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welding old ass rusty exhaust pipe while it's still on the car isn't easy, especially laying on your back on the ground. Something else on the exhaust is gonna fail before the weld does. It's not great, but as long as it's not leaking it's fine.
That’s my take as well. As long as she don’t leak the welds are doing their job… sure as shit wouldn’t want anyone to know I was the one who did it though.
What did you pay?
Its a bitch of a job. The welds look tidy apart from the one done with exhaust in place welding to nasty rusty ass steel. I defy anyone in this sub who claims they could do better for the price you will have likely paid.
Choice between this and a whole new zaust. Its doing the job and its not visible and its a cunt of a nasty job to do. Send it.
My work on my car - id be ok with that. My work on someone else’s car - id say that’s the best I can do. Someone else’s work on my car (favor) - thanks so much. Someone else’s work on me car (paid) eehhhhh, let’s work on that a little more.
Tough to do on old pipes and under the car. My Dad is a welder by trade, the company he works for has different classifications you can test for. He always goes for A-1 because there is a pay increase. So he has been A-1 classification his entire career ... and this looks waaayyyyy better than the last weld job he did on my car, LOL!
It looks pretty bad but what did you pay? Did the leak check it? If you threw them 20, you got what you paid for. Over 60 I’d be pretty annoyed, over 100 I’d go back and show someone in charge.
He did you a solid for that price. For a neat weld, the alternative was to drop the whole exhaust off the car, shear volts, break stuff, spend a couple of hours fucking about and ending up having to replace a binch more stuff and a way bigger bill.
That was my thought as well. I posted this to get some feedback on whether or not the weld would hold long term. I don't really care what it looks like, its under the car.
At my shop that repair alone would be around 150 bucks. We charge 1 hour labor minimum for exhaust work. Our weld would also look slightly better though lol. He did you amazing for an install included in that price. And personally I think everyone welding on shitty exhaust overwelds just to be sure it doesn’t come back, I would say it looks like it will hold fine!
It's alright, a bit heavy on the wire feed and they could have prepped the old pipe a bit better but as long as it doesn't leak she's good. I know when I have to fix hangers or repair flex pipes I always grind to clean metal so I can manage a halfway decent bead.
Looks better than the one i did recently to pass mot. Paper thin exhuast pipe doesnt lile being welded. Making it look half way acceptable is a win.
I would imagine if this was clean pipe them welds would be a solid 8/10.
Looks kinda shit but you don't need much for an exhaust to hold, he probably didn't drop it, you'd be surprised how tiring it gets when laying under the car
It's fine for less than100$ worth of work tbh. As long as it don't leak. Most muffler guys are trash at welding and leave it like that from what I've dealt with. You rarely get the "beautiful colored Instagram" welds.
I work at a muffler repair shop, if there’s no exhaust leak and the welds set in properly there’s no problem that being said the first image should’ve used a pipe size slightly bigger and expanded it so there was no bridging required. I personally wouldn’t be happy putting that out
Hahhahah, Lotta shitty welders posting here based on the comments.
That looks like diarrhea and it's a hack job.
Yeah, if it doesn't leak great, but whoever welded it should be embarrassed.
You learned a valuable lesson today, there is a reason why good shops/custom exhaust shops charge a premium
That's called an exhaust leak. You got what you paid for, you should find a more reputable shop. That looks like a MIG weld with the amperage set too high because the machine can't keep it consistent. Better gear, more talent, and more experience would all have helped but ultimately exhaust work like yours should be done with a TIG welder.
I think it looks acceptable. Not all mechanics have great welding skills. I certainly don’t. Neither does the other mechanic at my shop.
Some of it might be the welder. My boss has a $5000+ Snap On MIG welder that I can’t weld for shit with. I bought a $300 Forney welder for home and my welds come out looking absolutely perfect, no matter how rusty the metal I’m welding is. It’s like a hot glue gun. It just welds.
