Need an exhaust

[BigSkyBrad]

As rare and interesting as my under-slung exhaust system is for a Zetec (it's been a good conversation starter), it's had it's day. A guy following me waved me down yesterday while out for a blat and I found a metre of fibreglass wool hanging out of the tailpipe like an alien umbilical cord! I pulled another metre out and drove home, but power felt down so I can only assume the internals of the mild steel silencer has collapsed and blocked. The front pipe also has a pin-hole in it, and sleeping policemen have knocked it about a bit. The silencer has been repaired in the past, I guess for rust.

The car:  1999 SEiW, standard Zetec 1800, standard throttle body, standard ECU, and no real desire to seek big hp in the future.

The requirement:  Would prefer an 'out of the box' system that I can fit myself and doesn't incur extra costs (remap?), I don't really want to have to take it/leave it somewhere to get a custom system made, given that the silencer is imploding as I drive it, and I live in Glasgow. Also, the bodywork will need an exit hole cut and another hole cut to locate the boss for the silencer mount - would want to cut them myself.

Given the age of the car, do I need to retain a cat for the MOT?

If a cat is absent, will the Ford ECU compensate adequately? I understand the O2 sensor needs to remain.

The one from the Westfield Parts store is an easy choice but it's quite pricey so it had better be stainless throughout (and dread the supply time) - are there any others to consider?

 

 

[Thrustyjust]

If the car has a cat, you will potentially have to keep it. If you want to run a new side exhaust system, then buy it and fit it. I cant remember if the underslung ran the standard cast exhaust manifold or a tubular system . If you run a lambda then it will recognise how lean it may run with the new better flowing system and will enrich as required, to a degree. I believe you may have the standard inlet system and potentially all the Ford gubbins. Plenty of people put performance parts on their Mondeos and Escorts and they ran fine, if you see where I am going. Or just it changed and put it on some rollers for peace of mind to check what it is doing.

[BigSkyBrad]

Yeah, cast manifold, a mile of tube (a decent bore at least), and a cat the size of, well,  a cat (as in moggy).

[Thrustyjust]

Performance cats are a lot smaller than the standard ones.They can also be fitted inside the silencer , so as to look cat free. Motad do the factory exhausts , but the welding is a bit MEH. JP Exhausts have probaby a jig for a Zetec car and had some nice bits done by them. I am sure others will give more indepth advice as well on this. You should get a much sweeter running car with a sensible exhaust fitted and get rid of that nasty cast manifold etc. 

[congorobot]

Wunoff, and Tony Law to add another couple of manufactures names

[BigSkyBrad]

If you've not seen a Zetec underslung exhaust before, here it is!  - including the cast manifold, it's 23.5kg. The sump sits in the middle, with the cat running forward next to the steering linkage. It should now be much cooler under the bonnet.

[Thrustyjust]

What a monster exhaust. Dont forget loosing 10 kg of cast manifold too !!

[DamperMan]

Now there's no worry their about lack of exhaust length.   I bet it's relitively quiet and swooping to side exit would take some of the refinement away.  

[Thrustyjust]

I remember Richard Smith at Gurston Down, when we both did a hillclimb school with a hearing aid beige car , with that exhaust on it. It was criminal, as it was almost silent . I let the mighty crossflow in my prelit take the sound honours for Westfield that day

[BigSkyBrad]

So much ground clearance now - practically an off-roader!

@Thrustyjust Yeah it was quiet, bar a little rasp when giving some welly. The road/tyre noise and panel drum was louder than the exhaust til I laid some Dynamat down.

Thanks for suggestions for pipe builders. I looked at the websites for them and phoned a couple but most are down in England meaning traveling and leaving the car once they could fit me in, which mean this could/would mean the end of my season prematurely.

So I went for a Westfield one because ,amazingly, they had a system and cover in stock and will be here tomorrow, so hopefully fitted by the end of the weekend and back on the road. Some may feel I've sold out, but given the low tune of the car, a custom pipe would be overkill.

My big problem is finding the boss for the silencer mount. I really don't want to have to remove the inner paneling to get to it. If two or three people could measure their cars (late 90's/early 2000's) for me so that I could take the average to cut a hole in the outer panel, I would be very grateful. I phoned the Westfield tech dept but they were no help. I would need (a) the measurement from the vertical crease in the side panel to the centre of the mount bolt, and (b) the measurement from the lower edge of the panel to the centre of the bolt. If anyone can help me out with that, that would be superb.

 

[Andy (Sycho)]

If you take the rear wheel off  you may well be able to see or feel the boss between the GRP & chassis.

[Thrustyjust]

It maybe easier to fit the system and then see where the rear exhaust bracket lines up on the panel. Drill a small hole and go from there to open up. You might , as Andy says see it under the wheelarch.

[DamperMan]

Being super nosey. How does the exhaust look from behind of the car.  Is the box hanging below the fuel tank?   Do the underslung pipes touch the ground ever.   

[BigSkyBrad]

@Sycho Nah, my car has alloy panels riveted and snotted to close that gap off.

@DamperMan I've never bottomed out out on the open road, even on the rough single tracks in Scotland. I've read on here of people catching their seat bolts on the road, and we've never touched the pipe down which is 2" lower - mind you, I'm only 12 stone and the missus way less. However if you go over a sleeping policeman any faster that 5mph, the suspension bounce allows the cat to hit the speedbump, and the long pipe had a couple of small flats in it from previous (heavier/lairier?) owners.. The welded assembly lip that runs around the perimeter of the cat had been chopped at the factory (like the bellhousing is) to give another 5mm clearance!

The silencer is below the tank but the rear valance is lower than the silencer, though has no scrapes - however we have scarched the spare wheel/number plate several times leaving driveways etc.

[Andy (Sycho)]

4 hours ago, BigSkyBrad said:

@Sycho Nah, my car has alloy panels riveted and snotted to close that gap off.

Those panels are easy enough to remove though.