pinhole exhaust leaks - worth fixing?

[Locutus]

a short while ago i bought a used full 2.25" exhaust system for my NA8. i inspected it closely yesterday as i want to install it this week, but found that the "custom" weld job around the cat flanges have a few pinhole leaks in them. i think there is 1 before the cat and 2 or 3 after the cat.

since they are so tiny, are they worth fixing?

anyone in sydney (pref parra/hills/carlingford area) with welding gear who wants beer?

[Fatty]

get some quiksteel , or jb weld and fix them yourself. cheap , easy , and it works. you can find it at supercheap , autobar etc.

[Locutus]

thanks fatty. i was considering jb weld but wasn't sure if the exhaust is too hot since jb weld is plastic based. it's rated at 260C so i guess that's enough?

first time i've heard of quicksteel (rated at 266C), but the makers of quicksteel also make thermosteel which is rated at over 1318C!

[Fatty]

thermosteel sounds like good stuff! i've used quiksteel just recently on a leaky coolant plug in our old mazda 323, so far so good. they say it is suitable for exhaust manifolds etc, so it should be ok. but the thermosteel sounds even better.

[Mr Morlock]

my guess is that if the leak is at the welded point then the exhaust shop will be able to grind back and re weld probably at nominal or no cost and likely to be a more permanent fix. Pin hole leaks will simply get bigger.

[Locutus]

yep the holes are along the welds. i didn't buy the exhaust from a shop - if i did, i would have already taken it back and gotten them to fix it.

i wouldn't have noticed if the system wasn't used - little spots of carbon residue caught my eye.

[grump]

Just get it welded up, it won't cost that much. It will have been mig welded, which if not done carefully can leave pinholes. don't whatever you do use some form of weld repair if you later decide to get them welded, as the weld repair material will contaminate the metal and you won't be able to weld them at a later date. If you were in Brisbane you could bring them around and I could reweld them in a couple of mins. very easy repair.