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My 'pipe was blowing from the join between the factory fit front half up and the 'modified' rear. When I tightened the connection the back of the pipe moved up and was hard against the floor pan. Even before tightening you can see that the right hand silencer had been hitting the car a bit
After tightening it the Y split was hard up against the metalwork pushing the silencers down. I managed to jam a piece of wood between the car and the 'pipe to position it roughly where I want it.
This should give clearance between the Y split and the car and allow space for the side pipes to sit without fouling the body too.
The question is "What do I replace the wood with?"
It needs to:
1) Not transmit all of the exhaust vibration directly under my seat (rubber?)
2) Survive the heat of the exhaust (not rubber then?)
3) Be able to be fixed semi-permanently in place (glued or screwed?)
4) Be within my capabilities (no welding)
Any suggestions?
While you are thinking about exhausts...
Previously the side exits were held in place by a metal bracket screwed to the sill of the car with a rubber bobbin on the end which connected to the exhaust. The pipes have moved now so I will need to re-make these bits. If there are better suggestions before I start then they are welcome.
This picture might help
A view under the car from the side just in front of the rear wheel where the exhaust pipe comes out.
The screw coming down and the screw hole next to it were used to secure one end of a metal plate.
The other end of the plate had a rubber bobbin connecting to the bracket you can see the side of fixed to the exhaust pipe.
What I have got has worked but the rubber bobbins have sheared in the past as the exhaust pipes move side to side as well as up and down. That may just have been caused by the centre connector being loose though
WCA, welding it to the correct shape is the long term answer, but for you, za vor is ovair! Could'nt resist that!
Seriously, you take the rear Y bit off the car, buy 10 meters of heat exhaust wrap, and thoroughly wrap the bit that is touching the car,
then replace it and tighten it up, it should be a good
temp / forever fix.
From the last picture it's pretty obvious the two silencers and the 'Y' piece are arched across the car.
If they were straight or even slightly dipped perhaps that would solve your first problem. My solution would be a large blow lamp. I have just 'adjusted' the line of my exhaust in exactly that way. It would seem by undoing the connection before the 'Y' piece the entire rear section can be removed. Take it off and either borrow a big blow lamp like used for hot pitch roofs, or a local welding shop may heat it with a blow torch just enough to take the arch out of it.
Just whipped the pipe off and it is noticeably arched.
The way it was mounted this was the top and touched the car
And this was the bottom and looks like it occasionally touched the road
Trial fit mounted upside down looks like it should fit and leave more room for the rubber bobbins to be mounted under less stretch. Slapped some exhaust paint on while it was on the drive and hopefully put it back on later. Might need to stand on it a bit to reduce the amount of drop on the pipes but we will see
There is a fair bit of cleaning to do under there - brake lines, drive shafts, suspension bars... At least the weather is getting better
The car sounds a whole lot better with the 'pipes fixed. Still loud and throaty but none of the nasty vibration and bad tones if that makes sense. Lot pleasanter for long drives and the blast around the New forest with the roof down was great. Spring is here, well for today anyway
Glad your car passed the MOT, it doing so leads me to a question or two. I've seen your car and know it has a non standard steering wheel so therefore no air bag. Has this been an issue, did you remove passenger air bag as well and the bulb on the dash? I'm having problems with my donor car in as much as I can't get the air bag light to go out, had a bmw mechanic look at the fault, could be one of several things all expensive. So been thinking of removing all air bags
Cheers Andy
There is no passenger airbag on UK cars despite the cut out panel!
When I removed the original steering wheel the dashboard warning light came on. Apparently you can get a diode or resistor or something electrical to connect to the wire to make the light go out but...
...when I removed my interior I also removed the airbag sensor which is in the centre just in front of the gear stick and after that the light on the dashboard went out and has never come back on.
Okay cheers for that, just went and had a look, you're right no passenger air bag , bizarrely though it has side air bags and the one on the drivers side is the problem.
The thing with the yellow label above and to the right of the heater dials in this picture is what you need to unplug for to stop the airbag lights
The is a thread where I showed how to remove the airbag from the steering wheel. I drove round with the cebtre of my
original wheel missing for several weeks before fitting the wooden one
Thanks for that. Just been round the MOT station and asked about it and they had a print out from VOSA, Light on =Fail Light not coming on= advisory so will be disconnecting it for the MOT.
By the way will be poring over your car at Stoneliegh and asking a lot of questions
wca good to meet you at the show, did you get anywhere with the updated rear exhaust off the 250swb for your car. as in is someone making them up for us to order one or is it find someone to make one local. 250swb on order from chris just try to get the parts here ready. cheers
I have go as far as ordering the coilovers to drop the front and ordering some spare bonnet hinges. Exhausts will wait until I smash mine off on a speed bump or they rust through.
