I spent the last 2 weekends finishing up the exhaust on the truck. Everything went pretty well. I was surprised I was able to get everything setup, cut, tacked, finished welded, coated and reinstalled. This is the first exhaust Ive ever built and I have very minimal experience welding. So keep all that in mind. Im overly pleased and Im pretty hard on myself.
Everything here is finish welded and cleaned up ready for some paint. I wish I could just leave them this nice shiny finish but they would just rust in a heartbeat. I went ahead and just sprayed them with VHT high heat to try and help keep the welds from rusting.
After test fitting and making small modifications to the headers I wiped them down and sprayed about 3 coats of VHT on them. I then put them on the grill one at a time and did the 200*, 450*, and ~600* temps for about 20 min each. I figure that was better than just running them on the truck. I then put some painters tape on the headers and carefully put them on the truck. Sanderson doesn't recommend gaskets so I bought their recommended sealer and applied it then hand tightened the bolts and let it setup overnight. I then retorqued everything in place.
I reinstalled the exhaust this past Saturday. Everything went back together pretty well. One side went together sorta tight but I was able to get it close and then the H pipe clamped in place. It has a hands amount of clearance between it and the bottom of the cab.
The new exhaust has plenty of clearance compared to the old setup which was about 2" off the ground. My only other worry is the trans mount. Ill eventually get one of the custom ones that loops up and over the exhaust.
Once everything was mounted up and plugs reinstalled, etc I started the truck up and didn't find any leaks or weird noise which was excellent.
Yesterday I cleaned up my garage and workspace. Decided to get a HF cart for $30 and modify my work bench to contain my welder and cart. Its not super pretty but its functional.
My grand parents stopped by for a few minutes and I surprised them with a quick ride in my truck. My grandfather is a wonderful man and had been very influential in my life. He continued to push me to finish the truck so this was a LONG time coming. He was stoked, none the less.
I'm still waiting on my hood. If I didn't already mention it the body shop got it painted but didn't get it blocked well enough and it looks like poo, so they are redoing it. In the meantime I need to get another hood so I can drive the truck. I think Im just gonna get a repop hood from Jegs for $200. Their distribution hub is close to me so I can just pick it up. Ill just install it as is then swap it when my original hood is done.