Are exhaust bandages any good ?

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Thu 5 Jun 2003 17:12
Are exhaust bandages any good ? - johnmac
hello,

Does anybody have any experience with these bandages (gum gum i think they're called) to patch up exhaust holes?

Are they just a temporary thing, such as for a day or 2, or would they last for a few weeks.

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Thu 5 Jun 2003 17:31
Are exhaust bandages any good ? - borasport20
Depends on the size and location of the hole, which will of course be getting bigger and bigger.

With luck, if the hole is in a straight piece of the pipe, one may last for several weeks or even months. The smaller the hole in the first place, the longer the repair is likely to last, but remember, if the hole gets bigger and bigger to the point where the exhaust pipe would snap, the exhaust bandage won't hold it together.

On balance, if its a small hole on a straight pipe and you know your getting it fixed / getting rid of the car in a week or two, you should be alright, otherwise your'e better off replacing the exhaust.

hth


I have to grow old - but I don't have to grow up
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Thu 5 Jun 2003 21:31
Are exhaust bandages any good ? - IanT
Agree completely with borasport.

I had a rust hole in the pipe in front of the silencer and patched it with repair tape. The repair was perfect and very long lasting, but unfortunately the pipe continued to rust underneath the bandage. The repair was gas-tight right up to the day the exhaust pipe snapped in half.

The car also passed its MOT with the bandage in place.

Ian
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Thu 5 Jun 2003 21:37
Are exhaust bandages any good ? - Doc
They should be considered a temporary repair, but can last for many months if applied correctly.
I have found that a good seal can be achieved if you wrap some tin plate around the damaged section before applying the bandage.

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Thu 5 Jun 2003 22:22
Are exhaust bandages any good ? - henry k
They should be considered a temporary repair, but can
last for many months if applied correctly.
I have found that a good seal can be achieved if
you wrap some tin plate around the damaged section before applying
the bandage.


Totally agree. The advice to keep some soft wire in the emergency kit is to secure an easily available tin can around an exhaust pipe with a hole in. The can usually has of course to be split first but it does act like a splint around the weakening pipe. It can get you home without attracting attention from too much noise or from a pipe dragging along the black stuff.
I have used this method in the past. A wire coathanger or two threaded through what ever is available can also help support an exhaust box. Obviously critical items like brake cables, fuel lines etc. must be given clearance. The tape is an optional extra to further reduce the noise. Much more important the tape may well help to avoid fumes getting to you.
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Fri 6 Jun 2003 11:05
Are exhaust bandages any good ? - terryb
....but don't do what my father did back in the '50s. Visiting my aunt, who ran a corner grocery shop (remember them?), he cadged an empty wholesale-sized Spam tin and used that, unwashed, on the exhaust. We drove home in a Ford 8 filled with the aroma of roasting pork!

Happy days

Terry
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Thu 5 Jun 2003 22:58
Are exhaust bandages any good ? - PB
Going back a while here to my early car owning years. My technique was GunGum plus bandage plus cut open bean tin secured with jubilee clips over the top. Never lasted very long. If you are going to keep the car, you may as well get a new exhaust now rather than mess about and do it later anyway. If there's a hole then the rest isn't far behind.
PB.
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Fri 6 Jun 2003 15:35
Are exhaust bandages any good ? - madf
My wife's Peugeot 106 secondary system pipe had 3 holes. Covered in GunGum, paste and 2 jubilee clips. Lasted for 2 years with no troubles and 2 MOTs until pipe literally fell in 2 due to rust..

No good imo for holes in silencer boxes but great for pipe repairs

madf
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Mon 9 Jun 2003 11:55
Are exhaust bandages any good ? - THe Growler
Drove a Bedford CA Van London to Istanbul and back with a Gun Gum bandage on the front pipe, with the obligatory tomato sauce can and yards of wire. Lasted the whole way there and back before disintegrating at 1 in the morning on Brighton seafront after coming off the Newhaven Ferry on the way back.

A friendly police officer in a Morris Minor panda car pulled us up and commented on the noise, also the lack of a tax disc. I explained we had just driven from UK to Turkey and back and the tax has expired while we were away. His expression exuded pull the other one, unsurprisingly, as he paced around the filthy and dilapidated Bedford.

I could see the right hand beginning its journey to the uniform breast pocket and the notepad when I grabbed our passports and showed him a succession of entry stamps across Western and Eastern Europe. We got let off with the strict admonition to get it fixed tomorrow.

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