Morris Minor Owners Club

The clearance of the exhaust pipe from the cross member is about a quarter of an inch and knocks when under way. Anyone got any tips on curing this? I have thought of maybe wrapping some thin metal sheet (beer can) and closing the gap or rigging a rigid exhaust bracket but don't want to possibly stop any flex and cause a fracture somewhere. I don't think I can drop the exhaust any further as it will then interfere with the exit from the engine bay.

Thanks - Purbeckfossil

mines the other way ie
little clearance in engine bay and plenty on cross member

try and bend the exhaust slightly

Use longer hanging straps

I'm with Mike, bending exhaust pipe isn't easy.
Maybe take a look at the engine mounts and steady bar too.

When the engine is warm, bend the pipe down a bit. Use something like a brush/broom handle placed on top of the pipe and just put some gentle pressure on it and because its warms it should move a bit.

Certainly don't mount it rigidly - or wrap anything round it....... Re-hang it so it doesn't rattle. It will take more than a broom handle - unless you get it glowing cherry red!!

if you go the bending route (I've had to do that a few times) then pack between the exhaust and crossmember and jack up the exhaust about a foot back from the crossmemebr - that should put a reasonable kink in it ;-)

i had this problem, i undid the bracket attaching it to the manifold, held the exhuast in a position whereby it didnt knock against the bodywork, and di it up tight! plenty of sealing paste, and problem solved!

I had a similar problem with the exhaust knocking on the bottom of the torsion bar lever, but only when driving on wet roads which was slightly bizarre. I eventually reached breaking point one day, stopped on the side of the road and wrapped a towel around the exhaust and gave it an almighty heave. Problem solved, I now have about an inch of clearance an it no longer knocks in the rain.

The brush handle did the trick when David helped me with our car .

during tick over my new exhaust taps on the lower corner of the entrance hole into the engine bay. Any thoughts on a cure?

When it's cold, undo the manifold flange clamp, put some packing where the exhaust hits, about half an inch should do.
Then reattach the clamp and remove the packing.

Thanks... I'll give it a go.

I'm having similar problems of exhaust hitting cross member on our pick-up. I tried levering with a piece of wood (only a little bigger than a broom handle...) and neatly cracked the manifold right round the bell end join. Anyway fitted a replacement manifold BUT noticed there are no support brackets at all on the pipe running along the pick-up until it bends over the chassis. It must need some otherwise the manifold joint is taking most of the weight - probably helped weaken the previous one - but what do they look like and where do they fit?

Cheers Mike

There are only two hanging straps, one before the bend and one at the back. If you support the front pipe on a jack when it is correctly lined up on the manifold, then fit the clamp there should be no problem.
Have we got a bad batch of exhausts and are they one, two or three piece systems?

mike.perry wrote: Have we got a bad batch of exhausts and are they one, two or three piece systems?

The pick-up has a two piece exhaust system and was already fitted when we got it in May 09. The system joins about a foot before the rear section bends 90 degrees to go over the chassis. The rear section is then held in place by 2 rubber mountings - one on each chassis rail.

I was guessing the front section needed at least one strap around about where the cab front and back joins. Alternatively, two straps one before the silencer box and one before the exhaust section join. I'm not sure if this is what you were describing.

Cheers Mike

It is a long time since I owned a van so I can't remember precisely where the straps are fitted. On the car they are just before the bend over the axle and at the front end of the boot well. I was wondering if it was a particular design that was at fault.
I have problems with my LCB system because the joint is on the section over the axle which means that I have to twist the silencer almost on its side to line the pipe correctly. If the joint was on the straight section after the first silencer then there would be no problem. I suppose that it could be cut twisted and welded in the correct place