2nd Gen. LC Accent muffler hanger repair?

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The rear metal hanger rusted out of its weld, as did the bolt heads on the converter pipe. I'm driving without a muffler. I've asked on hyundai-forums and on hyundaiperformance about muffler repair; the best advice I got was to browse around connectors in the aisle of the hardware store and find something to jury rig a fix. I'd rather not...I want to get this done correctly. If I can get replacement bolts and extract the rusted broken ones (and get a repair gasket), that seems easy enough. The hanger was welded on though, and that part isn't available for purchase outside of an entirely new muffler.
The thought of throwing out the OEM parts and going with third-party stuff is exciting, but I'd rather spend less and get the old OEM parts back to normal stock condition.
Here's an idea of what the old metal hanger looks like; it's a right angled bolt that fits one way through the rubber hanger, about a quarter inch in diameter, maybe five inches by four inches, and used to be welded to the muffler. It's not that complicated--a metal stick bent 90 degrees, welded to the muffler; I need links to something similar though. I don't have welding equipment, probably have to borrow some or pay someone to get it fixed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLkbh2oy2ME

Maybe something similar to this:
http://www.spintechmufflers.com/exhaust-...s/prod_220.html
or this (except not over $120, ha)
http://www.amazon.com/MagnaFlow-10151-Ex...707&sr=1-88

Walker makes a bunch of different hangers--trouble is figuring out which one will fit:
http://www.walkerexhaust.com/assets/downloads/english/Walker_Hardware_Accessories.pdf
http://www.amazon.com/Walker-35026-Exhau...11&sr=1-216
http://www.amazon.com/Walker-35360-Hardw...23&sr=1-228
The converter pipe bolts aren't listed in hyundai's oem parts manuals. Any clues as far as bolt dimensions are welcome. I could go ahead and buy the gasket, and get nuts and bolts based on the holes.
 
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Just to be clear, we're talking about a 10+ year old Hyundai Accent? Just rig it up so the exhaust works and doesn't leak any CO into the cabin. You won't get any style points.

A muffler shop should be able to fix this up for you. Go get a couple estimates.

I've used hose clamps to join the muffler brackets to the chassis hangers when things didn't quite line up as they should have.
 
Bend some metal (allthread?) into a U for the frame part, then get some of that metal strapping Lowes sells for pipes. It has holes every 1/2 inch for bolts, so you can make a "belt" that wraps around your muffler. Include the U in the belt somehow and you're back in business.

I wouldn't worry about ghetto rigging, the muffler won't last too long if something welded to it snapped off.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Bend some metal (allthread?) into a U for the frame part, then get some of that metal strapping Lowes sells for pipes. It has holes every 1/2 inch for bolts, so you can make a "belt" that wraps around your muffler. Include the U in the belt somehow and you're back in business.

I wouldn't worry about ghetto rigging, the muffler won't last too long if something welded to it snapped off.

I'm trying to stay as far away from DiY fixes made from scratch--in my anecdotal experience they tend to do a bad job of their appointed task and wear out quickly. How would I connect the metal strapping to the rubber hanger? Body bolt connects to the rubber hanger, rubber hanger connects to the metal hanger, metal hanger connects to the muffler. It might be that I'll have no choice but to make one like you're suggesting, but I don't think the design is complete.

Since I have no welding experience, it is more likely that I'm going to have to hire someone to weld that hanger piece onto the muffler. I'm not going to be able to walk into a hardware store, randomly browsing through thousands of pieces of metal, and by chance find one shaped like the old hanger. Closest thing to the original I've found is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Dynomax-36446-Exha...=muffler+hanger

The hanger isn't the only problem. I should mention that the converter pipe is disconnected from the muffler; the bolts that held the two pieces together are broken, leaving the bolts lodged in the holes in each piece. Here's what the muffler section looks like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmgA47vBrb8
If the converter pipe ends up being a total loss due to the rusted bolts, I could get a brand new one for around $70, and a new muffler for around $90. I haven't inspected the bolts that connect the converter pipe to the catalytic converter pipe, but it could be the same problem with rusted out bolts. If I can salvage the converter pipe, it's going to require drilling out the bolts, which means getting a drill bit and a drill that work with metal, and finding bolts and nuts that will fit the 8-10mm hole, probably with locking fluid; I don't want to weld the bolts. Another possible solution would be to cut off the end across the cylinder, and weld a new end on. I don't know where I could get that kind of component, but since it might be a universal end, I might be able to get one from multiple sources; this is assuming that the pipe end would be cheaper than getting a new $70 converter pipe, but an end is smaller than the whole pipe, so it should be much cheaper, and would avoid the labor involved in the end near the catalytic converter.

I'm not satisfied with the lack of third party cool looking performance parts for the Accent. If I'm going to have to pay someone $300 for the service alone of installation, I wouldn't have a problem with getting some kind of aftermarket upgrade. I don't know anything about performance exhaust systems though.

This is the only car I have, and I'm going to do what I can with it to get it performing reasonably within budget--I'm done driving junkers and with kludge fixes though, and I'll spend what I have to in order to not drive around a car with problem after problem--I've been researching or dealing with various problems with it since I bought it in January.

My big goal is to get a daily driver that can withstand the -23 degree temperatures and two feet of snow and ice and flooding that lingers from September to June. I was thinking of a Honda Civic back in January, maybe 2011 or 2010; but after this winter, it seems like the reason why people in this area drive 4x4 trucks is getting more obvious; this is no place for rusty undercarriage components, what with all the potholes and road hazards. It's like I need an off-road vehicle to drive on the interstate any more. Not saying I have to get a 2015 Civic Si and then mod it like crazy, but I was researching for two months prior to buying the 2003 Accent with the expressed goal that I wouldn't have to do any repair work for six months. http://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-price/summary.aspx?ModelName=Civic%20Si%20Coupe&ModelYear=2015&ModelID=FG4A5FJW&EColor=NH-731P&IColor=BR&Selected=CIVIC15002,CIVIC15032,CIVIC15054,CIVIC15168,CIVIC15119,CIVIC15023,CIVIC15050,CIVIC15082,CIVIC15118,CIVIC15102]
 
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It's hard to tell from the vid how the bolts go through the flanges, if the bolt halves don't just pound out, most likely they will need to be drilled out and replaced with nuts and bolts. For the hanger either weld a hanger back on if the muffler body isn't too rusty, or just rig a strap around the tail pipe to the hanger on the body.

This is probably 30 min of work for a muffler shop, or weeks of frustration if you DIY.
 
I left the car overnight with a muffler place and picked it up the next day--I work until the afternoon, that was what was most convenient. It cost $100 to get the muffler project and the weld by the flex tube (see video) done. It looks rough, but I wasn't expecting a fancy result for a Benjamin.
 
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