Exhaust help

[Braz86]

Finally found the hole in the exhaust thanks to the seafoam treatment. On the front silencer weld I think (I assume there are cats on each pipe then after the merge into one you have the 45* silencer?)

So. I need a new system. May as well go from manifold, want it to sound sweet, but don't want to pay OEM prices. I haven't got a clue what cat-back means, I don't want straight through. Maybe remove the front silencer and just have the muffler box? And will I still get the flap opening at 2k revs to give me that lovely harmonic sound?

Want to get this right, as she sounds lovely now, even with a slight hole!

 

[Synclare]

What a lot of people do is remove the front silencer and replace it with a fresh piece of pipe, the OEM system is largely stainless and fitting a piece of stainless pipe will keep it going for yonks. Any exhaust fabrication place will do it for you I think.

 

[Braz86]

So that's just a case of chopping it out and replacing the short section with a prefab bend, either clamped or welded on?

 

[Synclare]

That's right, chop the pipe after forming the new pipe section, remove rear exhaust section to weld the new pipe on then join to front exhaust section with a joining clamp. Bonus is you can now remove rear exhaust section when needed to do handbrake cables, beam bushes etc

 

[Scooblitz]

What engine is your car? I was looking into upgrading my old m44 before i sold her and found some interesting things on flea bay.

The thinking behind all of this is that when it comes to MOT time. It's a straight bolt on for a brand new catalytic converter every year to get through the emissions test. If you have an m44, i actually quite like the exhaust note from the stock rearbox. Decat would be even better.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STAINLES...adster&hash=item236efdaa5d:g:JHIAAOSwYmZXNeo~

Decat centre section in place of what would be the catalytic converter.

Failing that, new exhaust all custom made from a reputable fabricator should be in ballpark of £300-£400

 

[Braz86]

Mines an M52. I don't want to faff with changing the exhaust for an MOT, and don't have the space to store a spare section. Just want either a cat back without the front silencer, back from the manifold with new cats and no silencer, or just a new section to replace the silencer.

 

[2DunnsZ3]

would you get any drone { deep vibrating} without that silencer, and how much louder is it.

 

[Synclare]

I had one I broke with the front expansion/silencer replaced with a section of pipe, made no real difference to sound, was a 1.9 though. As I say has the added bonus of being able to remove the rear section of exhaust instead of the aggro of a one piece system. the rear piece of replacement pipe was welded to the rear exhaust section with the front of the new piece being 'expanded' to slide over the front exhaust section.

 

[Eddie Zedder]

I have exactly the same problem as you @Braz86, in fact it has been a MOT advisory for the last 8 years!!!

Just got a quote through for a Powerflow cat back system from Mr Tyre in Nottingham for £399 Inc vat and fitting. Lifetime guarantee, 304 stainless, choice of sound levels and tail pipes. If required 6 months 0% finance. I'm guessing it would probably cost £100+ for repairing your current set up, so new system doesn't sound too costly.