Exhaust Leak

[stiggs56]

I had my 1965 Travco on the road for the first time since 2011. I drove about 200 miles round trip. It has the 318 Poly motor. On the way home I blew out an exhaust gasket where the pipe mounts to the exhaust manifold. I went to the NAPA store for a gasket. The old one was just reinforced gasket material. They sold me one with a metal ring in the center. I reinstalled it dry, but it leaked. Reinstalled it again with two gaskets and high temp RV Permatex, but it leaked ever so slightly. Reinstalled again with two gaskets and some muffler/exhaust sealer and again it leaks just a little bit. I am thinking about applying JB Wield to the spot where it is leaking. Any advice?

[77Travco]

Is this the donut gasket at the exhaust manifold that you are talking about?\nDo not apply any kind of gasket sealer to this. Find a crushable multilayer steel type exhaust donut. You may have to go to an exhaust shop for this item.\nTake the pipe completely away from the manifold and be sure to completely clean the mating surfaces. Also be sure that the threads are in good shape and allow you to screw the nuts all the way into place to properly squeeze the donut between the manifold and pipe.\nAfter getting the engine up to operating temperature and then letting it cool completely... carefully re-torque the nuts.

[stiggs56]

Thanks for the reply. This is not a donut, it is a flat gasket.

[stiggs56]

So I have a plan to fix the problem. I took the exhaust pipe off and found it somewhat warped. I am having about a 1/16th of an inch planned off to get it pretty much back to true. I purchased a high tech exhaust gasket from an outfit called Remflex. The gasket is 1/8th of an inch and compresses to 1/16th of an inch. They also claim the gasket will fill-in any small rough spots and rebound to fill any small imperfections. They are pricey at $20 for two delivered, but are guaranteed. I will post once I see how they work.

[77Travco]

Sounds like you are doing the right thing to fix it correctly. Let us know if it works.