Diy Exhaust Upgrade

[Twinky]

Well I have been sick for the past week so not mutch progress for that week.

 

Sunday was nice and sunny So I decided to finish off the system. I finally got a hold of welding properly with the mig,(only got a hold of it on the final few welds that I did,not shown in the pics)

The quality and look of the weld was perfect!! I have never welded so easily before. Basically I made a series of tacs

accross the pipe and basically did short bursts of spots accross the whole way, using a high current setting. The mig penetrated throught the

entire thickness of the pipe as I could see no lip on the ineer side of the pipe, only the weld. It was a very fine line of bursting holes in it if I wasn't carefull.

Anyhows the system is done!!! A bit of dicking around to get the right angles is the only frustrating thing, because you are constantly attaching and detaching

the system to make sure it all fits up well. I only had two stuff ups with this, one I have forgotten to put a geasket on the merge with the extractors so it is blowing smoke from there, still runs well though.

Two, the exhaust clunks when I hit bumps so I have to see what it is hitting. I can get my hand on the pipe and wriggle it about without any noise so I am thinking it might be the diff hitting the pipe as the suspension contracts.

 

 

Size comparison

 

 

The system sounds nice and deep but not drony or loud, it does get louder as you hit high rpm though but it's not something excessive.

Looking back at it now, the only thing I would change is the merge pipes as I did not have enough bends and straights to make a neater secondary to merge.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Twinky

[altezzaclub]

Well done that Twink!

 

Love these cheap jobs that work!

 

I've paid just over $300 for mine, including the two mufflers, but I had no access to welding or pipe bending so had to bite the bullet.

[ke70dave]

I've paid just over $300 for mine, including the two mufflers, but I had no access to welding or pipe bending so had to bite the bullet.

 

that include a CAT?

 

when i put my 4age in the ke70, ended up costing $550....but $200 of that was the brand new catalytic converter....but same deal as mr altezza...didnt have a choice, and needed an exhaust asap.

 

but yes very well done twinky.

[altezzaclub]

that include a CAT?

 

Nope- didn't have one from factory and no-one mentioned putting one in...

 

Maybe the age of the 4AGE did it, or the fact it had to be engineered...

[19914afc]

My whole exhaust from the extractors back cost $250 with one muffler and a custom twin tip that they fabbed at the muffler shop.

[ke70dave]

Nope- didn't have one from factory and no-one mentioned putting one in...

 

Maybe the age of the 4AGE did it, or the fact it had to be engineered...

 

yeah something about you have to keep the same emissions equipment that the engine came with. so i figured best to be safe than sorry.

[71-BEETLE]

Ive just done the same thing with my charade and a few mates cars.

 

Get into the bin and get everything that hasnt rusted. Then i can cut the smaller pipes out and put the bigger in, i even jagged a wrx pipe for my mates liberty, that thing sounds loud now.

 

I'm just interested in the flowing and merge of the header you have pictured. I'm fairly new to the exhaust fab on straight 4s but understand on a vw beetle.

 

Are they close to same length etc.

 

And whats the go with the inert gass flow? I don't get what it would do?

[RO-81-LA]

this is one of the best DIY ideas ive ever heard of. I'm going to do this exact same on my 55. power difference should be near to what a shop would come up with I'm guessing.

what piping was used for the extractors?

 

very good idea!

[Twinky]

I got the missus to rev the car while I stood behind it to have a real listen to what the exhaust sounded like, bloody amazing. It sounds deep and throaty but not overly loud and drony.

None of that crap honda rasp to be heard through any rpm range, its awesome. Only thing now is that the car sounds mean but has not the gutts to back the bark.

 

The merge on the secondary header is roughly the same lengths give or take a cm. I am thinking of making up some extractors now as they are the limiting thing now. (Only did it from secondaries back)

As for the power increase it is only minor if even that. But the throttle response seems to be more sharp. Also I don't know why but starting the car is easier,

most of the time I don't even have to pump the accelarator for that extra bit of fuel to kick it over. The great thing about this is that I did not have to weld up the merge pipe as it was already there.

The pipes used was from a VL commodore and some sort of Falcon, chopped and shaped to fit.

 

Tools used:

 

Gas Mig (with no gas attached)

Pliers

Hammer

Screwdriver

Hacksaw

Round file

Square file

Bastard file

My back

Left pinky finger

One right handed glove on my left hand (dog ate all my left hand welding gloves, and yes I went bare handed on the right, zapped a few times when I accidently pressed the trigger pulling the wire free)

 

Also if you hold your tounge in the right position everything works out.

[RO-81-LA]

well it came up pretty good. I'm most likely goin to attempt this one day. all you need is a coat or 2 of exhaust paint and its a done deal.

[Twinky]

already done in a stealth black :jamie:, like the secondaries in the second to last pic.

[Twinky]

Got a vid of what it sounds like now. Audio quality does not really do it any justice.