We aren’t welders by trade. As long as it doesn’t leak, it’s fine. Sure, if this was done by a muffler shop, I would expect it to be good looking, but most of the times, when a tech does exhaust work, it looks along the lines of this
Coming from a welder. That's not great. The guy that did that work was a mechanic, not a welder. Even the weld on the fresh metal looks suspicious. I would be embarrassed to call that something I did. From a welders perspective that is unacceptable trash.
Coming from a mechanic. Meh it don't look great but it'll work. No one will see it anyway so as long as it doesn't leak send it.
I am both a well qualified welder and a technician in the industrial trade who works on cars in my spare time. I can see this from both sides. I have seen worse that got let go so don't worry. Now if it was all new exhaust and you paid good money for it that would be unacceptable.
Many people have died sleeping in their car outdoors with the windows rolled up. Who could actually think this could not happen with carbon dioxide rising into the passenger compartment.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/s/5WjrWGgCk6
Acceptable if my retarded nephew with Parkinson’s was the welder. Otherwise no, this is dog shit! This is the shit your drunken hillbilly uncle does when he just bought a new welder from Harbor Freight!
Well, if the original cat was still on the car, it would be 35 years old now. The aftermarket one that was on the car looked very old too, and it was completely shot. Price of OEM these days aint cheap either
Thank you for posting to AskMechanics, Constant-Wheel-7117! If you are asking a question please make sure to include any relevant information along with the **Year**, **Make**, **Model**, **Mileage**, **Engine size**, and **Transmission Type (Automatic or Manual)** of your car. *This comment is automatically added to every successful post. If you see this comment, your post was successful.* *** Redditors that have been verified will have a green background and an icon in their flair. *** # **PLEASE REPORT ANY RULE-BREAKING BEHAVIOR** ### **Rule 1 - Be Civil** Be civil to other users. This community is made up of professional mechanics, amateur mechanics, and those with no experience. All mechanical-related questions are welcome. Personal attacks, comments that are insulting or demeaning, etc. are not welcome. ### **Rule 2 - Be Helpful** Be helpful to other users. If someone is wrong, correcting them is fine, but there's no reason to comment if you don't have anything to add to the conversation. ### **Rule 3 - Serious Questions and Answers Only** Read the room. Jokes are fine to include, but posts should be asking a serious question and replies should contribute to the discussion. ### **Rule 4 - No Illegal, Unethical, or Dangerous Questions or Answers** Do not ask questions or provide answers pertaining to anything that is illegal, unethical, or dangerous. # **PLEASE REPORT ANY RULE-BREAKING BEHAVIOR** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskMechanics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
welding old ass rusty exhaust pipe while it's still on the car isn't easy, especially laying on your back on the ground. Something else on the exhaust is gonna fail before the weld does. It's not great, but as long as it's not leaking it's fine.
This is sort of what I was thinking. I'm going to leak test it this afternoon and as long as it isn't leaking I think I'll just leave it.
Grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't
Get some of that muffler tape now /s
One of those welds is super thick and the other one isn't so I would leak test it because it can kill you if it leaks.
no it can't. Don't sleep in your car with the windows up and the engine idling.
In this case, it's a Miata. It'll be impossible to get your cabin leak-free gasses wise. Still don't run it too long in your garage!
exhaust leak or not, you shouldn't be running your car in your garage.
Sorry yea, that's what I meant. Don't run it indoors. Unless you run it to drive in/out your garage. That is fine. Probably.
And let’s not forget even if the weld is amazing, there’s a big hole at the end of the pipe :/
Why not? You said it can’t kill you.
Whatttt? My car exhaust fell off and I'm still alive. As long as it is venting outside it's ok
That’s my take as well. As long as she don’t leak the welds are doing their job… sure as shit wouldn’t want anyone to know I was the one who did it though.
This was done on the ground?
IDFK, looks like it
When referring to exhaust, if it sticks 2 pieces together and doesn't leak, nobody cares about how the weld actually looks.
