That tail pipe is pretty funny.... I should put up a picture of the one I still have to put back
on the wife's car.... Honda uses 2 bolt flanges on all the exhaust couplings, put SS bolts
on and removal is 4 minutes.... Whenever it gets a leak I take it off and weld little
patches all over it... Looks like we both get the last few cents out of those parts HA HA !
On the Dakota, I use the dremel to carefully cut the outer pipe, on the coupling joint.
When you said dremel, I figured you were doing the same thing.... I put them back
together with a thin film of anti-seize so they don't rust-weld, and thin enough not
to kill the O2 sensor....
I even put engine paint on the pipe after welding it... Helps a little....
This little story goes over two types of gauges used on old cars, It's not
bad, and it's been a while for me, I thought they worked a little different...
http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au...fuel_gauge.htm
Also, you know a lot of mechanics are not too far off from some of the
individuals here when it comes to fixing things. I have read several
threads here about some circuit not working, and some critical voltage
may be posted, and it's wrong, but the person doing the work has it
in his head that he wants to change some transformer, and gets it
puts it in, and it don't fix anything. If something is not working, most
of the parts are suspect until they are eliminated. Some people eliminate
the parts as suspect by replacing them each until the bad part is eventually
replaced because it's part of that system of parts. A lot of auto mechanics
are like that, especially when it comes to electrical stuff... I have seen it
many times before..... But the pain in learning how some of the parts work,
and understanding what the system may do if missing this little part, is what
a lot of people miss. Not that it's always their fault, it's not often easy to
be a good troubleshooter.... There are a few really good people here, and with
lots of experience.... I'm not sure what goes on with some mechanics, or
appliance repair people..... Not sure if it's money, knowledge, lack of, or
what.... Anyway, I love reading about the stuff you got going on with the
little Dodge that can do a lot !
.