Lotus Elan

Exhausts UK

PostPost by: elj221c » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:18 pm

Sadlotus,

You say Susan Millar manifolds are good? Are the flanges that abutt the head made of stainless? I bought a Chris Neal one a few years ago, left it in (bad!) store for too long and the flanges had rusted beyond use, being made of mild steel. NOT good! So I am after one with stainless flanges.
Incidentaly, I have heard it said that stainless systems are more noisy and have caused problems at track days. Any comments?

Roy
'65S2
User avatar
elj221c
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 722
Joined: 12 Sep 2003
Location: Surrey Hills, England

PostPost by: fasterbyelan » Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:52 pm

Mick Miller did not recommend the use of a stainless steel rear silencer box for this reason (the sound was harsh and one would tire of it) suggesting a normal steel item. The remainder of the system was not deemed to be a problem when made of the more durable material.

Do forum members agree with this?
Karl 8)

1970 S4 FHC SE
User avatar
fasterbyelan
Third Gear
Third Gear
 
Posts: 243
Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Location: Towcester, England

PostPost by: SADLOTUS » Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:36 pm

Hi Roy
I saw the Susan Miller stainless exhaust at Stonleigh, I wanted to compare it to the Paul Matty one. The Miller one looks nice - standard bore, smooth bends, nice welds but i'm sure the flanges to the head were normal steel. The manifold that Paul Matty had at the show was a stainless larger bore, the quality looked good and the flanges (I'm pretty sure) were stainless, BUT, I didn't like the way the pipes had been cut and 'stitched' back together in order to get the larger bore to fit the tight space, lots of welds running down the side of the pipework, it looked a bit 'patchwork'. I hate to criticise people's obvious hard work but it was 250+ pounds and the Miller one: 110. The TTR 2" manifold is lovely, equal length tubing, great quality and bends, and a nice captive nut squeeze idea at the Y piece, but a very tight fit, mild steel and expensive - in fact I believe the chassis has to be eased/bent/cut in order for it to fit (definately, please correct me if I'm wrong!)
I came away even more undecided - (nothing new there then)
May even clean up my old CN mild steel manifold for a tenners worth of paint!
User avatar
SADLOTUS
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 561
Joined: 19 Oct 2003
Location: Cambridge. UK

PostPost by: mark030358 » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:56 am

I tried three of the cheaper type "double XX" ones and they were in my opinion very poor. The holes on the flanges did not line up with the head, they were not square and hit each other!!! and I was just trying to fit it on the bench before I re installed the engine. I bought a MAtty one, expensive, but a superb first time fit and no problems.

Mark
User avatar
mark030358
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1269
Joined: 29 May 2004
Location: Willaston, Wirral

PostPost by: steveww » Thu Dec 01, 2005 7:17 pm

TTR recommend mild steel for the manifold as stainless tends to crack with use. The rest of the TTR system is stainless.
User avatar
steveww
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1824
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
Location: Northamptonshire, England

PostPost by: lotusanglia1965 » Thu Dec 01, 2005 10:46 pm

When i used to make stainless exhausts, we always preferred mild steel flanges,as the combination seemed less prone to cracking at the welds. as said earlier, stainless in general is more likely to crack than mild,especially if a badly made system is stressed to fit the car.hence custom made system always better than off the shelf. sue miller manifold is a good fit.
Martin
lotusanglia1965
Second Gear
Second Gear
 
Posts: 109
Joined: 19 Jul 2004
Location: North Essex,UK

PostPost by: pereirac » Sun Dec 11, 2005 1:43 am

I kept my original Double S manifold in the garage (as a spare) and it looked like the flanges started to rust. It appears that not all stainless steel is the same. I used to think that a magnet would not stick to stainless steel, but it does to mine..

Carl
User avatar
pereirac
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1136
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Location: Cambridgeshire

PostPost by: Dag-Henning » Mon Dec 12, 2005 8:47 am

- a new TTR chassis has a cut-out in the left front "fork" to make room for the manifold. Can relatively easily be done to an old chassis , I believe...

Dag
Elan S1 -64/ Elan race-replica 26R / Works Escort TwinCam -69/ Brabham BT41 Holbay
User avatar
Dag-Henning
Third Gear
Third Gear
 
Posts: 470
Joined: 30 Sep 2004
Location: Oslo, Norway
Previous

Total Online:

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests