[Tigers] Tiger newbie question

[sralsten at ca.rr.com]

Heres a picture which somewhat illustrates the issue. This car was listed on ebay.
Notice the discoloration below the closer exhaust through and also on the further one which may have welds as well. Is this a repair removing rusted out sections ?

http://i10.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/ff/47/e187_12.JPG




---- "Teepen wrote: 
>  In addition to the other responses, the original exhaust pipes were crimped to allow more room around them where they pass through the x-member. With exhaust system upgrades many of the ovals were opened up to allow larger pipes.  Anything and everything has been found to have been done to this area in the name of better exhaust flow.
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tigers-bounces+jteepen=usatoday.com at autox.team.net [mailto:tigers-bounces+jteepen=usatoday.com at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of sralsten at ca.rr.com
> Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 10:39 AM
> To: tigers at autox.team.net
> Subject: [Tigers] Tiger newbie question
> 
> I've been looking for a good car in a price I can afford for a couple months now. I've got a question for you pros....
> 
> I've learned a common spot to find frame rust problems is at the exhaust pass throughs. I have seen something there that I don't quite understand and I hope I can explain it well enough to get an answer. I believe I read on this list that it is normal to find a small lip all around the oval shape frame opening that the exhaust passes through. If the lip is gone it indicates a replacement or repair. True ?
> 
> I have seen pictures of this area on a couple cars that showed something that I thought was a repair but maybe I was wrong. I'm not sure what the factory original should look like. I've noticed that there appears to be welds holding an 8 inch or so piece of frame that has the pass through cut in the midst of it. Sometimes it appears to be thicker than the rest of the cross member or even a different coloration (maybe holding road grime differently ?)
> 
> Is this "thickening" of a cross member at the exhaust through a repair or is that the factory ? What really confused me on this as well as my newness was the fact that the last pictures I got of a car for sale had the thicker area with appearence of welds hidden below the grime, but it also had the small lip around the pipe opening. Maybe I've been dismissing a factory correct condition as a repair ? Please straighten me out. If my description is not clear enough I can try to find a way to show a picture.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Steve