John Hennessey - Exhaust update

John Hennessey - Exhaust update

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RT/10Dave

Original Poster:

6,364 posts

215 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Spoke to John Hennessey on the phone yesterday, (nice guy, seemed very helpful).

Unfortunately there is no way of me telling whether I definately have a Hennessey Exhaust or not, he doesn't stamp or mark the system anywhere, so no easy way to tell for certain, so the trail goes cold there.

He asked whether mine was a Chrysler or Dodge, and whether it had a Venom kit fitted, or just the exhaust, as he had only done Venom-work at his place on two Chrysler Cars that he could remember, a Yellow RT/10, (which I'm pretty sure is the ex-Prodigy, yellow with Blue stripes RT/10 that pops up for sale pretty regularly) and a white one, (which I'm not aware of)... He tells me the work on both cars was done for Chrysler UK. The exhausts were sold mail order or fitted, so looks like it must have been bought mail order and fitted over here, but from the description he gave me of the size of the pipes etc it sounds pretty likely that that is what I have.

Off to Goodwood next week for a db test... Wish me luck...

vpr

3,795 posts

245 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Hi

I definitely have a Hennessy system on my GTS if that helps.

I ordered it directly in around 1998.

If I can help identify yours, let me know. Photo may help.

rgds
lee

RT/10Dave

Original Poster:

6,364 posts

215 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Thanks Lee,

My RT/10 has side exit exhausts though, so I'm not sure there will be that many comparisons we can make against the two, as I assume yours will be rear exit?

At the end of the day it doesn't make too much difference what system I have, I was just trying to be certain of what I've got on the car, in order that I can try and work out what kind of BHP benefit I am getting, and also so that I know what I actually have in the way of cats etc, I'll have to take the side sills off at some point and check out the system a little further, I'm just a bit concerned about doing that at the moment as there is a small amount of corrosion on the sills in a couple of places, and I am a little worried about aggravating it, knocking off the paint and making it look worse, as at the moment it's not too obvious.

Do you have any idea of what kind of BHP benefit I am likely to be getting above stock from a system like that?

Viper

10,005 posts

280 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
get your sills off and take some pics that may clear things a bit up, if your worried about the corrosion/bubbling on the outside wait till see what the inside looks like, dont expect it to be pretty

RT/10Dave

Original Poster:

6,364 posts

215 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Viper said:
get your sills off and take some pics that may clear things a bit up, if your worried about the corrosion/bubbling on the outside wait till see what the inside looks like, dont expect it to be pretty
It's what they are likely to be like inside that worries me... I'm in half a mind to get some replacements sorted before I remove them...

ViperDave

5,571 posts

260 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
RT/10Dave said:
I'm in half a mind to get some replacements sorted before I remove them...
have you seen the $$$ for OEM replacements?

Unless they are really bad you should be ok, I have some corrosion/bubbles around the front two screws but have taken the sills off many times without any problems, just be careful when you put them back on not to over tighten the screws as it can easily be done on the thin sheet metal.

Chances are though as Neil says the insides won’t be pretty and the insulation will definitely look a mess. Putting them back on can be done on your own but is easier with two, put the top on at the front and work backwards like a zip, line it up front/back and put a couple of screws in the top then push the bottom into place, unless you have the car on stands or have a small head use a mirror to line up the screw holes underneath. The hardest bit is getting the 4 sill plugs out to get to the screws along the door frame.

Disclaimer Not my fault if they fall apart

RT/10Dave

Original Poster:

6,364 posts

215 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
ViperDave said:
RT/10Dave said:
I'm in half a mind to get some replacements sorted before I remove them...
have you seen the $$$ for OEM replacements?

Unless they are really bad you should be ok, I have some corrosion/bubbles around the front two screws but have taken the sills off many times without any problems, just be careful when you put them back on not to over tighten the screws as it can easily be done on the thin sheet metal.

Chances are though as Neil says the insides won’t be pretty and the insulation will definitely look a mess. Putting them back on can be done on your own but is easier with two, put the top on at the front and work backwards like a zip, line it up front/back and put a couple of screws in the top then push the bottom into place, unless you have the car on stands or have a small head use a mirror to line up the screw holes underneath. The hardest bit is getting the 4 sill plugs out to get to the screws along the door frame.