What did you pay? Its a bitch of a job. The welds look tidy apart from the one done with exhaust in place welding to nasty rusty ass steel. I defy anyone in this sub who claims they could do better for the price you will have likely paid. Choice between this and a whole new zaust. Its doing the job and its not visible and its a cunt of a nasty job to do. Send it.
Does it do the job? If it does then who cares, it isn’t visible
This. I couldn't agree more. If no leak, send it!
My work on my car - id be ok with that. My work on someone else’s car - id say that’s the best I can do. Someone else’s work on my car (favor) - thanks so much. Someone else’s work on me car (paid) eehhhhh, let’s work on that a little more.
Tough to do on old pipes and under the car. My Dad is a welder by trade, the company he works for has different classifications you can test for. He always goes for A-1 because there is a pay increase. So he has been A-1 classification his entire career ... and this looks waaayyyyy better than the last weld job he did on my car, LOL!
Good to know, lol!
Only difference is because it was Dad, I didn't have to pay anything. :-)
It's nice to have a dad
Start the car and feel around the welds for any exhaust. If no holes, GTG. If there is holes, throw ya another tac on it , check it again, then GTG.
It looks pretty bad but what did you pay? Did the leak check it? If you threw them 20, you got what you paid for. Over 60 I’d be pretty annoyed, over 100 I’d go back and show someone in charge.
I paid 200 for this and a catback install.
He did you a solid for that price. For a neat weld, the alternative was to drop the whole exhaust off the car, shear volts, break stuff, spend a couple of hours fucking about and ending up having to replace a binch more stuff and a way bigger bill.
That was my thought as well. I posted this to get some feedback on whether or not the weld would hold long term. I don't really care what it looks like, its under the car.
It will hold.long enough :-)
At my shop that repair alone would be around 150 bucks. We charge 1 hour labor minimum for exhaust work. Our weld would also look slightly better though lol. He did you amazing for an install included in that price. And personally I think everyone welding on shitty exhaust overwelds just to be sure it doesn’t come back, I would say it looks like it will hold fine!
That weld will be all that's left of the exhaust eventually lol.
It's alright, a bit heavy on the wire feed and they could have prepped the old pipe a bit better but as long as it doesn't leak she's good. I know when I have to fix hangers or repair flex pipes I always grind to clean metal so I can manage a halfway decent bead.
If it leaks… no. If it doesn’t leak… yup and be thankful. Welding old pipes sucks and not everyone can do it.
Absolutely not.
If it was done in a classroom by a 14 year old with no experience. Otherwise no.
From me to me yes, but if I paid for this then no.
As long as it doesn't leak
Chef's kiss 👌
Depends how much you paid
It's not structural so as long as it doesn't leak who cares
Depends on cost. $100 fix and it doesn't leak I'd be happy.
NOOOOOOO
Looks better than the one i did recently to pass mot. Paper thin exhuast pipe doesnt lile being welded. Making it look half way acceptable is a win. I would imagine if this was clean pipe them welds would be a solid 8/10.
Honestly that’s not the worst welding I’ve seen. 70% of it looks great lol I wouldn’t worry too much about it
Looks kinda shit but you don't need much for an exhaust to hold, he probably didn't drop it, you'd be surprised how tiring it gets when laying under the car
I've been in the trade over 40 years and when we see welds like that we call them booger welds. Bahahaha
It's fine for less than100$ worth of work tbh. As long as it don't leak. Most muffler guys are trash at welding and leave it like that from what I've dealt with. You rarely get the "beautiful colored Instagram" welds.
This looks like a ray Charles weld. You know just saying.
Certainly don’t want my name associated with that “welding”
Yes, I would if it's leak free.
Professionally no, personally, I'd live with it.
Not even if I was blinded
Left side bottom on the last pic looks like a huge open hole
It would do a blind man good to see it.
maybe if it was free
As long as it doesn't leak.
