The mufflers are badly dented and rusted, and each has several internal baffles broken loose.

We've got to get

inside...

This is one of two ways to gain access to the inside.

Kinda scary cutting what

is basically a rather

rare part...

Heavy wall tube makes

a good mandrel for

raising some of

the depressed and

dented areas.  I'm using

wood backing blocks which are cut and notched to accept various

brackets and other

features.

An anvil -- even a cheapie like this one -- will be a welcome accessory for this kind of work.

The smaller dents in the heavier gauge metal

at the front of the

mufflers are also

'rodded' out with a

heavy bar and

vise setup,

along with a

plannishing hammer.

With the baffles back in place, and the dents

hammered out and

plannished to the best of our ability,

the halves are joined

together again

by MIG (GMAW) welding.

MIG is great for

thin sheetmetal

like these muffler

bodies.

Now, off to be

ground and polished...

Here the weld is being ground down, using a small belt sander and angle grinder.

You can see the 'waisting' effect the metal removal has had on the

diameter -- something to be avoided, although with the severe pitting visible here below the plating there will be quite a bit of metal removed from the entire muffler before

the surface will acheive a useable texture.

After careful grinding of the weld, followed by deep polishing of the rust pitting and then final

buffing,

the parts are smooth and shiny, and ready to go to the plater.

Go to the "after" section to see the finished part after re-chroming.