Morris Minor Owners Club

My 1969 Traveller has a developed an annoying rattle that sounds like a small loose piece of metal in the silencer. It can be heard when the engine is running; it think is due to vibration. If I give the silencer a knock with my hand (engine not running) I can again hear what sounds to be a lose piece of metal rattling. The exhaust is one piece so I plan to remove it from the car and try to ‘shake it out’ at one of the ends of the exhaust piping. If unsuccessful I will buy a new exhaust and I am looking for advice to help me obtain the quietest exhaust. I thought Minors only had one silencer but I have seen an exhaust advertised as a ‘twin box’ exhaust and I’m uncertain which type to go for. Thanks.

The 'rattle' you are refering to could well be a piece of the gauze that holds the silencing material in place inside the box. If it is an old exhaust then this is the most likely cause. Generaly the Minor doesn't have a quiet exhaust system and has the characteristic 'rasp' which many peolpe love. Here is a link to a new two piece exhaust system that only has the one silencer box http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... bc5e82594f . This would be a good bet as it carrys a lifetime guarantee and is advertised as 'produces a quieter sound'. There are exhaust systems on the market that have two silencers but these are better placed on a system that uses an LCB manifold as it is a larger diameter tube than the standard system. Here is a link http://www.maniflowonline.co.uk/index.p ... ion=morris
Hope this helps you

normally the silencer isn't "straight through" on a single silencer exhaust - it has baffles etc and causes a S shaped (double reversing) flow.
Therfore it could be any of the parts inside (baffles or tubes) that have come loose - although in your case I guess the baffle plate/s are loose. This can be from poor quality welding or they've just corroded at the joints.


To get a quiet exhaust, you might not be so lucky - the standard exhaust is such a small diameter that trying to fit an additional aftermarket silencer isn't simple, and the large bore systems can have straight through silencers as people tend to want these for higher power (less restriction)

Try giving the silencer a 'squeeze' with a G clamp to try and grip the loose baffles. I had this many years ago - not ideal but short of replacing it, it could be the best way out!

you can get two types of 'standard' exhaust. Standard being standard diameter and layout. But you can get them in stainless steel or mild steel. the mild steel ones are 1/3 of the price of stainless ones, but as has already been mention, stainless ones have a guarantee. be carefull though as the guarantee only covers 'perforation by corrorsion' which is unlikely as it's stainless, it doesn't cover fracture, which is more likely as stainless is brittle, as they can just say 'you must have fitted it incorrectly'.

stainless exhausts are often louder, the stainless seems to resonate more than the mild.

the 'twin box' exhausts are of a larger bore, designed for the performance hungry amongst us. in my own experience i have found these to be exceedingly quiet at low rpm. if you drive at 30mph in 4th you can't hear a thing! but when you go above about 2500rpm it becomes a bit of a screamer!

the 'twin box' exhausts are of a larger bore, designed for the performance hungry amongst us. in my own experience i have found these to be exceedingly quiet at low rpm. if you drive at 30mph in 4th you can't hear a thing! but when you go above about 2500rpm it becomes a bit of a screamer!

I'd have to agree with that. I thought I was imagining it but it's true.

Add the exhaust noise from the LCB system to the intake through the two pancake filters and it gets a bit tiring on a journey

I've found the Bosal mild steel system I fitted to maggie very quiet. Lacks the Minor rasp unfortunately, which is a shame since the old system was brilliant for that!