who should i buy stainless exhaust from?

[PaulTubby]

Hi All, thinking of purchasing a stainless steel exhaust system... can any of the current dealers be recommended for a good one.. if its against rules to give dealers names on here could people pm me with there good or bad findings? I don't want a noisey one ideally and don't mind it being in two or three section as easier to fit!

Paul

[TFM150K]

There are (as I suspect you realise) different grades of stainless steel. Unfortunately it takes years to find out if the one you have got is high or low grade - so the only option you really have is to ASK the vendor. The BEST one I have (on my van) came from Mark (there you go, sure you know who I mean without mentioning the company) at least 25 years ago and is showing no signs of rust; the worst came from the same source and started showing signs of corrosion after less than 5 years - but I'll still give it at least another 10 before it rusts through. Considering the prices, and compared with the price of a modern system, BOTH were utter bargains and I am sure ANY of those being offered by the better known sources will be ok. Go for British rather than foreign and support the Pound!

[jagnut66]

Hi,
I've bought a very good one for my old 1098 engine (before I changed it) from Bull Motif in the past. Still in great condition when I took it off and sold it on eBay, the chap who bought it was very pleased with it.
The Morris Minor Centre Birmingham (David Manners) do a 1 1/2" stainless one for the 1275 engine (or used to).
(On my wish list!...........)
Best wishes,
Mike.

[les]

I've heard that good stainless is not magnetic, this being the case take a magnet with you!

[bmcecosse]

It WILL be louder than a mild steel exhaust - stainless resonates more. After a couple of years mine became VERY loud - I'm guessing the internal baffles are NOT stainless....and had rusted away...

[PaulTubby]

Its for a concours car... the problem with mild steel is they starting rusting and even though there more then ok there no good for the owners club concours. Yes I no Mark who you mentioned which I had one of before but started to rust very early on in its life so didn't want to go down that road, but that was over 15 years ago so they may have better quality.. that was falcon at the time.. I just want one to not only sound ok but to look good like the rest of the underside.. cheers for comments so far.

[les]

I thought everything had to be as original for your game!

[PaulTubby]

Original yes but sensible improvments to original spec is fine... ie cant go larger bore etc..

[chesney]

It WILL be louder than a mild steel exhaust - stainless resonates more. After a couple of years mine became VERY loud - I'm guessing the internal baffles are NOT stainless....and had rusted away...

How would anyone ever know if there was any change in bore size? Hardly going to whisk your cylinder head off to check (in concourse) are they?

[les]

We're talking about the bore of the exhaust pipe!!

[PaulTubby]

We're talking about the bore of the exhaust pipe!!

Yes the bore of exhaust pipe, ie larger bore exhaust would be classed as modified..

[irmscher]

Why not have one made up using quality stainless from a specialist firm But as Roy says the baffles will be mild steel and rot from the inside.There used to be a guy called Mike the pipe who was good

[IaininTenbury]

I'd go for a mild steel one and paint it well with heat proof silver paint. If its for concours,it'll be unlikely to be doing a huge mileage, and it's easy enough to slip it off and repaint it every couple of years or so. It'll sound better and loose less points than a stainless one....

Actually, I'd source an old stock Unipart one with the crimped ends on the silencer. They sound vastly better than any modern ones - its a shame these aren't currently available anymore, but you can drive around without rattling folks windows when you back off and get huge concours kudos with the proper exhaust system

I know this isn't actually answering the original question, but I have a bee in my bonnet about noisy minor exhausts, stainless being the worse culprit. Seriously as others have suggested, the less a magnet sticks, the better quality stainless it is and go with others reccomendations who actually use them. I certainly wouldn't....

[les]

Iain's post has provoked another thought, buy 2 mild steel, use one for every day use (if you do that) then when you want to be judged change it to the 'show' exhaust!

[bmcecosse]

I'd better not say anything....

[championdungspreader]

Not sure if this is of any interest, but Just for the record, I bought a stainless exhaust around ten years ago from one of the main suppliers. It has given brilliant service until last week when the engine ground to a halt. ( the car is used daily as my only vehicle for commuting to work) After further inspection, a small piece of circular baffle (stainless might I add) had unwelded itself from the silencer and perfectly jammed in the exit of the silencer and it effectively constipated the engine, stopping it from running. Thankfully I had a brand new replacement silencer (old school crimped mild steel) which has got me back on the road quickly. It still gave good service though.

[PaulTubby]

Update.. ive purchased this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170705907078? ... EBIDX%3AIT

See how it is! Time will tell!

[chesney]

For a saloon/'traveleer'? Does that mean it'll fit both a Morris Traveller and a Vauxhall Cavalier?

[POMMReg]

I'd better not say anything....

C'mon, don't be a Bore!

[PaulTubby]

For a saloon/'traveleer'? Does that mean it'll fit both a Morris Traveller and a Vauxhall Cavalier?

For a saloon my car is but will fit traveller aswell! Not a Vauxhall!