stainless exhausts. from MIJ Walsall as it happens

[gordonbennet]

Don't know if there's already a topic somewhere about stainless exhusts, if there is hopefully a mod could shove this where it belongs perlease.

 

Just got back after a bloody long day having a stainless exhaust made and fitted to the Scooby Outback.

The car is an H6 3 litre of 02 vintage, and the OE exhaust for these is a bit odd in that the rear silencer has a by pass built in which opens up like a 2 stage thingy for free flow when needed, well our bugger didn't have this it had some bodged arse end welded to the centre section, however when you learn that a genuine system is around a bag o' sand its understandable.

 

I hunted high and low and a pattern system for the 3.0 litre isn't to be found, they make systems for the 2.0 and 2.5 but they won't be right for the 3.0.

 

So i searched for stainless exhausts on t'internet, a bit bloody sparse round our neck of the woods.

 

There's Longlife, Powerflow and MIJ Walsall was all i could find within reasonable distance.

 

Emailed em all.

 

Longlife quoted £600 + Vat and immediately condemned anyone cheaper as not using T304 or offering lifetime warranty...they seemed surprised i didn't jump at their offer and a further email enquiring if we'd still be coming this week for the fitting which we hadn't agreed to anyway.

 

Powerflow could do it this week, shall we book you in..well i'd like a rough idea at least of the price..no reply..no bleedin sale then mate.

 

MIJ Walsall quoted £325 incl VAT and fitting, T304 stainless and lifetime warranty, so put that in yer pipe and smoke it LL.

Already knew about MIJ cos they offer custom made stainless systems for our model on ebay and on their website are pics of several cars same as ours they've done previously...no doubt the OE costs see lots of Scooby owners visiting.

 

So i rung em and booked it in for today, and there we are sitting down at home having dinner having just got back.

 

Righto the bad bit, booked in for 11, in fact they didn't start on it till 1430...that could be annoying but then as they charge no deposit i daresay they get bookings which don't turn up so they probably overbook a certain percentage and if everyone turns up its just bloody hard luck.

They have a seating area and provide drinks, but as we had the dogs with us we buggered off down the road to a not so nice large park and canal and lay out in the sun for hours...lots of empties laying about so there could be other activities in the dark hours.

Its fairly industrial where they are so no doubt various cafes could be found to while away the hours, and Walsall town centre isn't far away if preferred.

 

Chap there with a bloody nice V6 Rover 75 having one fitted, they were on their holiday travels and included this job in the journey cos cheaper than a mild steel pattern part, long wait too but like us the savings more than made up for it, looked the bollocks and the twin piped tail he chose looked the part.

 

Anyway we left at 1645, so a long long day, but the exhaust is very well made, Cat back system, its well hung (just don't go there) solid and secure, it sounds a little more sporty than the one that came off but that aint surprising cos the one that came off was only a 2" and was restricting it badly, and it looks right.

 

This is my first stainless and we think its been worth doing.

 

I'm recommending MIJ Walsall to the fold, just be prepared for a bloody long wait if you decide to try 'em out, however £300+ saving compared to the other quote was worth the time.

Definately a summer or warm weather visit preferred so you can bugger off and leave 'em to it.

[nacho man]

My mum had one fitted there on a Alfa mito and it looked quality. I was gonna go to have one fitted on the saab, but got impulsive and went to a powerflow dealer.

[andy18s]

They have a good reputation with the Ford Cougar owners club.

They used to get 4 or 5 cars ready to go in for a group fitting,getting a good discount at the same time

[plasticvandan]

I had one made for my Rebel van,Reliant having discontinued downpipes in the late 70s!!

I used a company called P J Gough, he mainly does classics,he actually had the pattern on the shelf,unlike most companies who didn't know what the vehicle was.think it was 250 for the full system and was superbly made.

[djimbob]

I've had a few stainless exhausts made up by Tony Banks in Leeds, usually Jap imports as OE is usually unobtainable etc, and cannot recommend them enough.

 

They do take a while, due to the pipes being made up first, and the last thing they get around to is taking off your old one, which can sometimes give the impression they are ignoring your car  - not so - but it is a more or less full day job, so I always bugger off and do something useful

 

Well worth putting SS system on your cherished, long term motors, not so much on a shitter you are running into the ground

[rantingYoof]

I've been toying with the idea of something like this on the Volvo. The S60 is so well insulated that you have to have to have the window down or let the revs really clamber before you hear the five pot whine. It's worth it when you do, but I would really like the idea of just having a bit more of a burble when accelerating from 10 - 30mph in 2nd or from 20 - 40mph in 3rd.

 

I'd want it to be deadly silent at 70mph, of course...no droning.

 

This company seems like a good shout if I decide to go that way. If you got a 3.0 H6 Scubaru estate done for £325 all inc then a relatively smaller S60 shouldn't be too far off that, unless Volvo make its exhaust systems like monkey-puzzlers.

[fred]

Yes they are very very good. But can take a while as you say. Pre booked ones are like the In patients , while the ones which just turn up are the A N E ones and for some reason take preference . But they do bloody good job

[Jim Bell]

Our 25 Gti has an SS catback and I love it. I see no downsides.

[Urko]

I had one made for my Rebel van,Reliant having discontinued downpipes in the late 70s!!

I used a company called P J Gough, he mainly does classics,he actually had the pattern on the shelf,unlike most companies who didn't know what the vehicle was.think it was 250 for the full system and was superbly made.

PJ Gough wanted £900+ to do one for my AMC.  I didn't know if that was a good deal (about 6 years back) but I did know I didn't have £900 at the time.

[stephen01]

Mij is a massive place, picked up my welding mask from them years back,

[Noel Tidybeard]

ss ftw- honda spaceship comes from factory so equiped (5 yr warrenty to boot)

[Junkman]

I was thinking about getting one done for the P6 V8, but having heard others, I just don't like the sound.

So again it was mild steel for me this time.

[gordonbennet]

It was the only choice for us, the OE correct design is Scooby only and little if any change from a grand, i could have put another bodgit and scarper mild steel on it meant for the smaller engines but the back box was near enough new when we got the car just over 2 years ago and was starting to hole, hoping for another 5 years at least out of the car,so only one choice really...plus the pattern parts for the 2 and 2.5 litre i believe don't have the same cat position or bore so no doubt some welding and fettling would be needed either way putting a mild steel on again...and, as the chap with the 75 found...more expensive than a custom stainless.

 

Luckily for us all three cats appear to be in solid condition.

 

Forgot to say, when they get the car up on the lift they call you under to come see whats what, then when the jobs done they call you back under to inspect the finished product.

[PiperCub]

Never heard of MIJ Walsall but have heard bad things about Powerflow though so I avoided them. Didn't know PJ Gough were still about, I recall their ads in the classic mags some years ago and they seemed to have a good reputation along with Double S (?) which I think was the system I put on my old c/b Midget.

 

Have recently bought a full OEM spec/size S/S system for the 205GTi from Milltek, haven't had the time to fit it yet but it looks excellent quality and comes with every nut, bolt, mounting etc you need. Didn't mind the cost too much as I'm keeping the thing long term and a M/S system was at least half as much.