Ian Podmore Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 I am shortly going to be fitting a side exhaust to replace my rear exit exhaust. What advice can any one offer so as to not damage body, and also what clearance should be allowed around the exhaust where it goes through the body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkenyon Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 The way I did it (and I'm not saying it's right!) is to follow the usual rules with fibreglass, put masking tape on the gelcoat side. The way I did it was to fit the engine and exhaust without the body on (is this feasible for you, or is it not worth the hassle of removing the body?), then stick masking tape between chassis members around the outside of the exhast where is passes the chassis IYSWIM. This means when you put the body work on, you have a template of where to cut the hole. As for cutting the hole, I used a drill to get the pilot hole, then a dremmel with a sanding drum attached to enlarge it to the required size. I have recently got one of those RotoZip toys, which I plan to use for the new car and will report back in a few weeks as to how successful it was. On the clearance front, a fair amount... maybe 15-20mm all around??? Bear in mind you have to take into account both engine movement during starting, and heat. If it turns out that there is not enough clearance and the fibreglass becomes discoloured, you could always cut it back a bit further and add a nice SS or carbon heat shield around the hole. Ross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 Can I point you to my mate Steve Richard's site at http://www.oakwood-data.com/ whereunder you will find (in the "Car Project" section under "Tips") a whole chapter about doing this very thing called 'Determining the correct location for the exhaust outlet' or some such stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Podmore Posted January 18, 2002 Author Share Posted January 18, 2002 Thanks for that. Web site info very useful plus guidance on cutting fibreglass. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedricTheBrave Posted January 20, 2002 Share Posted January 20, 2002 The best tool I have found for cutting the fibre Glass cleanly is the tile cutting attachment for the Dremil you also get a guide with it for scrolling on a flat surface very usefull for doing the hole for the exhaust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennedyj Posted January 21, 2002 Share Posted January 21, 2002 When I built my Pinto engined car a few years ago I fitted the engine, gearbox and exhaust before fitting the body so I could template where the hole should be. I then removed the exhaust, fitted the body and cut the hole. I then found that the only way I could get the exhaust back on, without making the hole absolutely enormous, was to remove the engine and gearbox, put the exhaust through the hole and then re-fit the engine!!! What a pain . -JohnK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AChamberlain Posted January 22, 2002 Share Posted January 22, 2002 I guess it depends on your exhaust system really, My Seight needed a hole on each side. following westfields instruction i ended up with hole 12" x 6".. That pretty big!! the way i started was to work out the centre point of the 4 pipes and then us a large hole cutting drill bit. from this i worked out how far to enlage the hole so that all of the pipes fit. Finally i enlarged the hole to the required size and fitting the ali plate. I used my Dremel type drill with a very small sanding drum (excellent), a notmal jigsaw for rough cutting, and a hack saw for the neat cut.... The first hole is the worst!!! Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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