Disclaimer Not my fault if they fall apart
The main corrosion is around those two front screws, which is why I'm a bit concerned about removing them and making the holes bigger, thus meaning that the screws have got nothing left to hold on to... I think I'm going to have to give this some serious thought...

I like the disclaimer... makes me feel a whole lot better! LOL... biggrin

Edited by RT/10Dave on Wednesday 4th July 14:14

ViperDave

5,571 posts

260 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Unless the sill is corroded to the point where it would break away and if it’s that bad you sills would probably already be loose, you should be ok, the corrosion happens between the paint and the aluminium sill under the screw, but doesn’t seem to affect the metal that the screw is fastened into (i.e. the bit that is fixed to the chassis), at least that is how it is on mine. Just be careful when removing those screws and I would suggest you do them first and see how it goes, but you can take all the screws out top and bottom and the sill will stay in place until your ready, you then just pull it off horizontally straight out from the car. .

DONT, (that’s worth repeating), DONT over tighten them when you put them back on. You probably stand more chance of having problems using a large wrench to do them up too tight than the corrosion will give you.

Is the corrosion just a small area around the screw head or are we talking big holes in the side here?

Disclaimer – If you strip the threads, I told you so

RT/10Dave

Original Poster:

6,364 posts

215 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
Mainly the corrosion is as you said, just a small area around the screw heads, there are a couple of small bubble spots toward the front side of the sills as well but they don't appear quite so bad... Maybe it would be worth getting a body shop to have a look at repairing them?

VENOM500

2,984 posts

290 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
RT/10Dave said:
Spoke to John Hennessey on the phone yesterday, (nice guy, seemed very helpful).

Unfortunately there is no way of me telling whether I definately have a Hennessey Exhaust or not, he doesn't stamp or mark the system anywhere, so no easy way to tell for certain, so the trail goes cold there.

He asked whether mine was a Chrysler or Dodge, and whether it had a Venom kit fitted, or just the exhaust, as he had only done Venom-work at his place on two Chrysler Cars that he could remember, a Yellow RT/10, (which I'm pretty sure is the ex-Prodigy, yellow with Blue stripes RT/10 that pops up for sale pretty regularly) and a white one, (which I'm not aware of)... He tells me the work on both cars was done for Chrysler UK. The exhausts were sold mail order or fitted, so looks like it must have been bought mail order and fitted over here, but from the description he gave me of the size of the pipes etc it sounds pretty likely that that is what I have.

Off to Goodwood next week for a db test... Wish me luck...
I think one of the cars was mine or at least that`s what I was told when I bought it back in 01. Blue/White stripes

RT/10Dave

Original Poster:

6,364 posts

215 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
We only discussed RT/10's Tom, so it's quite possible that he did yours as well...
After I spoke to you at Goodwood a few years ago, (and obviously I misunderstood), I thought you had got the parts from him and had the work done to Venom-it over here?

big kev

591 posts

221 months

Wednesday 4th July 2007
quotequote all
May as well join in on the corrosion topic on RT10's sills.

I was going to ask later on in the year as this was going to be a winter project for me, but since we are talking about it.

My sills also need sorting, they are not too bad, both came off ok when I changed the exhaust. Having said that, it may be a different story with the paint off.

So what is the experience here, BAZ said that he changed his for fiberglass sills?
Are the original sills repairable by a local body shop, or do they need specialist repair?

Can you stop it happening again?

Edited by big kev on Wednesday 4th July 16:24

yorkie boy

280 posts

228 months

Sunday 8th July 2007
quotequote all
i have the same problem with my cills (one worse than the other).i have been to see a guy nearby who speciailises in aluminium,i am taking my cills off this winter and he will blast them ,repair all corroded areas with aluminium and repaint.i spoke to baz a while ago and he suggested fibreglass cills (approx £150 each) but the exhausts need to be changed with hi-flow cats to reduce the heat(origonals run too hot).

big kev

591 posts

221 months

Sunday 8th July 2007
quotequote all
Baz, told me the same thing, but my new exhaust system would allow the use of fiberglass.

But I would like to try and keep the original, so, providing that you are happy with the results of your repair perhaps I could use the same repair shop?

Viper

10,005 posts

280 months

Monday 9th July 2007
quotequote all
a new thread on the VCA, youll find lots of info on this if you do a search


http://forums.viperclub.org/showthread.php?t=60409...