Stainless steel exhaust system

[silverbullet]

"Stain-less" is about right, it comes in many forms.
Most exhausts are made from 304 tube, it is reasonably corrosion resistant and also fairly easy to bend and form.
It does "brown off" a bit on header pipes and develop an oxide skin where it gets really hot, so if you want true non-oxidizing pipes then...
316 tube is more like cutlery grade stainless and really doesnt discolour, but needs much more effort to form it so the cost is a lot higher (Hayward & Scott territory)

[chapperss]

not only that 316 cracks easily. so I guess with the heat/cooling of an exhaust it doesnt take long for the cracks to start. I made an exhaust myself from 316 so I speak from experience. I lost count of how many times I had to weld cracks up again.

[silverbullet]

I have seen a few cracked flanges on wbx stainless systems.

Stainless also expands much more than mild steel as it warma up, so it shows up the exhaust design problems with a wbx more readily.

The downpipe flange that I made from 316 for the 2.6 is still ok, but it is a good 10mm thick!

[Moonrakers]

When changing my system (the original much-patched e30-year-old exhaust was still on the van) I decided to hold off ordering a new one until I'd seen how the old one came off. Yep, studs breaking like rotten twigs so engine out and off to an engineering shop for drilling and helicoils. AccordinglyI went for a mild steel OEM spec budget option from VW Heritage which was around £300 to balance he books.

I'm glad I did to be honest - very easy to fit and I prefer the original look and sound (our van is a very original one with no after-market mods or customisation) and I find that high temp bright silver paint keeps it looking really smart with an occasional touch-up. If I have to swap it again at some point in my ownership, the first and second replacements will still cost less that a stainless one.

[tforturton]

Charlie is struggling with the last stud - damn thing just won't come out.

[Smiffo]

Charlie is struggling with the last stud - damn thing just won't come out.

Did he manage to get the stud out?
I'm having a look for exhaust fitters today - MOT soon, and I need a new one...

[tforturton]

Haven't heard anything today. He rang me Saturday to say he was having problems - and it's been there all week! The studs were all original, and in a really bad way....

[Smiffo]

Haven't heard anything today. He rang me Saturday to say he was having problems - and it's been there all week! The studs were all original, and in a really bad way....

Yeh, mine look bad too - like something you find in a pack of Twiglets....

I would order an exhaust and do it myself, but unlike other things I try, if I get this wrong it may be difficult to recover without major expense...

[tforturton]

...and that's exactly why I took mine to someone who knows what they're doing.