Front Exhaust Section

[Neil-yaj396]

Spent all day today  fitting my new exhaust front section. The old one had split on the seam where it joins to the mid section (which is stainless steel). The mild steel end broke off in the stainless pipe necessitating the removal of the mid section and all manner of hammering and sawing before it came out.

Fitting the new piece would have been far easier if the flange was held together by studs and nuts as I expected. That’s what it says in Haynes and I’m sure it was the case with my 2000ie. Instead it is bolts, with a long one for the section of the manifold that isn’t tapped all the way through. I just happened to get lucky catching a thread on one of the short bolts, otherwise I could have been there until next week and was already seriously contemplating sacking it and picking up some 13mm studs from Bradford Bolt & Nut tomorrow. However once one was in I was able to jam a small Philips screwdriver into the opposing hole and line everything up.

The presence of the long bolt puts me off the idea that this was some kind of bodge? I was also surprised that the heat shield was located by a flap that sits between two manifold gaskets between the flange and the manifold. Again, no mention in Haynes and not present at all on my old Beta if I remember rightly. My car is a 1978 1300 Coupe.

Anyway all sounding great and ready for the Giro de Salopia in two weeks.

[HFStuart]

The plate for mounting the heatsheild is standard - though many have gone awol over the years.

The bolts do sound like a bodge.

[Neil-yaj396]

Strange, bodges are usually done to cut corners and save time. This one has done the opposite. Possibly the manifold has been re-tapped, but still can't figure why they didn't use studs.

[Neil-yaj396]

Mmm maybe it is a bodge!

Lost one of the bolts on the motorway somwhere on the way to the Giro. Naturally one that was tapped all the way into the manifold, so loads of noise. The AA man couldn't get a new bolt in and thought it had stripped the threads. I'm fairly hopeful that it will take a new stud as I will be replacing all the bolts with studs and nuts as advised in the first place.

Note to self; if HF Stuart says something is a bodge then it's a bodge!

[Neil-yaj396]

All dismantled now and the reason for the bodge is apparent.

In fact the long bolt was the clue that it was a bodge, not the opposite as I first thought. The reason for the presence of the log bolt (which was the one that fell out) was that the first half inch of thread on the problem hole is stripped. Still can't understand however why the remaining studs were replaced with bolts? I'll get some new studs this week including a longer one for the problem socket which I hope will hold (as a short bolt will tighten in so long as it is in all the way).

If not the manifold will have to come off, which looks bad. Haynes says it will come off in situ but this looks doubtful to me, mainly because of the proximity of the back water rail. Has anyone done this??

[MattNoVAT]

The manifold will come out (I've done it on a 1600 Coupé) - it's not an easy job, needs extension wobble bars for the sockets and has to be done from underneath.

My efforts years ago resulted in torn knuckles and a few quid in the swear box  

[Neil-yaj396]

Well fixed again for now. A long stud (cut from threaded bar) has gone in the offending socket and appears fairly solid. Everything done up tight with something called glued washers, a sort of high tech spring washer provided by Bradford Bolt & Nut and relatively expensive at 60p each.
I've answered my own question as to both the attraction of the bodge and missing heat shields. Once studs are in place it is difficult to get the heat shield over them while assuring that it clicks over the top of the manifold. No doubt many a Kwik Fit fitter chucked them in the scrap bin fairly sure that the owner would never notice their absence.
This sort of thing goes on even more these days with the many plastic shields that cover the underside of modern cars. One mechanic denied omitting an undershield from my Citroen with a straight face while standing in front of a pile of various plastic bits almost waist high!