Inverting J-hanger exhaust bracket - good idea or not?

[cudak888]

I'm presently trying to work out a stiff - but properly isolated bracket for a pair of glasspack resonators at the tail end of my '68 Satellite. The 4" diameter glasspacks are a tough fit, and are tight enough that factory-style tailpipe hangers for 2" pipes allow for too much side-to-side play.

At the moment, I'm working on bending a universal, J-hook style hanger to weld onto the glasspack. I'm not done bending the pipe yet. This is where I am at present:

As you can see, I've inverted the mounting bracket on the rear framerail to allow for a bit of extra clearance. I don't see why this shouldn't work, but I'm also a bit worried that the bracket may begin to shift due to the inverted position. Has anyone seen such a case before? Would it be wise to weld a small centering tab onto the back of it?

FYI - not a great picture, but a good enough shot of the glasspack itself (Walker Dynomax Thrush 24214's; downstream of a pair of Walker/Thrush 17718 conventional turbo mufflers):

-Kurt

 

[cudak888]

Went ahead and did the job.

Ugly MIG welds courtesy yours truly. Doesn't help when your nozzle tip can't get in the "V" that well (and you're running 0.25 wire for bodywork). Underneath the pile of welds is good penetration on both the hanger and the glasspack, so I'm not too particularly concerned:

Almost finished. Decided to loosely clamp the glasspacks and tailpipes in rather than weld - JUST in case. Not much clearance in areas, but movement is minimal. Should be even less give in the system when it's connected to the new front pipes, but not banking on anything given that the front pipes may throw off the existing fitment of the rear pipes:

First time this '68 has ever had two mufflers hanging under it:

Only one turndown (until tomorrow) but it looks reasonable. Not enough room to shove it any further onto the glasspack. I can live with both tips sticking out.

I even cobbled up a 2" to 2-1/2" step-up adapter so that the old pipe could breath through the new right tailpipe for when I move the car around. Didn't help much - the old pipe is in such bad shape that it still sounds like bloody hell through the leak in the adapter. Not to mention that it now blows copious blue smoke out the bottom AND the back end.

-Kurt

 

[Car Nut]

Nice job Kurt!

 

[HawkRod]

Looks great!

 

[cudak888]

Chased the other turndown today; found a good one at AutoZone. Cut it, fit it, and finished the job. Surprised that it looks remotely uniform given that the bent-up bumper throws the eye off quite a bit:

And a few shamelessly off-topic beauty shots:

-Kurt