Club 80-90 Forums

Can a late exhaust system be fitted to an early 1.9 watercooled engine?

Yes as long as you get the bracket that fits at the front of the engine and the cradle style brackets that support the main silencer box.
These are VW parts and cannot be got from your average exhaust supplier.

Is there any benifit to having a late style exhaust? is there any benifit to the early exhaust system?

el_kel1 wrote:Is there any benifit to having a late style exhaust? is there any benifit to the early exhaust system?

Not really, the early exhaust is a lot cheaper to buy.
The late one is known as "the plumbers nightmare"
The late ones sound a bit nicer and some say they give better performance, but having had both, I did not notice this aspect.

Ours "should" have (and DID have) the later one, but a couple of years ago when money was tight I opted to fit the earlier one and have no regrets.
Good prices and quality from "EuroParts" branches in a town near you.

Removing and fitting them however can be a REAL can of worms, broken studs, seized up and rounded Allen head bolts etc etc.

Tips =
Use Plus Gas NOT WD40 to help free up nuts and bolts.
Buy a full fitting kit from where you get your exhaust, all the nuts, bolts and gaskets etc (not dear)
Use heat to free up seized nuts and bolts = you DON'T want to break any as getting the remains out can be a nightmare, sometimes involving engine removal to get at the remains.

el_kel1 wrote:Is there any benifit to having a late style exhaust?

yes lots
It's a lot quieter and allows the engine to breath better, though the latter is debatable
you can attach motorcycle silencers, slowly replace sections of it with stainless pipes.

I have had mine on from GSF for four years now and although outwardly rusty its still quite solid