Starting to sort out the various ills on my “new” Sprint. It’s a big valve running webers. The back box appears to be off a Triumph and my mechanic isn’t impressed he calls it a “peashooter”.
What’s the best place to source a replacement in the UK?
Try Paul Matty’s or Sue Miller, both have normal and stainless steel exhaust’s. I will be picking up an SS centre pipe on sunday (Stoneleigh) from the former. Both should have any fittings you need as well.
I remember that when getting a replacement for my Sprint I had a choice of a single tailpipe version or a twin. The single was the original type fitting where as the twin pipe was two smaller boxes side by side each packed with fibreglass. The fibreglass all eventually blew out with no easy way of replacing it. But , the point of this long story is let you know how bl**dy noisy it was! I mean when new. Way past being a bit sporty and getting towards being annoying. The original single pipe had baffles inside rather than glass which seemed to be a lot better.
I’ve since figured out how to replace the glass if anyone is interested.
Ralph
N.Z.
I have one on all my elans although the only one Ive paid for was for the m100so its a slightly different kettle of fish…however for that I used jp stainless in macclesfield, cheshire…and had a ‘sports’ custom made one fitted at about 60% of the price of anyone else…and I tried everywhere from lands end to john o groats…
the one on my +2 may need replacing soon due to the speed humps near me wearing it down…even when I go over it at 0.5mph it still scrapes…(bloody council!!!) and I cant get the exhaust any higher…
my other +2 which is a later one however seems fine…go figure!!!
cheers
G
John,
To replace the glass I slit the boxes down their length, underneath, with a 2 inch cut crossways top and bottom of each cut. You can get really thin cutting disks for angle grinders that are about 1.5mm thick and go through a stainless silencer box like a knife through butter. This enabled the boxes to be opened up a bit like opening a book. Then remove whats left of the glass,(which probably won’t be much).
The local exhaust “specialists” recommended some replacement glass which turned out to be ordinary old glass mat. I rolled it up anyway, stuck it in, and got it TIG welded up. Way too noisy as the mat didn’t seem to absorb any noise at all.
By now I’d invested too much money in this money saving venture to back out so I slit it open again. Right down the middle of $50 worth of welding. This time I used some insulation type fibreglass that I borrowed from the ceiling of my house. Packed it in much looser and closed the hole with an aluminium plate , manifold/exhaust sealant, and some pop rivets of the sealed variety,( like are used on aluminium dinghies).
This is working way better and now any time in the future all I have to do is drill out some rivets to replace the glass. Will cost about $5 or $10 and as the silencer is stainless I’m expecting it to last forever.
It all looks quite tidy and is largely out of sight anyway.
If you want a large bore exhaust system you need to go to TTR or one of the many custom fabricators. Any standard replacement from the usual suspects will still be of peashooter dimentions. A big bore system is may be another 5bhp and a fatter torque curve.
I bought a Double S stainless maniforld from the Classic Car Show at the NEC a couple of years ago. I was not overly impressed with the quality although they did replace the unit for me with one a bit better.
I used to have plenty of noise problems when racng Elans. Remember the purpouse of the glass wool or wire wool is to vibrate and convert noise energy into heat. Thus the glass breaks up quickly. I used the insulation used in power generation gas turbines for years and it worked very well. As an alternative Rockwool, which is spun rock wool works well but does break up. However break up of fibres is much better than glass insulation. There is a formula for density of packing for different fequencies - don’t ask because I no longer have it! However in the bsence of a formula don’t pack too tight would be my advice.
Best of silent luck
Richard
You say Susan Millar manifolds are good? Are the flanges that abutt the head made of stainless? I bought a Chris Neal one a few years ago, left it in (bad!) store for too long and the flanges had rusted beyond use, being made of mild steel. NOT good! So I am after one with stainless flanges.
Incidentaly, I have heard it said that stainless systems are more noisy and have caused problems at track days. Any comments?
Mick Miller did not recommend the use of a stainless steel rear silencer box for this reason (the sound was harsh and one would tire of it) suggesting a normal steel item. The remainder of the system was not deemed to be a problem when made of the more durable material.
Hi Roy
I saw the Susan Miller stainless exhaust at Stonleigh, I wanted to compare it to the Paul Matty one. The Miller one looks nice - standard bore, smooth bends, nice welds but i’m sure the flanges to the head were normal steel. The manifold that Paul Matty had at the show was a stainless larger bore, the quality looked good and the flanges (I’m pretty sure) were stainless, BUT, I didn’t like the way the pipes had been cut and ‘stitched’ back together in order to get the larger bore to fit the tight space, lots of welds running down the side of the pipework, it looked a bit ‘patchwork’. I hate to criticise people’s obvious hard work but it was 250+ pounds and the Miller one: 110. The TTR 2" manifold is lovely, equal length tubing, great quality and bends, and a nice captive nut squeeze idea at the Y piece, but a very tight fit, mild steel and expensive - in fact I believe the chassis has to be eased/bent/cut in order for it to fit (definately, please correct me if I’m wrong!)
I came away even more undecided - (nothing new there then)
May even clean up my old CN mild steel manifold for a tenners worth of paint!
I tried three of the cheaper type “double XX” ones and they were in my opinion very poor. The holes on the flanges did not line up with the head, they were not square and hit each other!!! and I was just trying to fit it on the bench before I re installed the engine. I bought a MAtty one, expensive, but a superb first time fit and no problems.