I experienced the same situation with my 1.8 GTI powered 84, every 3-6 months
some part of the exhaust needed attention.
usually a stress crack. Until I welded in a stainless steel braided flexible
section that I found  at the junk yard. They are

Frank Grunthaner wrote:

> David,
>
> Your comment about hard mounting the exhaust and muffler to the engine "so it
> can't vibrate" runs completely counter to my experience. The first three
> muffler systems my muffler shop put on were hard mounted at their insistence.
> Each cracked and broke at one or more weld joints. I'm now on my fourth
> muffler system and upgraded lower level rubber hangers to thick double sided
> truck versions to damp vibrations. I paid for one and a half of these exhaust
> systems and have more than 1.5 years on the current system with no problems.
> BTW this is a very professional shop with extensive VW racing experience - in
> other words, the vibration broke the joint at the carbon denuded side (edge
> of pipe at the weld).
>
> Frank Grunthaner

on most any Japanese car.

Rob

Frank Grunthaner wrote:

> David,
>
> Your comment about hard mounting the exhaust and muffler to the engine "so it
> can't vibrate" runs completely counter to my experience. The first three
> muffler systems my muffler shop put on were hard mounted at their insistence.
> Each cracked and broke at one or more weld joints. I'm now on my fourth
> muffler system and upgraded lower level rubber hangers to thick double sided
> truck versions to damp vibrations. I paid for one and a half of these exhaust
> systems and have more than 1.5 years on the current system with no problems.
> BTW this is a very professional shop with extensive VW racing experience - in
> other words, the vibration broke the joint at the carbon denuded side (edge
> of pipe at the weld).
>
> Frank Grunthaner