Spec Exhaust?

#21

As of right now I don’t think I will be racing until April at Mid-Ohio. Working out of town really puts a damper on comming home and then traveling far away for a race.

That being said, Anyone who wants to borrow my current exhaust before then is welcome to it. I am in Ashland, KY and fly in and out of Columbus about every week is someone wants to meet me there. This is a simple slip fit straight pipes back to two glass packs.

David, this may work for you for Atlanta.

Michael

#22

Elephant4 wrote:

Interestingly enough I have no exhaust on the car at the moment, it didn’t come with one. Secondly, I am building a new car, and thirdly I fully intend to bring it to the first event and place in the top 5. Exactly what happened at CMP last year with the Pink Panther before it was ever pink.

So every weird, off the wall disclaimer you could come up with actually fits my case. :stuck_out_tongue:

Oh wait, I just realized I’m still screwed… :angry:

#23

All:

I received the first Spec Exhaust a few days ago and will install it tomorrow (Monday) night. After seeing that it goes on the car in about 20 minutes; after getting the car off the ground and pulling the old exhaust which takes about 15 minutes on my car, the vendor, the pricing, and the shipping date will be announced here.

A few other items…

-Yes, it has taken a few days longer than we expected
-The vendor told me he is including good quality band clamps - yes, SOMEONE will complain that the price could be lowered by $2.00 by using cheap clamps…
-We’ll be fairly close to the $150.00 target price
-The muffler is made in America but is still within our price range
-Unlike some vendors, ours will include instructions
-I have absolutely no financial interest in this program and am paying the same price for my spec exhaust, as every other driver…and I wouldn’t expect it to be any other way
-You’ll get my report tomorrow night and the system will be available in the next couple of days. The vendor is a small operation so please allow him some time to build more. However, the parts are assembled and in-stock so he should have several systems ready fairly quickly
-You have until June to install it

Carter

#24

Carter wrote:

[quote]

-You have until June to install it

Carter[/quote]

Unless your current exhaust is full of holes and needs to be replaced before the beginning of the season…

#25

I believe there are differences in the early vs late model exhausts, specifically where they exit the rear of the car. Has this been accounted for?

#26

Thanks for the feedback Carter. I didn’t mean to open a can of worms here. Im happy to run whatever is spec’d. Im just trying to get my budget and pieces in line as I build this thing.

Thanks again to all of the organizers for putting in the amount of time (for free) that it takes to run a quality, fun series. I sincerely appreciate your efforts.

Mark Irvin

#27

I’d also suggest that the majority of us who already have an exhaust hold off on ordering the spec exhuast, so that the people building cars who need the spec exhaust immediately can get first dibs.

#28

I am somewhat out of the loop here… but I am currently building a car and definatly dont know the ins and outs of spec yet but im someone could inform me where to order one of these exhaust systems that would be great since i am now ready to replace the mangled one that came with the car

#29

No one knows yet, it has yet to be announced. Stay tuned.

#30

Elephant4 wrote:

Thank you Simon for suggesting this…I’m in the midst of getting my car ready for the season opener in NorCal which occurs Feb 9th-10th and was kind of getting worried about a possible backlog in orders. Your suggestion is very much appreciated!

Cheers,
Scott Neville
NASA NorCal

#31

More details later (I should have left ten minutes ago to take a customer to lunch) but the installation went fine last night.

It took about 45 minutes (I took my time, took photos, etc) with the car on the lift but like everything else, I can do one now in half the time. I’l share my tips with the group, of course.

On your back, it shouldn’t take more than about 30 minutes, or a muffler shop should be able to do it in 15 minutes.

More details tonight.

Carter

#32

Have the differences between early and late model cars been addressed?

#33

If it will work on a late model it should work on the earlier cars.

#34

Thank you.

#35

Carter wrote:

[quote]On your back, it shouldn’t take more than about 30 minutes, or a muffler shop should be able to do it in 15 minutes.

More details tonight.

Carter
[/quote]

Carter, My wife said to tell you no way she is going to a muffler shop with me, even if it can be done 15 minutes quicker there. :wink:

#36

sneville44 wrote:

[quote]Elephant4 wrote:

Thank you Simon for suggesting this…I’m in the midst of getting my car ready for the season opener in NorCal which occurs Feb 9th-10th and was kind of getting worried about a possible backlog in orders. Your suggestion is very much appreciated!

