325TI - Project Mpact
Discussion
Good to see this is still coming along nicely Adam! Good to see your thoughts on the solid coupler, something I intend to do to mine at some stage, though its still languishing in storage and no plans to move the C5 on yet, expect the compact will be off the road for as long as yours was!
Ps. Have you done the brake and clutch pedal bushings?
Ps. Have you done the brake and clutch pedal bushings?
So, some of you may remember earlier in the build that the section 1 part of the exhaust was a pair of really cheap de-cat pipes (from the donor M3).
I modified these and added a pair of Magnaflow 200 cell cats, but i was never happy with them.
Which brings me to this update,
I've come across a uk supplier of stainless exhaust parts which I've been using on a few customer cars, mandrel bends, silencers and V-bands etc all to a high standard.
To start with I chopped up the existing pipes as I wanted to keep the cats and flanges... the rest of it went in the bin. First thing I did was clean up the flanges as they looked like they had been chewed from a lump of stainless,
I bored out the inside edges of the flanges slightly, this helps keep the tubes central to the flange and helps with mocking up,
All cleaned up,
Made an order of some tubes,
The exhaust note that the E46 M3 makes is known for being rather raspy, but with the silencer now shortened 600mm this amplified the rasp. Pulling away from a standstill the rasp was almost instant, so a pair of tiny resonators were ordered,
The only real place to fit the tiny silencers/resonators was directly after the cats, this meant moving the cats as far forward as they could be while staying under the heat shield.
After a lot of faffing about and some TIG welding,
Fitted,
I've only driven the car a couple of times since fitting these (because of lock down) but the small silencers seem to have helped, the rasp now only starts at around 4,500 rpm. So I can now pull away from a standstill without sounding like a chav in a Honda.
I'll probably carry on tinkering with the exhaust in the future (when i get chance) as it seems to be a fine art getting the "perfect" tone from an S54, or just make the exhaust as quiet as possible so the induction noise is more prominent.
That's all for now!
I modified these and added a pair of Magnaflow 200 cell cats, but i was never happy with them.
Which brings me to this update,
I've come across a uk supplier of stainless exhaust parts which I've been using on a few customer cars, mandrel bends, silencers and V-bands etc all to a high standard.
To start with I chopped up the existing pipes as I wanted to keep the cats and flanges... the rest of it went in the bin. First thing I did was clean up the flanges as they looked like they had been chewed from a lump of stainless,
I bored out the inside edges of the flanges slightly, this helps keep the tubes central to the flange and helps with mocking up,
All cleaned up,
Made an order of some tubes,
The exhaust note that the E46 M3 makes is known for being rather raspy, but with the silencer now shortened 600mm this amplified the rasp. Pulling away from a standstill the rasp was almost instant, so a pair of tiny resonators were ordered,
The only real place to fit the tiny silencers/resonators was directly after the cats, this meant moving the cats as far forward as they could be while staying under the heat shield.
After a lot of faffing about and some TIG welding,
Fitted,
I've only driven the car a couple of times since fitting these (because of lock down) but the small silencers seem to have helped, the rasp now only starts at around 4,500 rpm. So I can now pull away from a standstill without sounding like a chav in a Honda.
I'll probably carry on tinkering with the exhaust in the future (when i get chance) as it seems to be a fine art getting the "perfect" tone from an S54, or just make the exhaust as quiet as possible so the induction noise is more prominent.
That's all for now!
Huskyman said:
Lovely looking exhaust and with those smooth radius bends it looks like it will flow nicely. Quick question, do you acid wash the welds to remove the discoloration from the tig welding, or do you use another process which you don't want to disclose?
Thank you, Usually I just go over them with a scotch brite but if the weld discolouration is in an awkward area I'll use an acid to clean them up. I tend to do it with most stainless welds, just seems a bit more 'finished' rather than leaving all the weld colours.helix402 said:
stevemcs said:
Nice work, do you build custom exhausts then ?
I know he does custom dustpans!
I do indeed, Exhausts, fuel tanks, sheet metalwork/bead rolling, fabrication/welding, restoration/motorsport work etc. Basically anything Automotive that either needs modifying, adapting, restoring or fully bespoke items from scratch.
R400TVR said:
Hi, this has been a great read, and some very impressive work has been done.
Just wondering if you have thought about adding a CSL style intake to increase the induction noise? Could balance out the exhaust.
Keep it up!
Thank you, I have been looking at those for quite a while! I was going to make an Aluminium version of a CSL intake but I think some of the induction noise is enhanced by the carbon fiber resonating, so I knocked that idea on the head. Maybe one day. Just wondering if you have thought about adding a CSL style intake to increase the induction noise? Could balance out the exhaust.
Keep it up!
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