I am about to have a new exhaust system installed on my '66 Malibu. I have heard pros and cons of welding the joints vs. clamping them and need some input as to which holds up better. My main concern is rust and decay. Will the clamped pipes hold up longer or is there a way to prevent a welded system from rusting more quickly than a clamped one? By the way, this will be aluminized pipe, if it matters. Thanks in advance for your help.

on my 64 cruck, i welded and clamped the exhaust so i could take it out when i needed to put in the 3" for the track. I bought a kit from Jegs mail order, the jegs brand, its 2 1/2 comes with mufflers that i swapped out for flowmasters. that kit is 169.99. you can also buy 3" without mufflers for 189.99,both kits come with clamps, bolts, mounts, all hardware for out the back. i clamped the mufflers on, but welded the rest. fitment wasn't all that great, but it sure sounds bad ass. i had to bend and cut some, but otherwise it was well worth the money.

i preffer weldind cause it looks cleaner in my opinion.

Welded exhaust looks alot cleaner,than clamped but remember if you have to take out the trans or anything that requires removal of the exhaust you could be in for a bad experience if you have to grind all those welds.

Clamps. You can get some really nice stainless band clamps. Welding will only help to promote rust and decay, where as clamping doesn't.

Like JRS70LS5 said, good luck taking out a welded systems. The system on my car is completely welded and I want to harm the person who did it. Especially on my system where the exhaust runs through a big piece of 3"X3.5" steel in the cross member. The only way to take out the crossmemeber is with a torch.

Steve

Clean and paint the welds. But as Steve knows, you gotta live with it.

Transmission service/R&R should be a concern with exhaust pipe layout/design. Here is what I did for the current X-pipe exhaust on the Malibu I have.

There's a set of collector flanges welded to the inlet side of the X that bolt to the header collectors. Another set of collector flanges were put on the outlet side of the X pipe right where it attaches to the mufflers. Lastly, another set of collector flanges are placed on the outlet side of the mufflers. All these flanges are welded in place.

This setup allows me to remove the X-pipe for trans R&R. Also, the mufflers can be removed if needed, or even the tail pipes. Very clean setup although the flanges do get a bit expensive.

Thanks for the input. It gives me more information to consider in making my decision. I will probably go with a welded and clamped system for a neat install and ease of removal for maintenance. Thanks again for the feedback.