Recent content by Pitter Patter

Nice! Yeah I have those in a box that I need to restore and install. The cat heat shield looks like this… there’s also another one for the downpipe/firewall and above the muffler. Happy to send you more detailed info if you need it. That setup looks great. It’s in much better condition than...

Buy these. These tools were extremely important:

There’s no right or wrong way. I went with the start from nothing approach. Set up a frame. Cut off everything except the upper lip of the rear tub and start fresh. I kept all the cut pieces for reference/measurement then threw them out when I was done building that section. Here’s some progress...

Yeah it’s a 1981 so it had a cat on it originally, ties into a heat probe that manages EGR. Plus a cat will keep smell/emissions down

Finally (mostly) finished the exhaust. A couple of years of planning, tracking down parts, fabricating, etc. to finish this as close to OEM as possible. Just need to hook up the heat probe and restore the heat shields that attach to the pipe near the rear tire and I’m done.

So an Aqualu 40 is essentially a Lotus Elise? :cool: Rust sucks

Agreed it will cost you a fortune to fix the body even if you can do your own work. Look for something with as little rust as possible unless you want a multi-year project

On the topics of joining these… I’ve always wondered how people are doing this. I have no experience welding aluminum but everything I read says you can’t get a good bond between aluminum and steel with TIG/MIG so how Is this accomplished?

It’s the heat shield for the catalytic converter, just under the drivers floor pan.

Bummer. OEM replacement coolers and hoses are still available but they are $$$$

Appreciate it! Two fewer things laying in the ground in my garage.

Can someone tell my ignorant bungholio where these to splash guard shield things go. I’m tired of crawling around under the truck trying to figure it out. 1981

My GUESS is coolant because the other one is definitely oil. You could just pull the lower coolant hose off it… see pic of mine during the install process. Look to the hose at the lower right side of the pic.

Finally started a the exhaust that I intended to start months ago. Welding stainless is different. Anyway, fitment is coming out excellent, extension/flange on the refurbished OEM downpipe, great alignment with the new cat, heat probe should work perfectly. Re-used and modified the front hanger...

What color is it? Post more pics of how it turns out