Exhausting work.

[Dieselman]

Last time I went under the car I noticed there was a small hole in the exhaust caused by the welding for the hanger burning through the alumised coating. I filled this with exhaust paste for the MOT but intended to deal with it as and when.

Tonight was the time.

Removing the exhaust is straightforward on an E300TD apart from the front connection near the turbo. Due to the steering gear being in the way the exhaust has to be split at the front pipe and worked round the steering.
Unless you have a workshop ramp available you need to split the pipe halfway down the car as well to get enough room to lower the pipe sufficiently to allow the convoluted pipe to pass round the steering.

The front pipe is held with a clip ring which looks awkward to deal with but it can be undone using either large water pump pliers or a G cramp.

All in I'm pretty happy as I can now tell the car is a bit quieter and at no cost.

The pics show the hole as visible, removing the clamp, the actual hole and the finished job after welding a stainless plate on and reattaching the hanger.

The point of this post is to show how to undo the retaining spring clip and maneuver the exhaust round the steering gear.

 

[Dieselman]

Patched up.!

 

[Inkyskin]

Good job I hate it when an exhaust is too noisy, it really spoils the drive (And makes me paranoid that people are staring at my car as I drive past!)

 

[Dieselman]

You really couldn't hear it as it was only a small hole, but now it's done I was pleasently surprised to find it is quieter.

 

[Adam230K]

Nice work there diesel, i'm gonna do exactly the same thing to my mum's corsa today. Its starting to sound like a drone from a 1980's space movie. what welder u got?

 

[SilverSaloon]

i wish i could weld

i got my exaust welded by a small back street garage - is still going strong!! Its so easy for somewhere like Kwikfit to rip it off and replace when all it needs is a little weld.

 

[robert.saunders]

Good job there DM

ps - what white paint did you use on your Fletton bricks?

 

[Dieselman]

ps - what white paint did you use on your Fletton bricks?

None. They're not Flettons, they are Ibstock so much harder than Flettons. That's just regular white emulsion as it's the inside of the garage.

 

[Dieselman]

what welder u got?

Dunno, what it is other than a pretty heavy duty Mig, it's my Bro's kit. He actually did the welding, I do spannering and don't like fabrication.

 

[kth286]

Good job I hate it when an exhaust is too noisy, it really spoils the drive (And makes me paranoid that people are staring at my car as I drive past!)

BUT it's a diesel !

 

[jrggino]

Good Job

Nice bit of welding, I have myself just found my tail pipe rear most mount corroded and just broken. I am using a coat hook to hold it as Italy is on Holiday and my friend who owns a body shop has no gas for his mig welder, I will repair it in september if it has not dropped off. Good Idea using G clamps.

Gino

 

[jaymanek]

DM, why do you always do these jobs on the floor... you know you are welcome to drive over and use our ramps at the weekend!

 

[Adam230K]

Dunno, what it is other than a pretty heavy duty Mig, it's my Bro's kit. He actually did the welding, I do spannering and don't like fabrication.

I think the welder i got is a bit panties, its a mig "Clarke" welder, its not the one with the wire, it grabs the rod, which starts welding onto whatever u point it at (provided u got the -ve to the other side)

 

[Dieselman]

DM, why do you always do these jobs on the floor... you know you are welcome to drive over and use our ramps at the weekend!

Thanks Jay, I may take you up on that sometime.

It's just that I've got everything I need here, other than a lift, so it just gets done as and when, also the posts then help others more as they probably do have to do this at home.
If really necessary I can get ramp space at the the local MB dealer.

The first pic was an older one. Yesterday the car was right up off the floor to give space. I've got some lovely high lift 5 Tonne axle stands.

 

[Dieselman]

I think the welder i got is a bit panties, its a mig "Clarke" welder, its not the one with the wire, it grabs the rod, which starts welding onto whatever u point it at (provided u got the -ve to the other side)

That sounds more like an arc welder, awkward to use on thin sheet, though That was the first welder I had and used it on cars.
The best welders for car stuff are TIG, but they are expensive.

 

[Ian B Walker]

T.I.G. Welding, the Rolls Royce of welding. You can purchase a decent T.I.G. Inverter for about £500 these days. Not the sort of thing you would use every day though. Absolutely essential for stainless exhaust systems.