Mikep
Active Member
For those that haven't read the thead about my blowing exhaust I basically had a knackered joint between the centre pipe and the intermediate silencer. I tried to tighten the bolt but it was found that one of the collars had split, th long and short of it was that it needed replacing
DSC07285 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
I had three choices, try and have the joint cut out and a length of pipe welded in place or fit new sections of pipe in either stainless or mild steel. Upon further digging it turns out that my sump is from an SD1 so therefore has a recess at the front and not the back to allow the passenger downpipe to pass underneath so an off the shelf exhaust wouldn't have worked! When I took a proper look at the original exhaust it is clear that this section has been re-routed and consisted of lots of small pipe sections welded together.
I was left the only option to have an exhaust fabricated, and after a bit of searching and reading some reviews I opted for my local Longlife Exhaust specialist near Knebworth (for anyone local I can't recommend them highly enough), it turns out that the cost was less than an 'off the shelf' system that I would have to fit myself anyway.
The great thing about having the system built to spec was the option of tailpipe and I could have the sound tailored to what I wanted, also the silencers are straight through but maintaining the same diameter pipe thereby allowing the gases to escape better; I will come back to this point later. The sound I went for, which was achieved, was a low burble on tickover and an obvious rumble when accelerating but it disapears when on the move so no boomy exhaust when cruising on the motorway
A few before shots
IMG_0334 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0332 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
DSC07410 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0330 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
And the finished article
IMG_0320 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0322 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0321 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0324 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0325 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0326 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0328 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
The standard of workmanship is brilliant and it does sound great
The next thing to sort out is the tuning. The car was never quite right before, obviously due to a blowing exhaust but now it has a better system on it I think the engine needs re-tuning as I have a flat spot and a bit of bgging down under load. I found a thread on here and Herts2000 recomends a garage thats local to me who are SU specialists and do rolling road tuning so its booked in for next month for a proper tune up; this garage did say that a free flowing exhaust would give me these problem so maybe new needles and tune up would help. We shall see.
DSC07285 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
I had three choices, try and have the joint cut out and a length of pipe welded in place or fit new sections of pipe in either stainless or mild steel. Upon further digging it turns out that my sump is from an SD1 so therefore has a recess at the front and not the back to allow the passenger downpipe to pass underneath so an off the shelf exhaust wouldn't have worked! When I took a proper look at the original exhaust it is clear that this section has been re-routed and consisted of lots of small pipe sections welded together.
I was left the only option to have an exhaust fabricated, and after a bit of searching and reading some reviews I opted for my local Longlife Exhaust specialist near Knebworth (for anyone local I can't recommend them highly enough), it turns out that the cost was less than an 'off the shelf' system that I would have to fit myself anyway.
The great thing about having the system built to spec was the option of tailpipe and I could have the sound tailored to what I wanted, also the silencers are straight through but maintaining the same diameter pipe thereby allowing the gases to escape better; I will come back to this point later. The sound I went for, which was achieved, was a low burble on tickover and an obvious rumble when accelerating but it disapears when on the move so no boomy exhaust when cruising on the motorway
A few before shots
IMG_0334 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0332 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
DSC07410 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0330 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
And the finished article
IMG_0320 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0322 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0321 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0324 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0325 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0326 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
IMG_0328 by mikeyp78, on Flickr
The standard of workmanship is brilliant and it does sound great
The next thing to sort out is the tuning. The car was never quite right before, obviously due to a blowing exhaust but now it has a better system on it I think the engine needs re-tuning as I have a flat spot and a bit of bgging down under load. I found a thread on here and Herts2000 recomends a garage thats local to me who are SU specialists and do rolling road tuning so its booked in for next month for a proper tune up; this garage did say that a free flowing exhaust would give me these problem so maybe new needles and tune up would help. We shall see.