Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

DatsunBucky wrote: does anybody know of any reason why the exhaust can't be re-routed through the frame as long as the resultant hole(s) were reinforced?

Well you will be trapping the exhaust in the frame. This will restrict the amount of cooling air flow over the pipes .

Do you mean drilling a hole through the side of the frame to exit out the side of the car, or actually using the frame rails as a "carrier" for the exhaust pipe?

spl310 wrote:Do you mean drilling a hole through the side of the frame to exit out the side of the car, or actually using the frame rails as a "carrier" for the exhaust pipe?

The first, drilling a hole a la what the factory did in the "X" of the frame. I wouldn't want the frame to get that hot by actually running the exhaust gasses through it. This would be for side-exit without the loss of ground clearance. I tend to think it would be OK, just wanted to get some other opinions on the subject.
Thanks for the input, people.

My humble opinion...

The aged original steel is really, really low strength stuff. Any modifications with the proper patches (it is important to "blend" the loads back into the weak original material) is as strong or stronger than the original...TR

Well, I think that you would be better off removing the triangular splash shield (that causes so much pain at starter replacement time ( and going through there. BRE and others made fender well headers that were just for that purpose. Good luck finding a set though. It would be easy to have a set fabricated...