RUK - Project Recommission 1972 'Dolomite' Auto

[James467]

I joined the manifold to the downpipe without using any exhaust paste.

Is it wise to use some paste here?

[Jon Tilson]

You should be able to feel the blow with your fingers - obviously be careful not to burn them...

Or a rubber tube in your ear can help pinpoint the location. Sadly it may be a new gasket on the manifold. Its very easy for these to slip
when using bolts.

I always use a smidge of paste on the downpipe flange, with brass nuts and a plain and spring if available. Failing that steel nuts will do but tighten them well. The brass ones will squeak on the final nip...

Once you have a seal you can tighten the support bracket at the gearbox and then hang the rest of the exhaust from there.

I agree that recent diaphrams from Mr B make this an unlikely suspect....but still easy to check.

Jonners

[James467]

Getting frustrated

There's something wrong with the back section, I've tried all day and it will not fit correctly.

The downpipe to inter pipe join clamp also clamps to the gearbox so trying to align things and maintain a seal is difficult. What I have found is that if I try to push the centre section forward then the rubber hanger pushes back and puts stress on the downpipe which I think is what is causing the blow there. I have tried putting another clamp on to support the downpipe but then I cant get the inter pipe on enough to seal it properly.

I am going to remove it all and compare it to the old one I had.

[MIG Wielder]

Hi James, Couple of things to mention I think from when I did mine.
* Yes I used a smear of exhaust paste on the mating faces of the manifold and the down pipe.
* I used the double length brass nuts to secure the clamp. Mine came from WINS. The idea is that you can get a higher clamping force and since they are double length they cover most of the stud thread length.
* Looking at the early 1850 parts book there are differences between the auto / nonO/D / O.D down pipes.
Auto and Non O/D are 312150 while the O/D version is 313196.
The down pipe to gearbox bracket is different as well. Auto is 157568, O/D is 159674 ,Non O/D is 157096. Later ones all have 159674 and automatics have UKC3409.
Somewhere I have my spare stainless steel 1850 down pipe TH127 if you'd like to try that for size.
Tony.

[new to this]

James

Try holding a peace of tissue near all the joints you should see it moving if theres a blow on the joint

What size/diam is the exhaust system ?

Dave

[GTS290N]

James, the work you put in and the effort you make in additional, vital feedback to everyone involved (e.g to the supplier in this instance) puts me to shame, the club is lucky to have you as a member. Thank You.

[James467]

Cheers chaps, and thanks for all the suggestions. It looks to have had a manufacturing problem, I have removed the complete system and compared it to the old one and there are a few issues which mean that the system will never fit or seal correctly.

Have spoken to and have just emailed the supplier with photos, they have already said that they will look into it urgently and have someone come and collect any bits they need returned tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have this resolved by the end of the week.

[Jon Tilson]

Interesting you say a non od and od down pipe are different.
They cant be very different if at all as on ERO which is non o-d from the factory I fitted an o-d box and an o-d centre system to the OE
downpipe with no issues...

What I did note is that the best way to fit it to the gearbox support bracket (for an o-d box) was with a funny little hook over the U clamp and the hook then bolts to the bracket. I used the same hook for both o-d and none o-d setups. The use a separate U clamp on the sleeve joint.

On a Sprint system the same clamp is used for both jobs...gearbox support and sliding joint. This may not be the best way but it works for me.
On 1850's I have always had best results separating the gearbox support and joining functions.

Shame you are having such a hassle... Can you get it to work and seal if you detach it from the gearbox mount? If so then work out how to bring the box support in somehow later?

Jonners

[James467]

I'm not worried about the hassle, it was just hot yesterday and I was getting cross!

The downpipes are slightly different, how different I don't know, but I would have thought it was minimal. The parts book shows part number GEX1549 for a non o/d and auto car, part number GEX1614 for an o/d car.

The joint is the same as a Sprint with the clamp being used for both gearbox support and sliding joint. If I use an additional clamp for the support then I don't have enough space to slide on the centre section enough to get anywhere near and line up with the hanger at the rear. Sorry I probably wasn't explaining right!

I taped both downpipes together and they are slightly different, see the pics.

The old one is longer here



Difficult to photo but the first angle is spot on





The second angle isn't right though and this I think accompanied by the lack of length is causing the issue.





Spoke to the supplier and they agree that there's something wrong. So they have arranged for everything, old and new systems to be collected tomorrow and expressed back over to them.

[SprintMWU773V]

Does anyone make an exhaust that fits out of the box? I know we had some very expensive stainless ones made at work earlier this year from a well-known manufacturer (one that also makes our mild steel systems) and the fit was appalling and in many cases very wrong.

I'm really not looking forward to fitting a Sprint exhaust. I have a stainless 'Sports' system in the loft, I sincerely doubt it fits very well. I've always preferred the sports systems to standard but maybe these fit better?

Either way your feedback will be invaluable to the manufacturer I hope.

[James467]

Does anyone make an exhaust that fits out of the box? I know we had some very expensive stainless ones made at work earlier this year from a well-known manufacturer (one that also makes our mild steel systems) and the fit was appalling and in many cases

Yes the club system, they used my original Sprint system as a pattern Mark.

[new to this]

what size/diam is the exhaust system ?

Dave

[James467]

Oh no, you asked me that after I boxed it all up!

[James467]

I can't do anything much until the exhaust returns, well nothing urgent anyway.

One thing I did notice and was chatting to Bruce about this was that the temp gauge reads high in this weather but the bottom hose is ok to touch. The cooling system has been gone over, re-cored rad, new hoses, everything flushed etc... and the temp sensor changed which I think is the root of the issue.

Anyone know the best temp sensor to use? I can change it when I do the fan.

[new to this]

James

normally i would say get the temp sensor from LD parts,but there out of stock i need one for the stag,try robsport

Dave