It Ain’t Pretty

But it will work.  It was quite frustrating not being able to fix the broken exhaust pipe correctly the first time, but when you’re on the road, you have to do what you can and make do.

I actually spent more time driving around to find parts that would work than actually making the repair.

The reason I had to make a temporary fix was where the tailpipe broke off.

The hot exhaust gases coming out of the pipe would have damaged the fiberglass bumper.  Plus we were getting some exhaust odors inside the Journey.  And right above broken exhaust pipe is the plastic housing (top left hand corner of the picture) for the engine intake that certainly would have melted.  Sorry the picture is not better.

First step was to hacksaw off the broken, corroded part.

Then I inserted the new piece of pipe into the old pipe.  With some heavy duty exhaust clamps, I cranked down and collapsed enough of the old pipe to make a somewhat tight fit.  Then using another clamp I reattached the pipe to the hangers.  The fit isn’t perfect, there will be some exhaust leakage but the vast majority will go out the new tailpipe.

The pipe now extends out past the fiberglass and should work well enough until we get to our three month long workamping job at the Strom Thurmond Army COE recreation area in South Carolina.  I’ll be able to take my time, order the correct parts that I need and fix it right.

 

While I was working on the exhaust pipe, the girls were having a grand time with us.  We are staying at the (nearby to their house) Pin Oak Creek Campground here in Missouri.

The girls were having a ball riding around the roads on some bikes we rented for them.  It is a perfect bright, sunny day.

The roads are nice and smooth and flat.

Little Rebekah is enjoying the playground.

Despite the speed bumps Murphy threw at us, it’s been a great visit.  We extended our stay one more day, we’ll leave on Monday and hopefully avoid weekend traffic.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.