Replacing exhaust?

[sierraman]

Thinking of replacing the centre section DIY on the fiesta. Never attempted it at home any tips?

[saucedoctor]

Ramps

WD40

Hacksaw

Grinder

Vise Grips

 

TBH with exhausts, unless the one rotted bit comes off fairly easily, I just chop the lot off and put a whole new one on. Is the Fester exhaust concentric or face to face?

[Asimo]

Unless the back box is almost new, expect to end up replacing the lot.

[costadelglosta]

Dont forget the exhaust assembly paste!

[sierraman]

Face to face at flexi, jointed at the back box. Acces looks easy but if its all seized to fuck might just get garage to do it...

[Grundig]

..... Let it cool down 1st  ....... new clamps & some loose change for the swear box 

[Pillock]

I once tried to save about a tenner by doing a diy back box on a Saxo. After I'd bought paste, that was only a fiver saving or so and I did way more than five quids worth of swearing at it.

[dave21478]

Fuck everything about changing exhausts at home.

 

You put it up on stands but its still a squeeze because you are a fat bastard but you get under eventually and its all rusted to buggery so you start undoing the bolts on the section clamps and they are just round blobs of rust instead of nuts so you spend a few minutes hammering a selection of 13mm, 1/2 inch and 12mm sockets on until one grips and you start unscrewing it and the bolt just snaps so you say "fuck it" and just grind the rest off but the exhaust sections are well seized together and you cant take it off whole as it goes over the rear axle so you start to grind it and this is always fun holding a running grinder inches from your face spraying sparks into your ear and the fucking disc is too small a diameter to cut right through the tube so you cut as deep as it will go and then just wiggle it back and forth until it snaps and the middle silencer clouts you in the chest and all the time you are getting rust and dust in your hair and in your eyes and ears and up your nose and the concrete driveway is chaffing the back of your head and your arms are getting sore from working above you for so long and the fucking rubbers wont slip off the hangers so you just cut them off and eventually you get it all off and you fling the bits onto the lawn and wiggle yourself out from under the car and pick up the new bits and crawl back under and then fucking hell you have forgotten the clamps so you crawl back out and grab the clamps and squeeze back under the car and scrape your knuckles on a bit of heatshield while you hold the new sections in place and its a complete pain in the arse to get it all in the air while its loose so you do that thing where you hold a bit up with your foot and balance the front end on the subframe crossmember while you clamp up the mid section and the cheap pattern shite doesnt fit well but you persevere and get it together but the front pipe keeps slipping off the crossmember as you try to stretch the new rubbers over the hangers but you eventually get it up and smear some joint paste on the mating flange of the front pipe and get it all over your hand which you wipe on your trousers as you forgot to bring a rag under the car so thats another pair of jeans with a suspicious looking crusty scab on them and you bolt it together at last then wiggle out and put the car down off the stands and go for a test drive and its not blowing but the back box rattles against something at 1500rpm so you slacken the clamp off and swivel it round a bit and retighten it then call it a day and go for a shower where you have to use Ciff on your face to get the dirt off because your are out of proper hand cleaner and when you are finished there is a wee pile of rusty flakes in the bottom of the bath that came out of your hair and ass crack and you sit down and look out the window at the car feeling very pleased with a good afternoons work well done and then you think why the fuck did I not just get the garage to fit it for twenty quid?

[HMC]

^^^ This

 

Tempted to have a go welding up the range rovers holed back box but I suspect I should stop bring so fucking stingy and just get a new one fitted

[steve_earwig]

Eye shields might be a good idea...

 

Although that's a good point about getting it done, I've only done an exhaust on axle stands once, that was enough.

[brickwall]

Purchase exhaust and bits n pieces ------> Local garage.

[DSdriver]

Rule 1: Never replace just one bit because the rest of it is just as f*cked really but just hides it well.

Rule 2: Never do it yourself. That's all.

[Richard]

Also, you quite often find that the new exhaust section is the wrong length, because different manufacturers seem to put the joints in different places. Sometimes it's not even the same kind of joint.

 

It'll be fine though.

[Vince70]

And if your replacing an exhaust and Cat don't buy from a cheap Chinese exhaust from eBay.

 

As normally the exhaust is made of cardboard and doesn't even remotely fit and the cat will be filled with Brillo pads with no hope of ever getting your car through a ticket.

