mid pipe cracking

g'day all
just noticed some cracking near the support bracket on my mid pipe ......
some questions,
can these be repair welded ?
if so will it be successful ? or will it only recrack later on ?
will it be better cost wise to just buy another ?
are there any secondhand ones around ?
anyone know the cost of a new one ?
caoi

Mine cracked very early on, and I saw a very good weld repair at Pete's shop in January. I've weld repaired mine twice, 1st time just stitched up the cracks........ Cracked again
2nd time I beefed it up a bit and no more troubles since.  So it can be done.
( I didn't sync the throttle bodies , or install a Beetle map until after the first crack, It used to vibe like a ... a.... thing that vibrates a lot , But all smooooth now
It's not as pretty a repair as the one I saw in January, but it gets the job done.

EDIT : You Must press the rubber isolator out Before welding .... Common sense ??

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Thanks Ron
Never even considered doing the weld in situ
Recon I will take it out for welding if that is the way forward, bit risky re the electronics
Beefing it up sounds the way to go also
Cheers

No , the O2 sensor will come out easy-peasey. 7/8 or 22 mm open end spanner. take off the starter cover, trace the wires up from the sensor and you'll find a connector, it releases easily. then crack the tension with the spanner, it should unscrew fairly easy. Be sure to use a good coat of an anti-seize on refitting. don't get any on the sensor end, just the threads

wardentm wrote:

g'day all
just noticed some cracking near the support bracket on my mid pipe ......
some questions,
can these be repair welded ?
if so will it be successful ? or will it only recrack later on ?
will it be better cost wise to just buy another ?
are there any secondhand ones around ?
anyone know the cost of a new one ?
caoi

Known problem. Mine cracked within warranty and i changed the pipe myself. Obviously those pipes are of loosy quality and/or sloppy fitted. The replacement pipe didn't fitted without shimming the retaining bolt about 6 mm backwards (3 big washer). If not adjusted the whole exhaust system is tightly wound.
Therefore it is no surprise the holder will crack in the long run. Loosen the whole system and then thighten it once again from heads to muffler will help to find out.

btw. While you're at it, replacing the idiotic 8 shaped clamp between y-pipe and RH/LH pipes with two normal stainless steel clamps will also help reduce leakage (popping on decel).

Diedel

I had a similar experience with the repair as Waterbottle, just took it off and welded the bracket the first time and it lasted a couple of months, next time I took it off and boxed out the bracket with stainless to strengthen it and is still holding up after quite a few months

Well worth trying a repair,

Mine also cracked, welded it and relieved the stress from the part like Diedel did.

Mine cracked and was going to weld it with steel flux core. Problem is that it will most likely crack again or will rust. You don't really want to weld two different types of metals together.

The speedshop which I know wanted at least $50 to TIG weld it. Instead, I bought some.035 308L FCO Gasless Stainless Steel Mig Welding Wire for my wire-feed welder, which is about $25USD on eBay. It's tricky to work with and leaves very wide beads but after some finesse and lots of grinding, the cracks are filled and they will not rust. This wire hardly splatters, even without using gas.

I took off the crossover as I wanted to buff out my stock pipes. That's the easiest way to weld this thing.

Make sure that you weld beyond the cracks to prevent additional breakage. Seems to be holding so far. Let's see about next season.

Mine had a spiral crack that ran length of pipe. Bought a new one thru local dealer,took two weeks to get.

* note to people who take these off to replace, order the two new slip on header composite coupler at the same time as they do not like to be reused if disturbed *

You guys are smokin', and I thought crack pipes were illegal.

Stumbled on this thread and started worrying about my mid-pipe. So I got some washers ready, removed the Zard and loosened it up, only to find there was no tension at all. The hanger and mount lined up spot-on, no shimming needed. Gotta love it when you win the Mandello lottery!

I had the same cracking issue on my 1100 and was able to TIG weld it in place without complete removal. Having an overhead hoist helps as I was able to put the whole bike up on the welding table at a comfortable working height. As mentioned, it's a good idea to remove the rubber bushing as heat from welding will melt said bushing pretty quickly. Also disconnect battery cables and connect the welder's ground (earth) lead directly to the piece being welded. One last tip, drill a small hole, say, 1/8" or 3mm, at each end of the crack. Weld these holes shut first and then weld the rest of the crack. This effectively stops the crack from continuing to lengthen.

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nice shed!!
I always thought that that 'hole' thru the middle would be useful, but I haven't been able to stash the tent poles, or my fishing rod in there... a lifting point... of course!!

bahamazoo wrote:

...I always thought that that 'hole' thru the middle would be useful, but I haven't been able to stash the tent poles, or my fishing rod in there... a lifting point... of course!!

Very useful on the 1100 and maybe some of the early 1200's, but my 2013 doesn't have the internal washers that make this possible without breaking the little chrome bezel. I haven't needed to lift this bike yet, but will have to come up with a solution when the time comes. Maybe a cam-shaped bar that slides in and rotates to lift on its nodes without touching the plastic ring. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. BTW, how are those chrome bezels attached? Anybody know? Maybe I can pop them out. Maybe I'll paint them or replace them with something else - don't particularly like the chrome anyway.

Looks like it's thrice screwed from behind.

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waterbottle wrote:

Mine cracked very early on, and I saw a very good weld repair at Pete's shop in January. I've weld repaired mine twice, 1st time just stitched up the cracks........ Cracked again
2nd time I beefed it up a bit and no more troubles since.  So it can be done.
( I didn't sync the throttle bodies , or install a Beetle map until after the first crack, It used to vibe like a ... a.... thing that vibrates a lot , But all smooooth now
It's not as pretty a repair as the one I saw in January, but it gets the job done.

EDIT : You Must press the rubber isolator out Before welding .... Common sense ??

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Hey Ron, that looks like my mid pipe!!

Took the mid pipe off pressed the bush out and the local stainless weld chap, done that for $40 dollars .
I'm happy.

I think Pete said it was your bike I looked at Ralf. Would have been early January 2015 ?

Green tenni, waiting for some work sounds about right

...Looks like it's thrice screwed from behind - a trait shared by all the favorite girls...