Help, my Elan is Officially TO LOUD

[1owner69Elan]

Citromike,

Nice solution on the silencer. Sounds good. Looks good.

From memory seems your setup seems to sound a bit deeper, less raspy than the stock S4 version. But that is a distant memory, so I could be wrong.

What was the source/spec for the small mufflers? I like the ground clearance it apparently affords you.

Nice video, also. Highway 1?


I have the TTR race systems silencer. I generally like the sound. But I don't like the ground clearance. The silencer is 4.5 inches in height - meaning it extends pretty low. I can move it maybe another .5 inch upward without contacting the cavity. But, it is still a relatively "big" silencer that obtrudes from the rear end.

I was also looking at the silencer from Coast Fabrications that Jay Leno used on his "26r".

This brand was independently recommended to me by my engine builder, Dave Vegher. These are marketed as race mufflers that are good for high performance. They can be custom ordered to size. There is a standard 3.5 inch size which would provide an inch more clearance compared to the TTR silencer I have now. (I think the Coast Fab mufflers are also resold by Burns under their name).

http://www.coastfab.com/ultra-lightweig ... flers.html

You can hear the Coast Fab silencer on the attachment video of Leno's 26r. Hard to judge really how loud, but certainly not quiet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cPcpMmN18M

[Davidb]

I'll throw my 10 cents worth in here-with the caveat that my car is an S2 so without modifying the boot floor I don't have room for the TTR race muffler-nor do I want it!

When I got my car it had something like the TTR muffler that oneownerElan has illustrated above--it was so noisy I didn't dare drive it. I did some research on the forum and corresponded with a couple of members and then fitted a Dynomax 17676. This is a 'suitcase' style muffler that has inlet and outlet at the same end. It fits the recess under the spare wheel fairly well and didn't hang down too low-and it was inexpensive here in n.america. It sounds sort of 'boy-racerish'-not really loud but...

I ran one long rally and the noise started to get to me. Then on the next rally I hit a bump-we were on a gravel road-and the rear end went down to the bump stops and the muffler hit something and was dented. After that it got louder.

I bought some "Accousta-fil" with the intention of repacking it but once I cut it open with a zip cut it was game over. The muffler is well made but poorly designed is the way I would describe it. The 180 degree bend is accomplished without a pipe-the gases go from the inlet to the outlet as best they can. Plus, there is a third pipe which runs from where the 'u' bend should be to a chamber at the opposite end -between the inlet and outlet pipes-and seems to act as an echo chamber. Consequently there is very little room for damping material and I found that i could not repack the muffler period!

The only other muffler that seemed usable is the Magnaflow 14210. This is an all-stainless muffler of similar configuration to the Dynamax but better designed and made in all stainless. It costs about three times as much. I have a cut-away drawing of it and it shows a proper 180 degree u bend-no fancy 'echo chamber' and is filled with "volcanic clay" as a sound absorber according to the technical person I spoke with at Magnaflow. It does not have any mounting brackets on it however, so we transferred the brackets from the Dynamax. The inlets are 2.5 inches so have to be sleeved down.

The one problem with it is that it is almost 1 inch deeper than the Dynamax-almost five inches. However, by tucking it up well inside the cavity I find that it does not hit anything-yet. Two days ago I failed to see a speed bump and hit it at speed-the muffler did not hit nor did it hit at any time during the 1200 mile Spring Thaw rally - fast driving over very varied roads.

And it is Quiet! I was getting quite disappointed with the noise the Elan was making-one old guy (he must have been my age...) glowered at me as I cruised past with the Dynamax and at least one cyclist gave me the finger. Not so with the Magnaflow. I also added a cold air box to the intake system while doing the muffler exchange and the car is truly quiet now and much more pleasant to drive.

[jbeach]

Thanks, everyone. All very helpful.

Citromike, Thanks for posting the video!. Your solution is just what I'm looking for. Like you, I have a Dave Bean header. How could your silencers, which are essentially the same size as mine, possibly be so much quieter? Put another way, how could mine be so much louder?? Is it possible mine have no actual sound deadening technology inside? I'm beginning to think so!

Could you please post the make and model of silencer you ended up with? They look great and sound great.

Best regards,

-John

[david.g.chapman]

Here's what I did...

lotus-twincam-f39/exhaust-muffler-suggestions-for-plus-t39854.html?hilit=exhaust#p277965

The rest of the system is a mild steel header and a stainless steel back box.

There is no irritating boom at cruising speed, unless you like that sort of thing!

Dave Chapman.

[Citromike]

Sorry John,

I put those on in 1998, and the shop just selected them out by size from racks full of similar-looking products. I don?t recall any discussion of the source or brand. The receipt in my files only says MSB 15 $52 each.

Mike

[tfb0001]

[quote][/quote] I had the same noise problem with my 69 S4, also red, so I went to the local muffler shop and they installed a basic muffler that fit the cut-out perfectly. The outlet diameter is smaller at 1 3/4" but they put an extension on it so it doesn't look dinky. They said if I didn't like it they would try something else. The noise level is excellent. I may be losing some horsepower, but the car is so strong I can't tell. At 6,000 rpm it sounds explosive! I think it cost $75.00. We've all spent way more on our cars parts over the years

[ceejay]

Coming in on this topic a bit late. Like many other elan owners, I've been down this road myself.
The muffler on said S2, was just a plain old mild steel, fully sealed Aussie made item, which with age seemed to have dispensed most of the packing out of the muffler... when tapped with a light stick it sounded very very hollow.
So I set to and cut it apart and converted it into a re-pack muffler.... with the view of one day fabricating a nice new stainless item. The complete project can be read here:
http://elantrikbits.com/lotus-elan-blog ... k-project/
There are special new technology repack cloths available which perform very well.

[Davidb]

CeeJays article is great as are all his articles-Keith Scarfe shows how to do it on a stainless mufflerhttp://www.lotuselan.net/forums/ ... 36438.html I had intended doing this modification with the Dynamax muffler that I had fitted to the car but found that there simply wasn't room to do it in that muffler--weird design!

When I bought the Acoustafil here in n.america it was no longer available in the blanket form but comes in a long strand of hairy material rather like a strand of wool that you wrap around the pipe-more time consuming but still do-able as long as you use the cardboard tube as CeeJay and Keith Scarfe both did.

[ceejay]

DavidB- Thank you, glad you enjoyed the muffler repack story, I hope it is of help to others facing a similar problem.
Ceejay

[vstibbard]

Another option is to add resonators section to either side of the main exhaust pipe under the chassis, the pipe was drilled to look like swiss cheese, I raced an Alfa 105 years ago with side exit exhaust, as the car was low, no mufflers could be used, so we made twos sets filled with stainless wire wool and fibreglass(?) muffler wadding, they were about 20cm long and no deep than the pipe diameter.

They worked, never got hit and looked very cool!

On Elan I'd play it immediately in line with rear wheels to ensure as you go over speed bumps it has best potential to clear. We did this on my 26R with custom muffler to meet the now much stricter noise levels.

Regards

V