S Series exhaust (ends) height

[tileart]

For whatever reason, the replacement twin stainless tailpipes on my S3 exhaust are bent way too low compared to the other S’s that I have owned, and compared to the factory brochure photo and other S’s on PH. I plan to get them re-bent, just because at 10” they annoy me, but to draw the outline of the bends for my local exhaust shop I need to know how high they really should be. I realise there will always be differences (including state of the suspension and the actual length of the pipes) but can anyone with an ‘original’ car with exhausts bent pretty much parallel to the rear underside, please let me know how high off level ground the top of the tips of theirs are for an empty car ? Thanks.

[pequod]

12" on mine (S3c)!

[GreenV8S]

9" to the top of the tailpipe, 3" ground clearance at the bend (V8S).

The V8S exhaust is bigger diameter and the tailpipes are wider apart but I think the height is broadly similar to the V6.

Obviously you will need to take ride height in to account.

[tileart]

Thanks for the replies. I should also have added that the angle of the bend will be critical in helping me to work-out the geometry with pieces of cardboard and bits of string.
Now all I have to do is explain to my wife why our Google search records show "rear ends and tips...." ( and yes I did have to be careful how I typed that !)

[magpies]

to remove the ride height situation measure down from the lower edge of the number-plate aperture

[v8s4me]

tileart said:

............ but can anyone with an ‘original’ car with exhausts bent pretty much parallel to the rear underside, please let me know how high off level ground the top of the tips of theirs are for an empty car ?.......

If it were me I'd have them bent to run parallel to the bottom of the car rather than try and work it out from height off the road because every car will be slightly different.

[Barry S1]

This is mine (17" wheels)

[tileart]

I was thinking of taking the exhaust off, leaving the car tucked-up warmly and getting a bender to sort me out (darnit -- there goes the Google search records again !). Measured with a protractor against photos, about 30 degrees seems to be right.

[tileart]

Barry S1 said:

This is mine (17" wheels)

Thanks, good point about wheel size too. And how do you like your s/s tank cradle? (or as the seller on Ebay describes them, "cradle tank").

[LawrieS]

Are you sure you’ve got your exhaust mount in correctly? Looks a bigger gap there than usual to my eye.

[tileart]

[quote=LawrieS]Are you sure you’ve got your exhaust mount in correctly? Looks a bigger gap there than usual to my eye.

Yes I did wonder about that when I started poking around. The entire system is parallel to the floor of my garage and doesn't have a lot of "give" up and down, and the middle box has a clamping strap which holds it in place. I'm beginning to suspect that the downpipes (which were replaced a few years back a previous owner) are a tad over-length and have set the height for the system. I have owned this S about 6 months, I've had several others (including a brand new S3C, ah happy days) and although it looks fine from behind, I only recently noticed that from the side the exhaust looks a bit like a bike rack.

[v8s4me]

v8s4me said:

If it were me I'd have them bent to run parallel to the bottom of the car rather than try and work it out from height off the road because every car will be slightly different..

A better way of expressing this might be to suggest using the underside of car as your reference point rather than the ground.



Here you can see a slight difference in ride height on two V8S's so if you bent the exhaust to fit the one on the right it might not be correct for the other one. Just a thought.

[The Horse]

Another important measurement before you do anything is the length of the tail pipes measured from a common point, such as from the rear of the rear mounting point to the tip of the tailpipes.
Your pipes might be the correct angle but shorter ?
The length of mine from the rear of the stainless mounting plate is 37.5cm. I can't give you the height of the tailpipes as the car is currently on axle-stands but the distance from the top of the tips to the bottom edge of the number plate recess is 17cm.
David

[tileart]

v8s4me said:

A better way of expressing this might be to suggest using the underside of car as your reference point rather than the ground. Here you can see a slight difference in ride height on two V8S's so if you bent the exhaust to fit the one on the right it might not be correct for the other one. Just a thought.

Yep I suspect it's going to be trial-and-error to achieve that look. Excellent pic of the V8S's BTW.

[greymrj]

I am sorry to say I changed mine a little, rather crudely but very effectively. I pulled the pipes down a bit, put wood between exhaust and chassis, wood under the tail pipes.....and jacked up under the tail pipes. It worked, and nicely split the wood for the fire as well.

[tileart]

greymrj said:

I am sorry to say I changed mine a little, rather crudely but very effectively. I pulled the pipes down a bit, put wood between exhaust and chassis, wood under the tail pipes.....and jacked up under the tail pipes. It worked, and nicely split the wood for the fire as well.

As I don't have a woodburner stove... I checked on Ebay and (as I have no previous experience of exhaust work) was amazed to find pipe benders listed for £70 -- search for "Hydraulic Pipe Bender Up To 2" Diameter". They may not be the world's finest, but at that price it would probably be cheaper to buy one rather than take my system to an exhaust place.

[GreenV8S]

tileart said:

Up To 2" Diameter

Is that big enough? Without the right size jaws I suspect you'll distort the pipe rather than bend it.

[tileart]

GreenV8S said:

Is that big enough? Without the right size jaws I suspect you'll distort the pipe rather than bend it.

Good point. Always have the right Jaws available.

[tileart]

[quote=LawrieS]Are you sure you’ve got your exhaust mount in correctly? Looks a bigger gap there than usual to my eye. [quote]

I'm still losing sleep over this. Here are some photos from today, the tailpipes are parallel to the underside, but does my centre box look far too low ? If so, that's probably where the problem stems from.

[v8s4me]

The tail pipes look fine to me.