stock up pipe restriction

[novaderrik]

eliminated.. or at least minimized.

i got rid of a little bit of a restriction in my stock up pipe today. it had actually blown out a few years ago, but i "fixed" it by wrapping a band clamp around it to get by. well, the clamp wouldn't seal any more so i took it apart.
this is what the pipe necks down to in the flex coupler in the middle of the pipe:

granted, the rest of the pipe is only a little over 2" inside diameter, but that 1/4" reduction in diameter was worth about .55 square inches of cross sectional area, which is about a 20% reduction if my math is right. feel free to correct me on that, tho.
i cut out the stock coupler and welded a piece of 2.125 i.d. exhaust pipe in it's place. i haven't driven it yet, but between getting rid of the leak and increasing the flow, it should run a little better. not a 12 second terror yet, but probably better than it was. i know it feels snappier in park at idle and is quieter without the constant 'pfft pfft pfft'..
tomorrow, i'm gonna wrap the pipe to make it look better (welded with flux core wire...) and keep more heat in it.
someday, i'll get some mandrel bends and make a better pipe without the craptastic factory bends. but for now, this will work.
here's what it looks like right now. click on the pic for a closer view:

 

[charlief1]

The link won't work Derrik.

 

[novaderrik]

The link won't work Derrik.

yeah, i know. but i can't edit it any more. it was just a link to the pic in fullscreen size.

here's the page it's on if anyone wants to see crappy welds and a dirty engine bay.. you can click on the pic and make it full screen to see the clutter in all it's glory. if a mod wants to put this url into the code in my first post to make the pic a hyperlink, that would be cool...

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2690867610033772906frXqXr

and here is the newly wrapped pipe. it looks not as bad and kicks off a lot less heat.
this pic is a clickable link.

 

[RegalT-type85]

Nice wrap job, snug