Thank you Dennis for responding to my question about this.

I feel like I should actually pose all my questions to you individually
instead of to the list, but somehow I feel this almost takes unfair
advantage of you, so I often post to the list as a whole, hoping that if
you know the answer and are not too busy you will see and respond.

Believe it or not, the flange is on the exhaust pipe I took off my '87 van
after it crashed and I had a lot of trouble getting that pipe off because
the flange seemed to be preventing me so I sawed it off !! with a sawzall
always thinking I could reinstall it later.

Now I am at the point of thinking I should replace my rusty, crushed front
pipe with the nice-looking '87 pipe that is not crushed, and I am thinking
that I should replace that flange or somehow rebuild it before installing
the pipe.

I saw another list member said he fabricated a proper replacement flange
out of angle iron, so I am wondering if I should design something along
these lines.

At 09:12 PM 4/1/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Hello Derek,
>That bracket is not available separately.  Probably because it has to be
>installed on the pipes before the flanges are welded on.  hat particular
>bracket does not provide too much support where the flanges normally break.
>I wouldn't sweat it until the pipe fails.
>
>Dennis
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Derek Drew <drew@INTERPORT.NET>
>To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM <Vanagon@VANAGON.COM>
>Date: Monday, March 30, 1998 2:16 PM
>Subject: Re: Exhaust pipe--Where to Get Mounting Brackets
>
>
>>I need to get a replacment mounting bracket for my front exhaust pipe--in
>>this case my bracket is the one that is bolted to the engine/trans.
>>
>>I looked in the fiche, but this bracket is not separately listed and I
>>don't want to buy a new pipe just to get the bracket.
>>
>>I need a very strong bracket similar to the factory bracket as I tend to
>>bash my pipes pretty hard.
>>
>>At 08:32 AM 3/30/98 -0800, you wrote:
>>>A few thoughts on broken exhaust pipes.  I have had exhaust pipes crack on
>>>me twice.  Both times at least one of the mounting brackets was broken
>>>(first time the muffler bracket, second one of those tubular supports).
>>>Both times I removed the broken/cracked pipes and had them welded.  It
>cost
>>>$20 each time.  Another $20 for new gaskets and bolts and everything was
>>>perfect.  Neither of the welds that I have done has broken again.  So if
>>>your pipes are in good condition, other than the crack/break I would
>remove
>>>them and have them welded.
>>>
>>>John Brown
>>>
>>_____________________________________________________
>>Derek Drew                           New York, NY & Washington DC
>>ConsumerSearch
>>drew@interport.net
>>212-580-6486 (W)
>>212-580-4459 (H)
>>
>
_____________________________________________________
Derek Drew                           New York, NY & Washington DC
ConsumerSearch
drew@interport.net
212-580-6486 (W)
212-580-4459 (H)