Exhaust Installation Woes - need pictures

[Bonnyboy]

The last day of schoold I dropped one daughter off at school and by the time I got home there was a text - "your car sounds funny - its too loud".  As I get home to pick up the other daughter to take her to school, she tells me she could hear me from a block away.    OK, I'm probably not making friends in the neighbourhood when I go on my early morning rides. 

I have known for a while that my resonator makes a wierd vibrating sound at low revs because its rusted out but I don't really want to replace it just yet. 

I looked at the motoring investments pages to see what I should expect (never really paid attention previously - I knoew it wasn't stock).  Then I checked under my car and ...its always worse in real life...   The system I had went from two into a tiny resonator into a flat little single exhaust with a single rusted pipe coming out the back - this is just wrong.  So I got my grinder and liberated the ugly parts from my car without really thinking.  Then I drive down to the muffler shops on my scooter and try to order a new one.   Nope - gotta be custom - we don't have a listing in our book - bring it down and we'll make something up - won't be original - don't sell stainless blah blah...   

Now I do all the work on my car so that is not acceptable so I scrounged up some new/used parts (pipes and resonator and muffler and brackets) from my heros at BMV in Richmond.   I reviewed every post on this site and even photocopied and re-read posts from JA17 so as it is noted - "Exhausts are not something to be taken lightly", I think I am ready to go at'er.  but I can't figure how it all fits together as the resonator doesn't get high enough clearing the axle with the bends that are in the pipes I have even though they say Mercedwes W113 - 280sl. 

Does anyone have a picture of the rear of their car underneath as it is sitting on the ground so I can see the spacing for the muffler pipes and the axle?  All I can find are pictures of cars on hoists and the geometry is different. 

Thanks,

[wwheeler]

Not sure if this helps but the W111 is basically the same. This is a new stainless Time Valve system that is ceramic coated satin black. I welded it up and it fit pretty well. The clearance between the axle and the pipes is the smallest when the car is on the lift as the pipes go under the axle. When the car is on the ground the clearance increases. Most cars I have ever dealt with in the past have the pipes going OVER the rear axle. This is the opposite.

I hope that helps.

[ja17]

Ian, are you re-using your original front pipes?

Wallace, your car looks great underneath!  How is it on top?

[Bonnyboy]

Joe,  thanks for the reply.

Yes,  I was going to use the original front pipes to a location just before the hanger. 

My problem is that I want to make sure I get the correct fittment in the under axle pipes into the resonator to tuck the resonator as far up as possible so it isn't hanging down.   

I set my car down on a set of rims to get the correct loading but it seems like there are still a couple extra bends required on the under axle pipes as the resonator is sitting higher than the axle and the pipes I bought don't have any bend up and into the resonator.

 

[wwheeler]

Ian,

I believe I didn't understand your question correctly from the first post. I am attaching pictures with the car (W111) on the ground showing exhaust clearance. I do not have complete loading on the rear yet, so the axles aren't quite level. Because the pipes cross under the axle close to the pivot, the clearance doesn't change as much as you might think. You can compare the difference on and off the lift. I hope this helps. 

[Bonnyboy]

Wallace,  thanks,  that first picture says it all,  the pipes I have don't have the additional kink upwards towards the resonator so I think I need to make myself a kinky pipe.   There is a car show tomorrow so I think I'll head down there and hope to catch a Pagoda and get some pictures that way. 

The pipes, the muffler and the resonator I picked up are all from different manufacturers so I expected to have to do a bit of fandangling to get it all to work.   This is the fun part.

Thanks again for the pics.

Ian
 

[Bonnyboy]

Over the weekend I attended the local German car show and there were three pagodas there - a 230, 250 and a 280.  I crawled under all three and found one stainless aftermarket and two original type exhausts. 

The stainless exhaust had the resonator tucked up close to the body with extra bends in the pipes heading out of the resonator much like the system I am replacing.  The two original type systems had the resonator hanging down approximately 2-2.5" from the body with the pipes coming out almost straight from the resonator. 

This is good news for me as it looks like I have all of the correct parts to make this all work.   Now to fit it all together.

[Bonnyboy]

My bitsa exhaust system is now installed and I did it all by myself - welded it and everything.

Joe, you wrote in an earlier post that exhaust system installation is "not to be taken lightly".  That is definately an understatement. 

Car sounds great though - its totally transformed the persona of my car.  The cheap two into one generic resonator/ muffler that rotted out was just bad on all accounts.  Once I put the new exhaust on the revs at idle even dropped a couple hundred RPM and I swear the car has more low end grunt now.   

I have a new respect for the muffler guys with their fancy benders and ability to visualize in 3d. 

 

[ja17]

Good job!

Yes, things like the exhaust system, shocks and motor mounts make a big difference in the  driv-a-blility of the car.

[TGrier]

Hi- I am having trouble with my exhaust pipes and muffler.  The rear pipes are touching the rear wheel and seem to be too close to the axel.  I saw your earlier comments and I thought i would seek your advice.  Tom

[Bonnyboy]

Tom,  I started with pieces I got from an old parts supplier however most of my parts were slightly damaged in some way or another.  I just had to bend them back to what I thought was correct and then dry fit pipes in various angles and for a while I was convinced that I had the wrong parts.   In the end I cut back the pipes ever so little to stagger the fit so they didn't touch anything.   

I don't really know what to suggest other than have a look at the underneath of as many cars as you can and hopefully you can sort it out.

After having a look at many cars I realized that many cars had original pipes in slightly wrong locations (twisted slightly off) and remember to put weight on the wheels as the geometry changes a bit down there. 

Goo luck.

[mbzse]

.../...Mercedwes W113 - 280sl.  Does anyone have a picture of the rear of their car underneath as it is sitting on the ground so I can see the spacing for the muffler pipes and the axle?

This is a pic of my recently fitted mild steel original M-B exhaust. All joints along the system are welded, all from the exhaust manifold and to the rear.

Unfortunately, the downpipes as delivered from M-B have a peculiar twist to them. One needs to slightly modify them... We cut V:s with an angle driver and welded, it worked out good.
/Hans in Sweden

[TGrier]

do you mind sending me a picture of the location of the resonator too?

[TGrier]

thanks for your help.  I am quite amazed that my exhaust pipe is rubbing up against the tire.  I had someone weld some holes in the resonator and perhaps they moved the pipes, but this was over a yr ago. 

do you know of any reputable mechanics near north FLA or St simons, GA?

[ja17]

If the connector pipes are installed backwards, then the exhaust will be close to the tire. The longest straight end of the connector pipes should be toward the front.

[mbzse]

do you mind sending me a picture of the location of the resonator too?

This is a picture from somewhere on the Web; showing resonator. Yes, the rubber mounting rings are torn on the car in this pic
/Hans in Sweden