As some of you will have read previously , the exhaust on my 500SEL started leaking a few months ago , when this happened , I had a look underneath to see if it was something that could be repaired , or if part of the system needed to be replaced - alas , pretty much the entire system looked very rusty and I concluded it would be best to replace the whole thing .
Having been previously told of the high cost of replacing the system : well in excess of £1000 ( and that was before recent increases in parts prices ) , I decided to look at alternatives : ECP still listed a few parts , but no longer the entire system , and I had had a bad experience with having a stainless steel system built for my 300TE a number of years ago . On that occasion I had gone to a local company who ripped the original system off the car and proceeded to build a new system which bore little resemblance to what came off - and the car just never ran right again .
Nevertheless , I was happy with the car , having had two years and 20K miles trouble free use out of it , it seemed to be sound enough and well worth spending some money on . In theory , the idea of a stainless steel system that would not rust and would not need further replacement in another five years or so seemed a good idea - if only I could get one that was a replica of the original design .
I initially looked on the internet , as well as in the Gazette and found the names of a number of companies who specialised in stainless steel exhaust systems ; I also looked through threads on various internet forums for people who had already had this sort of work done .
Having a short list of half a dozen companies , I either emailed them or used their website enquiry forms to obtain quotes for my car . Out of all the enquiries , only one reply was recieved ! I had sent out all the enquiries on a Sunday evening , and on the Monday morning , about 9:30am , I received a phone call from John at PD Gough in Nottingham , quoting a very reasonable price , and confirming their system was based on the pattern of the original system - the price quoted would either include postage to my address , or would include fitting if I took the car to them - I opted to take the car in .
At this point I did not have the funds to get the job done , so had to wait a couple of months while I saved up overtime payments ( which is how my 'toys' are financed as my basic pay goes towards the household bills ) .
By the end of September I was in a position to go ahead , so I phoned back to see how much notice would be required, and found that I could be fitted in this week , which worked out well as I was on holiday
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I got confirmation on the Wednesday that there was a slot available the following day , so set off just after midnight for the 320 mile drive South . Allowing for a couple of breaks en route , I arrived in Nottingham just before 5 am and refuelled ( 3/4 of a tank used for 321 miles ) then parked up for a snooze before heading round to PD Gough just after 7 am , at which point they were open . They open at 06:30 and I was told they have so much work coming in , they cannot get stuff out the door quickly enough !
The premises are small , but a hive of industry , with a single fitting bay , and most of the premises dedicated to manufacturing .
I was promptly attended to , with my car being placed on the ramp , then shown to the waiting room , where I proceeded to 'crash' on the couch and catch up with the night's sleep I had missed out on .
Shortly before noon , I was awakened and invited to come downstairs to see the finished job , which looked very professional and an exact replica of what had come off - exactly what I had wanted ! On starting the car , it was no louder than the standard system , again something I had asked about . ( I am sure that for those wanting 'sports' or 'performance' exhausts that this wish can be accommodated too ) .
Here are a few pictures of the system as fitted to my car
I had not realised until seeing this that there were FOUR downpipes ( two per side ) on this car , so seeing just how much pipework was involved the cost proved extremely reasonable .
To show a little of the manufacturing side , here are a few more pictures .
One of the technicians working on a manifold ( another service they provide )
Pipe bending
A few general views of the workshop .
For further information please see the website www.pdgough.com
On the way home the car performed better than it had in a while , but the best part was when I got back to my daughter's house in Falkirk ( 320 miles from Nottingham ) , bearing in mind that the journey down had been on empty roads with the cruise control maintaining a constant speed all the way ; the return journey being on busy daytime roads , being slowed by other traffic then having to regain speed thus driving less economically , I had used only half a tankful for virtually the same distance ! A HUGE increase in fuel economy !
I finally got home some 20 hours after I set off , having covered a little over 700 miles , without the car missing a beat , but I was 'exhausted' [
]
Having had one previous bad experience with a builder of stainless steel exhausts , this has now been redressed and i can recommend PD Gough to anyone looking for a quality system .
