Secondary Muffler Advice

Kaden

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Hello,

I've started on a simple mow-kart project using an old John Deere S82, this is my first kart, and I'm pretty new to most of this. I am currently trying to find a may to quite down my kart a bit. It currently has a muffler on it (though probably has never been replaced since the late 80's when these mowers came out), and I would like to add on a secondary muffler (or upgrade the existing).

The catch is that I currently do not have access to welding. That capability may arrive eventually. If welding is highly desirable in this case, then is there something cheap and temporary I could do until welding is a possibility? I am currently thinking of stuffing some steel wool into the tailpipe and retaining it with a bolt put through the end of the pipe.

My current tailpipe is about 1.25" and I can easily protrude off of the existing pipe around 3-6 inches.

Thanks for any advice!
 

Kaden

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Pictures probably would be helpful... so here's some. It's a little late here and I cant at this moment tip up my machine, so if some better underside pics are desired, I could get them tomorrow.

Also, feel free to ridicule any no-nos you see in the photos.
 

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itsid

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you could indeed repack the existing muffler... but that would require welding
(you need to cut one cap off at the welding seem,
replace the burned out packing material,
and weld the cap back on;
you cannot just stuff packing material down the tube unfortunately.

OR what would be the solution w/o welding: buy a new exhaust muffler for that particular mower, to replace the worn out one.

You can also buy a motorcycle slip on muffler that's roughly the same size.

'sid
 

mckutzy

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Off hand(its kinda hard to tell) You might be able cut the one end off, and if there is enough material to do so, after repacking it, might be able to crimp the end a bit to fit it back in the main body.
Using some tek screws and sealing with muffler cement, it might be able to make a comeback.

Another thing you might be able to do, with the end that is sticking out, is yes like 'Sid said, clamp on another muffler, or get a pipe nipple and a coupler(might need a reducer) to screw on a Briggs style muffler.(might need to slit the pipe to be able clamp onto the new nipple)
 

Kaden

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Alright, thanks to you both for advice. I'll look into the possibilities based off of your advice.

In very related news, I had accidentally flooded my engine while changing some drive pulleys to up my speed. The good news was that all the extra smoke helped me to find a few cracks in the exhaust pipe that'll have to be fixed up. Maybe that alone will be quite enough.
 

Kaden

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Not sure if the any of you previous posters will see this, but I was able to remove my muffler (and disassemble half the kart to get the exhaust pipe out, very bad placement). I am thinking of fixing up the small holes in the exhaust pipe with some muffler cement.

As for the exhaust goes, I'm still a little uncertain. I'm thinking of maybe cutting a little flap into the side of the muffler, packing it, and then using muffler cement and FiberFix to repair the flap.
 

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anickode

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Even the high temp fiberfix will likely fail on that muffler. Heck, muffler cement may well fail on that muffler. Small engine mufflers run far hotter than those on cars because it's right off the cylinder head, and subject to more vibration as well. I've had terrible luck in the past trying to seal small engine mufflers with muffler cement. It works at first, but always fails in short order.

If you've got a regular blowtorch that can run MAPP gas, that would be plenty of heat to braze it since the metal is quite thin.
 

Kaden

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Thanks for the advice anickode, but I dont think heat will be a big issue. The exhaust pipe for this riding mower is about 3 feet long before it reaches the muffler. The cylinder exhaust is in the front right of the engine and wraps around underneath the carriage and to the left rear, where it connects to the muffler. Vibrations may still be a problem, but I dont think heat will (but you definitely have more experience than me, so maybe it still is a problem).

One issue I would have is that one of the small holes in my exhaust pipe (and worst offenders) is right next to the cylinder exhaust. I though I would at least try muffler cement since I'll already have some, but is there anything else you would recommend? It's a tiny hole located on the edge of a welding bend in the exhaust pipe only about 2 inches from the cylinder exhaust.
 

itsid

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looking at that rusted piece of metal...
really.. I would suggest to buy an aftermarket muffler (or OEM replacement) off some website or ebay form china even..

it might even be as cheap as a bag of proper fiilling material and a tube of high temp epoxy

'sid
 

Kaden

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I would love to be able to simply replace the muffler completely, but it's proved to be extremely difficult to find a suitable replacement. OEM muffler can't be found anywhere, at least not one that doesn't look exactly as rusted as mine. I have found a Briggs 9-16 hp muffler that I like, but have almost no way of attaching it, as it will need to somehow mate with a 1" OD unthreaded pipe, and I have yet to find anything to resolve this.

Do you have any advice or resources/locations I can look for what I need? I've probably racked up a few hours just trying to find a muffler and a way to attach it.
 
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