Replacing exhaust system teaser

[onecogwonder]

I'm just out there contemplating the removal of my old exhaust on the Syncro and bolting on the spangly new s/s one I have in the shed, can I have a show of hands as to the preferred methods of pulling the old one off and causing the least amount of damage to the current exhaust studs?

The condition of all the studs is presumed to be bad, I've already sheared the two on the rear right cylinder and guess the rest are as rough so my trains of thought are either soak everything in penetrant for the next week and hope some of them loosen up, or grit my teeth and grind the old system off and also grind or hacksaw off the heads of the old studs so I have something to grab with the stud extractor, rather than snap them off in the head with no purchase left!

Any good ideas?

[kevtherev]

heat... lots of it

[onecogwonder]

It's an idea but there are so many rubber items that are going to die if I try this on the "hard to get to" ones it could be trouble!

Currently I'm thinking about taking the motor out with a VW orientated mate and doing the whole thing without the access problems with the water boxer in situ. Two days work for two people?

My old Aircooled was never this tough to work on!

[kevtherev]

Oh yes to do this without drama the engine needs to be dropped out.
once out ..it won't take long

As you know VW engines are dead easy to drop out .. same as an air-cooled really... just drain it and disconnect the header tank.

[onecogwonder]

Motor is now out, we ended up snapping all eight studs (bolts actually) plus several other unrelated bolts. Gotta go find a decent centre punch that isn't made from chocolate and some top quality drill bits to do the nasty bit. Couldn't believe how thick and heavy the exhaust steel is!!

[SYNCROSPARESUK]

All eight, that is bad luck! now the motor is out you should be able to use a little heat on the studs, you can use a tool called an easy out which allows you to drill a smallish hole in the broken stud then wind a threaded stud into the hole which is both tapered and left hand thread, it is really difficult to cleanly drill out the stud without it drifting into the aluminium head.....good luck with it.

[onecogwonder]

Cheers guys

I got this sorted in time to get back to work on Thursday, luckily enough I bought a really tough set of drill bits and they made mincemeat of the old studs, didn't use an easy out, just took the holes out from 3.5mm (after centre punching them) to 7mm then used a tap (second tap type) to hook out the debris, a slow process but satisfactory result. If I did it again I'd buy a better centre punch and a finishing tap. To be honest I was more daunted by the mass of hoses on the motor and whether they would go back without problem!

The exhaust looks great but fitting wasn't without hassle, it's the same one as per the vwspeedshop system. If anyones interested in the details of my particular experiences I'll be happy to relate them, it's a nice looking bit of kit, sounds sweet but mine needed that extra little persuasion to get it spot on!

[onecogwonder]

I had to bring up a few quality points on the vwspeedshop exhaust system, might be worth just checking the kit out before you lay down your hard earned cash for it!

The fitting kit wasn’t great, there were two missing bolts, one wrong sized bolt and no washers/spring washers. These are easily picked up from your local suppliers but should really have been in the kit to start with. My "local" nut and bolt shop was 24 miles from the workshop so a 48 mile round trip to get them.

The 6 x nuts and bolts on the flanges either side which lead to the silencer collector weren’t stainless steel, not good considering the price tag, again replaced with bolts from the "local" bolt shop.

The rear J tubes had less than enough adequate clearance as they curve underneath the heads on both sides, the bend needs a lot more clearance to allow the pipe to stand away from the head. I will probably use exhaust wrap on these as there is just a couple of mm between the bottom of the rocker cover and the top of the J tube.

The same rear J tube pipes needed to be shortened by about half inch in order to fit into the first part of the collector, the mating flared tubing needed to be flared a lot more so that the pipe will fit properly (ie without beating it into place). If I didn't shorten the J tubes I would have had to literally beat the extra length into the collector, and I wouldn't have liked to try to remove it once it was fitted. I don't like to use the word "beating" when referring to stainless steel exhausts, I think "slipping" would be more appropriate.

Overall the new exhaust looks good and sounds nice, slightly deeper and throatier than the old steel system, and the outcome was good, but the above points are worth considering when you receive your box of shiny bits. All the above points are based on my observations in fitting my own exhaust and in no way reflect on the quality of the brand as I haven't noticed anybody else niggling about these particular pipes, just me. Hope these note help somebody out!

[DancingBear]

I've just been checking out the exhaust options.

I've gone for the Brickwerks full kit (luckily they had one on the shelf, so no 8 weeks wait ), but during a call to them, Simon said that the VWspeedshop exhaust system is made by the same people who make the one that Brickwerks sell. So that perhaps says a little bit about the relative quality of each.

I went for the Brickwerks system only because I want/need the system changed asap so the van isn't off the road for longer than it needs to be when I want to be using it - because I have a 'late' exhaust system I didn't want any differences to hold up getting the van back on the road.

[California Dreamin]

I've also got the Brickwerks SS system on my 2.1MV. It seems to me that there isn't such thing as a 'straight fit' SS system as all seem to require a certain degree of work to make them fit.
Having said this and from my distant memory, even the original VW exhausts took some fitting, no modding but not what you would call an easy job.

Martin