clubstylus

Right then - I finally got round to unwrapping my exhaust manifold and I can see why it was wrapped in the first place... I'll let the photos do the talking:









Time to find some pounds for a replacement, I think.

The bloody awful U-clamp that fits it to the silencer can be replaced with a V-band too.

It'll cost quite a bit to get one made better than that . Visually better is a waste of money , you might as well clean this one up and re-fit it wrapped , unless it's made to Zetec requirements.
1 7/8ths diam and from 28 inches to 32 inches primaries --- into 2 3/4 collector then the 2 1/2 silencer/through pipe. Although the primaries can be 28 to 32 , they must be identical lengths . You can lose up to 10bhp on a poor exhaust depending on the power you have.

Aside from the short primaries, which I knew about and could live with; it's the state of the welds on the inside and the press bend elbow that were bothering me. The exhaust itself is a 2.25" so probably good enough for a modest power 1.8 but with all those press bends in the manifold that's gotta be getting pretty restrictive.

Current plan of action is to go and see the local fabricator - at the very least I'll get him to weld a V-band flange on the end so I can do away with the U-clamp and if he's feeling keen I might get him to make a new one up for me when I have the money.

A bit of graft with the grinder and wire brush to clean up the rusty steel, one £10 off-the-shelf mandrel bend, a couple of hours with the local fabricator and splashed out on replacing the u-clamp with a v-band too. Far from the perfect manifold but less restrictive so an improvement: