers and a thunderbird exhaust. I don't think I could bring myself to order another PaceSetter, unless I could find it locally and was able to measure it before taking it home... shipping that giant box back and forth would be ridiculous.
_________________
1978 Deluxe Campmobile Westy, 2.0L w/ FI.
Don't believe everything you think.

[regis101]

They know it's a POS. And at least three of us know also

I got burned with return shipping also. Vendors, geesh

As for the stock system. try to run without the CAT by using the CAT eliminator pipe. Check the classifieds.

When I was playing around with the stock system for our 78 one thing I noticed is that the J-Pipe does seem to smooth out the pulses. I could tell as compared to the Bugpack header I use from the rump rump at the muffler tip. Stock is not bad just under performing.
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[hurst_dave]

Yeah--reading through all the old Samba threads about exhausts really makes it look like my choices are limited for the '78. A local shop has an EMPI (I know, another POS) extractor style so I will take my stock exhaust with me to be sure it measures up before I buy it. $65 is a low enough price for me to try it out but I won't be surprised if I go back to stock w/o cat.

It's funny because most of what you read here is that "stock crossover exhausts burn up engines" and then you read "all aftermarket (75-7 exhausts are complete crap". WTF am I supposed to do but experiment and learn I guess....
_________________
1978 Deluxe Campmobile Westy, 2.0L w/ FI.
Don't believe everything you think.

[SGKent]

were it me I and I was in a non smog state I would shelve the OG one in case smog laws ever changed and use the 74 style heater boxes with the stock muffler. I used to design headers and what is very important is the pulse wave timing (like an echo). Headers can be 1/4 wave, 1/2 wave etc. The sound won't tell you. Just because you hear a thump thump doesn't mean squat as a 4 into 1 header will sound different than opposed cylinders crossing under or a 4 to 2 to 1. I am willing to bet that the pulses going back to each port on the 1974 system are close to optimal length if you are going to have heat. A full blown racing header would be overkill unless you flowed the heads and carbs, and went to a race cam plus pushed up the compression. Exhausts are one of those snake oil things that are sold unless you know what to look for.
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[regis101]

Feeling a rump rump is different than hearing a thump thump. Can't take away from the German design while dealing with the bureaucratic bull.
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Peace, ~R