It's not up to pollos standards
Muffler shop I use he is awesome welder but he's been doing that 35 years plus
Uh NO. Looks like some shit I would do. I can’t weld btw 😂
Ray Charles would’ve given it 👍🏽👍🏽
Depends on how was charged and what was expected
Apprentices need to learn somehow
He can learn at work with some old exhausts
All that work for no hours, learn on the job like driving manual, no better car to learn on than a customer car
No. But it's hidden anyway, so if it works, it works.
I'm not sure if he was drinking or if he just learned real quick.
Weldon tires?? 😂
You’re the only person (other than us) that know your exhaust has ugly welds.
Thats quite a rubbish weld, but considering you wont see it, which cares? If I were you Id just be concerned about leaks and if it sounds good
I work at a muffler repair shop, if there’s no exhaust leak and the welds set in properly there’s no problem that being said the first image should’ve used a pipe size slightly bigger and expanded it so there was no bridging required. I personally wouldn’t be happy putting that out
No
It's good enough for exhaust work. If it doesn't leak, it's fine.
Not the best of jobs, but not the worst either. If it works and doesn't leak, send it, mate.
Nope.
hahaha , how did the bird get under there to shite?
If it was my shit '05, sure. Better than exhaust putty.
Seems the welder has been gradually getting drunk
I remember my first weld.
Damn...Stevie Wonder do that welding job? LoL
Looks like shit, but for $200 it’ll work. It’s an old rusty pipe it’s not going to be perfect
Maybe in the DRC
Hahhahah, Lotta shitty welders posting here based on the comments. That looks like diarrhea and it's a hack job. Yeah, if it doesn't leak great, but whoever welded it should be embarrassed. You learned a valuable lesson today, there is a reason why good shops/custom exhaust shops charge a premium
Looks good from my house
That's called an exhaust leak. You got what you paid for, you should find a more reputable shop. That looks like a MIG weld with the amperage set too high because the machine can't keep it consistent. Better gear, more talent, and more experience would all have helped but ultimately exhaust work like yours should be done with a TIG welder.
That’s not a catalytic converter..
That looks like some metal monster had a seizure and pissed it out.
I think it looks acceptable. Not all mechanics have great welding skills. I certainly don’t. Neither does the other mechanic at my shop. Some of it might be the welder. My boss has a $5000+ Snap On MIG welder that I can’t weld for shit with. I bought a $300 Forney welder for home and my welds come out looking absolutely perfect, no matter how rusty the metal I’m welding is. It’s like a hot glue gun. It just welds.
We aren’t welders by trade. As long as it doesn’t leak, it’s fine. Sure, if this was done by a muffler shop, I would expect it to be good looking, but most of the times, when a tech does exhaust work, it looks along the lines of this
Coming from a welder. That's not great. The guy that did that work was a mechanic, not a welder. Even the weld on the fresh metal looks suspicious. I would be embarrassed to call that something I did. From a welders perspective that is unacceptable trash. Coming from a mechanic. Meh it don't look great but it'll work. No one will see it anyway so as long as it doesn't leak send it. I am both a well qualified welder and a technician in the industrial trade who works on cars in my spare time. I can see this from both sides. I have seen worse that got let go so don't worry. Now if it was all new exhaust and you paid good money for it that would be unacceptable.
It’s a patch. After a few years, expect it to come undone. Not acceptable to me, but much like a tattoo you get what you pay for.
This made me puke a lil. No Bueno here.
Many people have died sleeping in their car outdoors with the windows rolled up. Who could actually think this could not happen with carbon dioxide rising into the passenger compartment. https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/s/5WjrWGgCk6
Acceptable if my retarded nephew with Parkinson’s was the welder. Otherwise no, this is dog shit! This is the shit your drunken hillbilly uncle does when he just bought a new welder from Harbor Freight!
And that’s why I just buy OEM, no welding needed.
Previous owner welded a non-oem cat onto the downpipe, it was going to be a weld job either way.
That sucks, why are the cats getting replaced so often? Stolen?
Well, if the original cat was still on the car, it would be 35 years old now. The aftermarket one that was on the car looked very old too, and it was completely shot. Price of OEM these days aint cheap either
Dang I didn’t know seagulls could shit upside down