If there’s one thing that attracts police attention it’s a loud exhaust system. If left to to rot with the rest of the vehicle it will develop rust holes that can drastically reduce it’s ability to control engine noise.
Nobody is immune to steep auto repair bills. But there are also incredibly cheap temporary fixes that can be mastered by anyone. One example is that many exhaust problems can be repaired with a metal soup container. Everybody’s gotta eat.
What if you could fix your ride with the leftovers?
The main purpose of a vehicles exhaust system is to direct engine fumes and reduce the amount of noise created by the fuel-combustion process.
When deterioration occurs, these fumes escape it’s piping, taking engine noise along with it. In addition to your exhaust, there are lots of metal objects in the world.
Soup containers, cat food cans, body panels from that junker in your backyard… All you need to fix a noisy tailpipe is something to cover up the leaks. An exhaust is little more than metal tubing. Over time it develops holes, but all it takes to patch them is a small morsel of rubbish.
1. Find the hole
Using a flashlight, take a look at your vehicle’s exhaust system and inspect it for any visible holes. Note their location, shape, size, etc…
2. Make a patch
Now take your scrap metal, soup can, old license plate, whatever you happened to find in your basement, and carefully form it into a shape that can cover up the hole you found. It doesn’t have to be perfect. If you can stop most of the leak then you’re in business.
3. Ways to attach the patch to your exhaust system
There are lots of ways to install your patch. As long as it doesn’t melt it’ll work just fine. Here are some examples.
Steel Wire
Paperclips
Those metal posts from garage sale signs
Heavy duty metal zip ties
Pop rivets
Welding
Heat resistant adhesive
Exhaust clamps (check your local auto store $3-$5)
Hose clamps (lighter construction, but cheaper than exhaust clamps)
Speaker wires with the insulation removed
Old battery cables
Internal car door hardware
The options are endless, a quick dig through your garage will yield plenty of ideas
Fixing a car’s exhaust in a shop can be expensive, and if you don’t replace the entire thing it’ll soon leak again anyway.
Time is money. What if you could hush that old rattletrap for free in less time that it takes to go to the mechanic? Not all exhaust problems can be fixed so easily, but there’s no harm in trying!