I should just add that I have no connection with them other than as a satisfied customer , and received no consideration nor incentive to give them a good 'write up' .
Having been previously told of the high cost of replacing the system : well in excess of £1000 ( and that was before recent increases in parts prices ) , I decided to look at alternatives : ECP still listed a few parts , but no longer the entire system , and I had had a bad experience with having a stainless steel system built for my 300TE a number of years ago . On that occasion I had gone to a local company who ripped the original system off the car and proceeded to build a new system which bore little resemblance to what came off - and the car just never ran right again .
Nevertheless , I was happy with the car , having had two years and 20K miles trouble free use out of it , it seemed to be sound enough and well worth spending some money on . In theory , the idea of a stainless steel system that would not rust and would not need further replacement in another five years or so seemed a good idea - if only I could get one that was a replica of the original design .
I initially looked on the internet , as well as in the Gazette and found the names of a number of companies who specialised in stainless steel exhaust systems ; I also looked through threads on various internet forums for people who had already had this sort of work done .
Having a short list of half a dozen companies , I either emailed them or used their website enquiry forms to obtain quotes for my car . Out of all the enquiries , only one reply was recieved ! I had sent out all the enquiries on a Sunday evening , and on the Monday morning , about 9:30am , I received a phone call from John at PD Gough in Nottingham , quoting a very reasonable price , and confirming their system was based on the pattern of the original system - the price quoted would either include postage to my address , or would include fitting if I took the car to them - I opted to take the car in .
At this point I did not have the funds to get the job done , so had to wait a couple of months while I saved up overtime payments ( which is how my 'toys' are financed as my basic pay goes towards the household bills ) .
By the end of September I was in a position to go ahead , so I phoned back to see how much notice would be required, and found that I could be fitted in this week , which worked out well as I was on holiday
I got confirmation on the Wednesday that there was a slot available the following day , so set off just after midnight for the 320 mile drive South . Allowing for a couple of breaks en route , I arrived in Nottingham just before 5 am and refuelled ( 3/4 of a tank used for 321 miles ) then parked up for a snooze before heading round to PD Gough just after 7 am , at which point they were open . They open at 06:30 and I was told they have so much work coming in , they cannot get stuff out the door quickly enough !
The premises are small , but a hive of industry , with a single fitting bay , and most of the premises dedicated to manufacturing .
I was promptly attended to , with my car being placed on the ramp , then shown to the waiting room , where I proceeded to 'crash' on the couch and catch up with the night's sleep I had missed out on .
Shortly before noon , I was awakened and invited to come downstairs to see the finished job , which looked very professional and an exact replica of what had come off - exactly what I had wanted ! On starting the car , it was no louder than the standard system , again something I had asked about . ( I am sure that for those wanting 'sports' or 'performance' exhausts that this wish can be accommodated too ) .
Here are a few pictures of the system as fitted to my car
I had not realised until seeing this that there were FOUR downpipes ( two per side ) on this car , so seeing just how much pipework was involved the cost proved extremely reasonable .
To show a little of the manufacturing side , here are a few more pictures .
One of the technicians working on a manifold ( another service they provide )
Pipe bending
A few general views of the workshop .
For further information please see the website www.pdgough.com
On the way home the car performed better than it had in a while , but the best part was when I got back to my daughter's house in Falkirk ( 320 miles from Nottingham ) , bearing in mind that the journey down had been on empty roads with the cruise control maintaining a constant speed all the way ; the return journey being on busy daytime roads , being slowed by other traffic then having to regain speed thus driving less economically , I had used only half a tankful for virtually the same distance ! A HUGE increase in fuel economy !
I finally got home some 20 hours after I set off , having covered a little over 700 miles , without the car missing a beat , but I was 'exhausted' [
] Having had one previous bad experience with a builder of stainless steel exhausts , this has now been redressed and i can recommend PD Gough to anyone looking for a quality system .
I should just add that I have no connection with them other than as a satisfied customer , and received no consideration nor incentive to give them a good 'write up' .
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