The stainless steel U-bend was pushed into the hose on the thermostat leaving a 1/4-inch gap between the pipe and thermostat housing for movement. Then it was determined where to mark the cut line.

After browsing online, we wound up ordering two 16-gauge, 1 1/2-inch mild-steel U-bends (PN SCH-015016U) and one straight length (PN WLK-47980) of the same gauge and diameter exhaust piping from ...

This stainless steel hose has a 4.3 out of five-star rating on Amazon from over 8,820 reviews. ... and we were able to bend it back into shape with a pair of pliers.