Stripey @ Stoneleigh

Sill-y and exhausting

That title minus hyphen could be attached to a couple of aspects of life at present.  I shan't bore you with the pleasures of adverse possession applications or disobedient pastry however.

Instead, let's talk about my new exhaust.  Over the last couple of years I've flirted with a couple of options on exhaust fabrication:Simpson and AB Performance were deemed lovely but too pricey and in the case of AB too distant; Tony Law was also ruled-out on the basis of distance; Interpro and Pro-Speed were ruled-out because they were both a bit 'road car.'  In the end I plumped-for Harvey Robinson in Lampeter - an ex-F1 engineer and a truly splendid chap to deal with.  Harvey was chosen for four reasons.  Firstly he came recommended by a couple of contacts down-West.  Secondly he uses mild steel which is lighter than stainless.  Thirdly he provides a very economical solution. Finally, he said that he could make a silencer in whatever shape I wanted.  My silencer is therefore the same shape as my sill.

There is a slight downside in that the silencer doesn't fill the void that we created for it as Harvey's view was that to go bigger would just add weight.  Once a snazzy access panel is made however (which will let me get to the lambda bosses which is a bonus) it will all look rather excellent.

Harvey bends the pipes by filling them with sand and using heat - no welded together bends here - all very organic-looking.  It's nice to use traditional craftsmanship in my book too.

I'm so pleased with it that I don't want it to rust so tomorrow it's off to Tactical Coatings in Hereford to be ceramic coated.  What's more, the cost of the coating is half what Camcoat charged me on the MNR all those years ago.  It's therefore off the car and in its constituent parts.  

The specification includes two lambda bosses - one for the ECU and one for the rolling road operator, a slice of catalyst in the tailpipe and unusual curves.

So there we have it.  I'll post more pictures when it's back-in-black.

Oh, if anyone wants a MNR manifold for the 4C8 R1 or indeed some fancy machines AB Stainless flanges and collars, drop me a line.

TC

A couple of to-do's..

Austerity January and February have been and gone. Attention will soon turn to an exhaust.  In the meantime I went to visit the car in storage to measure the steering shaft to order a new bearing (that sleep-inducing post may follow over the weekend) and also to check-out what was causing the worrying metal-on-metal noise when I dragged the car on to the trailer.

The news on that is that the diff and prop flange was contacting the removeable cover at the back of the tunnel.  That doesn't sound like good news but it just means that I need a convex relief section welded-into an aluminium part.  This is significantly better than needing to swap for the rare small Escort diff flange or, worse still, having to cut the tunnel apart.  Actual phew.

Now, whilst having a bit of a nose I spotted two things.  One new thing and one I'd forgotten.  First, the internal bonnet panel is interfering with the ARB.  

This is a doddle to fix.  The second spot (the forgotten issue) is even more straightforward - the steering rack boot on the passenger side needs some zip ties.

Beyond that, I just took a couple of photos to remind me that there really should be a very bright light at the end of this excruciatingly long tunnel.

That's sadly not my motor home.

I really should sort-out a replacement tyre-rack - this one didn't quite clear the car so I had to chop it off,