The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop exhaust donut gasket

My donut gasket keeps burning up and I am tired of replacing it. I buy the original ones from auto zone is there a metal gasket the will work that won't burn up. And do those original ones have asbestos in them. I have breathed the fumes from them when they burn up it comes in the cab a little.

There is a metal one available. I have the GM part # at the shop. There needs to be a sleeve inside the donut. Get a piece of ex. pipe that will fit the recess in the manifold. cut off a short piece of it just long enough to fit down the end of the taper in the ex. pipe. You can use the original type with this as it will keep the fire off the donut.

I am not quit understanding this part but it sounds like the answer for me.

(Get a piece of ex. pipe that will fit the recess in the manifold. cut off a short piece of it just long enough to fit down the end of the taper in the ex. pipe.)

Will a muffler shop have a pipe? (the ex. pipe) that goes in the recess of the manifold
And what fits down the end of the taper in the ex. pipe

Amusing that ex pipe means extra pipe

Maybe this picture will help. I had a local muffler shop make. Approx 40 beans for the entire pipe. Have fun and good luck
Dan

Here is an example of a donut sleeve (for a Corvette). Some exhaust pipes have a conical flange welded to the pipe about a half-inch down from the upper end which supports the bottom of the donut that then slips over the pipe. This also works if you are starting from scratch with the system and can find or fabricate the parts.

I was looking for a photo of such a setup that I welded up a few years ago when I fabricated the exhaust system for my street rod. The exhaust pipe upper tips were cut from a 1978 Chevrolet V-8 (I recall) and I used2-bolt flanges from Tom Langdon to bolt to my headers.

I just saw Dan's photo; similar to what I made.

Hoyt

my muffler guy made that up for me for my 6100. he calls the short piece the fire pipe. he also have me longer studs with brass nuts. i had to use star washers to keep the nuts from working loose. he said in another 50 years i wouldnt be snapping the stud in half when i have to removes it. we'll see

Mike, I started using brass nuts over 50 years ago and I can assure you that none of them lasted 50 years. The stud might not break, but the nuts round off and won't thread off which isn't the end of the world with a 6 cy, but its a real pain on a Y-Block. We use stainless on our trucks and I think that would be the way to go on my jalopies too.

Thanks for the help it took a while to sink in but the sleeve keeps the exhaust off of the donut that is the fix.

Rather than using brass nuts, I use Naval bronze. They are stronger and have about the same corrosion resistance. Bronze is better at resisting corrosion from salt water. I picked mine up at a marine supply.

Larry