No luck at all

[tony-tvr]

Having posted a note earlier about a great days driving at an airstrip, decided to pop out and get some goodies for the evening.. got more than I bargained for.. ripped the rear silencer off the car completely on a protruding manhole. Snapped the exhaust pipes clean behind the silencer leaving about one inch of pipe protruding from the box. Anyone recently replaced one and what were the costs?
Thanks for any info

[FourWheelDrift]

Unless it's on a new housing estate where the developers still have the responsibility for the road surface, lights and pavements until it is handed over to the local council. Some have been know to abandon this responsibility and the councils get the undue blame or the residents asume the council will complete it, but often the councils don't know until someone complains.

Not sure if it's the case here though, was it on a new estate?

[tony-tvr]

No, it was on an A road. But I do have a credible witness, my driving instructor, ex met bib who was still with me. Will definately get photos of car and seperate exhaust silencer tomorrow and hunt down the offending manhole for pics too.

[FourWheelDrift]

Do it quick before someone else does the same thing and complains and they fix it.
My father was caught out this way early one morning, some years back, he couldn't take a photo until later by which time the manhole was repaired.

[rob_h]

Did a similar trick the other week but just bottomed it and broke the pipe just behind the rear silencer. Thought i'd just bust the rear silencer but luckily it was the intermediate pipes. Booked in at HHC this weekend. I believe the price is around £60-80 for the pair plus fitting. If the rear silencers knacked, a new S/S sport exhaust was going to cost me about £500. HHc were good and managed to sleeve it and weld it back to keep the car on the road. I'll let you know the cost next week.

[tony-tvr]

Sorry to hear your in the same boat rob..hope your repair isn't too expensive. Just checked over the silencer and it seems OK, a bit scratched but no real damage. Maybe I'll be lucky and get a similar repair and not need a new box.

[Julian64]

Could I just mention here that oxyacet welding kits are great for this. I just finished welding my rear box after one of the pipes fell off.

The other pipe was also about to fall off. This seems to be a weakness in the rear weld on TVR boxes and is due to some pretty poor oxidised welding in manufacture.

An oxyacet kit will set you back about £170 with about £40 in gas for a years use. You can then create metal where holes once were.

Also a nice side effect is that I could reposition the pipes to actually fit the spaces behind the car that were designed for them.

Removal welding, painting and refitting took me about a day.

[Hilti]

Sorry to hear about the damage. Try claiming off the council. Quote the New Roads & Street Works Act, (NRSWA), at them, with photo's and that should shut them up.

[tony-tvr]

Thanks for the suggestion julian64 - have you been talking with my wife? Shes trying to find a way to split me and my cerbera up- putting a welding torch in my hands (they being as skilled as those of an 3 year old) would just about do it.. thought of it makes me shudder.

Got photos of the car, but the manhole is proving more elusive - where I thought it happened seem perfectly fine now!!

>> Edited by tony-tvr on Wednesday 25th August 18:00

[Julian64]

,but you'd be surprise how easy it is to pick up. Once mastered you could patch just about anything.