Cheers,
Scott Neville
NASA NorCal[/quote]

Ditto for me. We have our season opener in a month and this is the last thing in my car preparation. Like Scott, I would appreciate being able to get one.
Regards,
AJ

#37

All:

To see the Spec E30 Exhaust on the car…

Also, I spoke with the vendor today and he has 20 unassembled sets in-stock.

Right now, he’s in the middle of doing a roll cage for an E30 that is racing at Sebring this month. He said that he should be able to start assembling and shipping exhaust sets in the next few days.

There are a few minor items (hardware, etc.) that we need to discuss and as soon as that happens - probably tomorrow - I’ll make the official announcement.

Regarding the installation, it went well last night. A few tips…

  1. It will probably make the cutting easier if you remove the downpipes from the exhaust manifolds. I cut mine with a reciprocating saw while they were still bolted to the manifolds and the blade bumped the underside of the floor a few times. I also broke one blade. And If you’ve never unbolted the downpipes from the manifolds, soak the nuts with PB Blaster several times over a few hours and they should come off fairly easily.
  2. Cut the downpipes just forward of the stock H pipe that is about 10" aft of where the downpipes stop running down and start running hoizontal. I held the parts of the system up to the car to make sure the mounts would line up, prior to cutting the pipes.
  3. Cut one downpipe about 1/4" shorter than the other. This helps when you mount the collector.
  4. I sprayed a little WD40 on the stock pipes to help the collector slide on easier. You can see it in the video. After cutting the pipes, slide one side of the collector onto one downpipe (the welded-on tab should be aimed to the left). After it has moved 1/4", slide the collector over the second downpipe. I also had to pull the stock pipes closer together (big Channel Lock pliers) to get the collector to line-up properly. It’s tight fit so I used a big rubber mallet on the aft end of the pipe to get the collector to seat. I had marked the downpipes with a Sharpie so I would know when the collector was seated.
  5. I then attached the second section of pipe. It slid on easily and bolted to the rear cross member. I had to remove the stock rubber hanger holder and the new pipe mounting tab bolted right to it, using the stock bolt.
  6. I then slid the third (muffler) section onto the second section (slid right on) and attached the new rear rubber hanger that is included in the set. To pull the rubber hanger down, I ran a piece of rope through it and pulled down, and lifted the muffler hanger hook over the rubber hanger. I then tightened the four band clamps.

That was it.

As you can see in the video, it’s a simple system that nearly matches Jon Allen’s system that works very well on his car. Jon is a front runner in the Mid Atlantic and finished second at the National Championship.

What it isn’t is expensive “car jewelry.” However, it’s resonably priced (about $170.00 plus shipping) and will do what we need it to do. And the car still sounds like a race car.

:stuck_out_tongue:

Again, I’ll talk with the vendor tomorrow and we should be ready to move forward.

Carter

#38

One other question I have is this. Some tracks have restrictions and this will be a touch loud I’d bet. Can a car legally attach a turn down, steel wool in the tailpipe, dispersal tip, supertrapp, or similar to muffle the car further? It might be a good idea to have an approved spec method that racers can prepare for ahead of time or carry in the tool box. Some methods can be tuned and some simple testing would be easy early this season.

Also, the hangers attach from the top which isn’t a big deal. But if they wrap under the pipe and are welded on the bottom then the exhaust ‘hangs’ on them. This would be slightly more durable long term and is how we typically mount custom exhausts when we make them here in our shop. These are just as easy and quick to fab, they could be trimmed to length as needed by the end user. Hung from the top is fine if there are enough mounts, but you have a weld that is stressed and subject to alot of vibration. Often when a weld like that fails it tears the tube some and you get a big loud exhaust leak pretty quick. If it’s welded on the bottom then it hangs on the steel strap or rod not a weld.

Looks hot otherwise, and now I know where all the illegal parts are under your car. :wink:

#39

Carter wrote:

[quote]All:…

…What it isn’t is expensive “car jewelry.” However, it’s resonably priced (about $170.00 plus shipping) and will do what we need it to do. And the car still sounds like a race car.

:stuck_out_tongue:

Again, I’ll talk with the vendor tomorrow and we should be ready to move forward.

Carter[/quote]

What? :blink:

You show us video of a pan along the bottom of the car and no audio clip…

I’d love to hear it. but do we have any before and or after numbers?

Can it be welded in?

BTW: Thanks for posting

#40

+2 on the weld-in question.