most systems for cars these days (excpet custom work) come as pre-made sections that require joining and clamping. one thing slides over the other, a bu\it of muffler putty round the joins and a muffler clamp tightened up over the top. Must admit i havent seen my old man or myself, do the multi piece extractor job, most of ours we make are one piece jobs. yes yella, tightening them up again after a run is one way of mkaing sure they arent goin to leak (i was a bit pissed when i wrote my last comment) and the red silicone is only there as a bit of a garuntee that it definitely wont leak. Also using the proper thickness gasket, and tightening them in correct sequence as to avoid crimping the gsaket all help. and im not sure what brand of silicone some of you use, but i have had extractors on and off so many cars over the years, and there is always some residue of the silicone. not the whole lot, but some. I think it may shrink up with excessive heat. The one problem with using exhaust cement is that it is HARD, so any movement wil force it to crack and it becomes seriously brittle over time.
One word of advice, if you have a hole in your muffler/exhaust, dont try to "putty" it up, or wrap it in exhaust tape, it only makes our job harder. get it fixed properly the first time.
And yella, i know what you mean, the first couple times i went to work with my step dad i was like OMG how does he just know what to put on what car, and what wil be best to get thte right note from it and so on. but as time goes by i am gaining some much needed knowledge and now run the shop 2 days a week.
