Some exhaust welding help needed

Practicin welding on the old single exhaust muffler Going to take a cut off piece of the hanger and see what happens when I try to weld it to this old muffler.... Based on my practice welds to this old muffler, looks like I won't have the burnthrough problems like I had on the car floor.... One reason this project is dragging a bit, I don't want to mess up any of my new exhaust items..

Here is a pic of a new and a bent exhaust hanger....
I tried to heat it with my propane torch and really not sure if it helped much or any at all... Waiting for it to cool down to check the fit was really time consuming and I thought about renting a car trailer to haul it to a muffler shop....
Ended up clamping it in the vise and just hitting it with my 4lb hammer.... The hangers seem very malleable ( they bend well) and I was pleased with the results I got NOT using an heat.. The bent hanger in the pic was done with NO heat....
Both sides are ready to weld to the back of the mufflers... Hopefully later today I can post a welded picture...

I installed the 99-04 muffler hanger brackets that have two arms each for two hangers on each pipe.... With my tailpipe conundrum, I think I will weld the hanger that goes on the muffler only at this time, then when the car is back on the ground decide if I will install the correct LX tailpipe... The hanger, that attaches to the second arm on the 99-04 bracket, welds to the tail pipe... I can come back and do this later to which tailpipe I decide to use...

2000xp8 said:

I wouldn't weld anything until you sort out what you are doing with the tail pipes.
Clearance with 2.5 pipes can be a pain in multiple places. If you land up mixing and matching brands and catbacks it will surely involve tweaking (which is why i like bolt together catbacks, infinitely adjustable).
Sometimes they hit the axles tubes, other times they hit the upper control arms and then you have the pipes hitting the corner of the gas tank.
With a GT exhaust that really can't be seen you can align it however you like to make it not hit, you mess up lx tail pipes and it will be obvious because most tips are slash cut.
There is a lot of twisting and turning of the parts to get it all straight.

Click to expand...

You don't consider this a bolt together exhaust? I have clamps on the front and back of both mufflers?

A long time ago ( way before Al Gore built the internet) there were car magazines....
Hooker headers had a one page ad with a guy sitting on a roller seat under a car on a car lift... He looked dejected, dirty, tired and he was holding some exhaust and header pipe in his hands.....
A great ad, it stated something like " Bill Smith failed today... Crossmember, engine compartment, steering shaft, sometimes our headers don't get built in a day"........ Well that is me.... Mine would be, " Old fat guy, lying under a car, NO past welding experience except watching others... Welding mask slipping sideways and off his head, leg cramps, shoulder aches, can't get an arc going...... Scared he was going to burn through his new mufflers.....He gave up...

I don't know, but I think I could not get a good ground, even though I tried it in multiple spots I cleaned..... Just don't know, not enough experience...

My exhaust is being help up by bailing wire ( electric fence wire too be absolutely correct) I was going to rent a UHaul car trailer and tow it to the muffler shop, but I think I will try to drive it there after it runs...
Heck, when I was a younger lad, we bailing wired alot of exhaust systems and called it good...........