10 miles without a muffler - that's nothing! This time last year I drove a
van (Mitsubishi) from just south of Darwin to Alice Springs (NT Australia) -
1300Km without any exhaust at all!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel Sell" <jsell@PHILA.K12.PA.US>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 11:39 PM
Subject: S&S Header install and a ?

> Volks,
>         I installed the S&S header and muffler today (thanks Ken) on my
'91 Carat.
> I checked the archives before I did it and didn't find anyone saying they
> ran into big problems. So I was pretty surprised when I did run into a
> problem. Either the bend or the flange weld was off in the pipe coming out
> of #4 cylinder, so off that It was not possible for me to get that one
last
> bolt in. I spent over an hour with a C-clamp, two jacks and some prybars.
> No luck. I just couldn't get it in place long enough to get that bolt
> threaded in there. I finally ended up taking the whole thing off, slipping
> the # 4 pipe into the collection pipe, bolting it all up and then
> installing the #2 pipe LAST. Taking the oil filter off helped alot, too.
If
> you buy or already have this header, you will see what I mean. The shape
> and fit of the #2 pipe allowed for this. Got it all on and it was great.
> Maybe my 150k engine has more pep, but I really can't tell. I didn't drive
> it enough before now to really know.
> Here's my question:  When I started it up, right where #4 pipe bolts to
the
> head started smoking. I figured it was something that had gotten on the
> pipe while I was taking it on and off, but after about 10 miles and 30
> minutes of driving (rush hour in the city), the smoking stopped, but the
> STENCH! Man, it stinks. Is this normal? I squirted all the bolts with PB
> Blaster before I removed the old exhaust, but none of the other bolt areas
> seem to be smoking. Any ideas?
> Oh yeah, one more thing, last night part of my exhaust was already about
to
> fall off (that's why I ordered the header), and it did while I was out
with
> some friends. WOW. Mufflers really do a good job of keeping it quiet. I
had
> about 10 miles to drive home without the muffler on and I noticed my temp
> needle running much lower than normal. Normal has been right at the red
> light, but last night it was about one needle width below that. Could not
> running with a muffler cause this?
> Thanks list,
> Joel
>