[Bren]

Unless you have all the tools (including oxy acetylene) I would'nt bother my arse.

 

Take it to a garage - you will be knackered if something snaps or strips halfway through or you find the bits you have bought are not the right

 

I will have a pop at most things - exhausts are not one of them.

[Pillock]

Do you like rust in your eyes, nose, mouth and ears? DO YOU?

 

Do you like the idea of driving your now exhaust-less car noisily to the fitting place and explaining that the new one doesn't fit but you destroyed the old one taking it off. DO YOU?

[mat_the_cat]

I haven't been anywhere to get an exhaust replaced in the last 10 years, as I always seem to be incredibly skint when one fails. But every time I'm part way through the job I regret it...

[jonny69]

Those Makita 18V Li Ion reciprocating saws are GR8 4 cutting off exhausts. Much longer than a grinder and the blade is long enough to cut through the whole thing. Only problem is I haven't got one.

[beko1987]

I replaced the Merivas exhaust from the cat back due to many holes and it wasnt too bad, we cut it in half too to get it over the axle, then had to do an emergency run to euro car parts for a new lambda that disintegrated as I tried to remove it. 

 

New exhaust sounds shit now though, although spending £70 on the whole thing from euro car parts possibly explains that. Doesnt blow, but sounds like it does internally!

[Station]

I paid £60 to have the complete exhaust changed at my local place. Sod messing round with getting it sealed, I'll never do that again.

[mercrocker]

Dave's post is absolutely spot on.   It described my attempt with the Minor many years ago to a tee.   Except for the words "REPEAT ABOVE" when the bastard started blowing at the manifold joint after 30 miles....I took one look at the buggers muddle that is the T25 system and have, this very day, parked it outside my local engineers with a gurt box full of shiny new stainless bits.   The credit card will take the hit but I would rather do some ovies and pay that off before I get underneath anything with a pipe in my hand again.

[Lord Sterling]

If you've got access to garage ramps and the right tools, which includes a large breaker bar, welding gun, spare person etc... then yes have a go, otherwise chuck some cash at a garage monkey to do it for you. I always have. Just make sure they put enough paste on on tighten the bolt properly.....

[PiperCub]

If you don't want to DIY:

1. Find out how much your local exhaust outfits will charge.

2. Find out how much you can get the parts for from your favourite local motor factor.

 

If the difference between 1 & 2 very little, go to the exhaust centre

If it 1 is alot more than 2, buy the bits then go to your local exhaust centre and pay someone a tenner or so to fit it - this used to work for me where I used to live as they guys just pocketed the money - I didn't care, they always did a good job.

[New POD]

I've done a few back boxes in my time, mostly mk2 cavaliers, mk3 escorts.  Never had a particular problem, especially when saving £6 was important to me.

 

In recent times I purchased a stainless, performance cat back, for the MX5 via a forum group buy (Brand: cobalt blue)

 

It all seemed to go on great, despite the fact that I could barely get under the car to do it, and didn't appear to touch until about 30 miles of use, and then it was bashing the body, rear axle, and rear subframe, and the buzzing was erm to die for.  I drove it twice to Derby (110 miles each way) like that, before putting a hose clip around each mounting rubber, and spending 2 hours adjusting them, so it no longer touches ever.

 

I have the old exhaust hanging up, in the garage, and if this creates unnecessary stress and it cracks, I'll just refit the old one.  

[twosmoke300]

Even with a ramp and all the kit they can be a right dick.

[New POD]

I once paid a local back street place to fit a middle and centre box to a mk2 cavalier, for £15, and somehow he found that there was a spilt in the down pipe, and he'd managed to get one, from a local motor factors, for which he wanted twice the price, that I could have got it, when I'd bought the rest of the system.

 

I discovered all this when I went to pick the car up, and strangely the old downpipe, had a split that was shinny brand new metal.

 

What makes it worse it that this guy is the brother of someone I went to school with, who I know very well, having worked as a petrol pub attendant as a student, whilst he was doing an apprenticeship in the service garage attached.

[fordperv]

I have fitted quite a few exhaust systems whilst on my back under a car, never really had any problems except poor fitting cheap shit exhausts that need a slight bit of modification.

[EssDeeWon]

For the price of exhaust sections on something like a Fiesta its probably not a lot more to just let the garage do the donkey work?....

 

You can tell I hate working on cars.