Hello Folks,
I inherited a SS exhaust system with my XK 120 coupe. (The car came without any exhaust installed.) I believe what I show in the pics is correct for a 120? It is a dual exhaust. Hopefully, the pics come through for viewing. From researching, I believe the dual system goes below the chassis, not through it? Does it come very close to the cross member that supports the tranni? Would anyone happen to have any pics they can share of a proper installation?
You have it correct that the twin exhaust goes under the chassis, not through the hole in the cross member. That U shaped bracket hanging down in front of the rear axle and the little bracket on the left rear bumper bracket are left over from the single exhaust that went through the cross member and under the bumper.
The twin exhaust is really too loud in the FHC; I tried it and found it was like riding in a tympani, which is why they went away from it after trying it for a little while with the SE option.
Hi Rob,
Interesting! That is good to know the dual would be too loud for creature comfort. No wonder the body fixtures don’t line up. Do you have a SS system or a original type steel one? I hear there is a difference in the sound?
I have a Falcon single stainless system dating from the 1990s. The down pipe didn’t fit very well and I had to modify it to fit. I figured they were designed using a RHD car and didn’t realize how close the master cylinder is on a LHD car. Hope they make them better now.
Hi Wes,
i have a similar dual exhaust system on my FHC and yes, it is loud. The loudness is a matter of what muffler you have. My muffler is heavy stainless with no internal fiberglass stuffing for sound dampening. My pipes are aluminized steel. I am staying with this system for now but may in the future switch to a much quieter muffler that Bill Bassett supplies. I like the performance aspect of the virtually straight through exhaust versus the single system.
Regarding the mounts, the first mount is a bent L shaped piece of bar stock that mounts to a tab on the pipes located in front of the muffler and attaches to a tab on the frame. The second mount is an extended channel welded to the top of the muffler (shown clearly in you pictures) that attaches to the U shaped bracket via a rubber spool piece. The rear attachment is a sandwich of spacers that attach to a Z bracket that bolts to the underside of the spare tire tray. All the mounts are clearly shown in Viart’s XK-120 Explored book, if you have it.
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I don’t have Viart’s book. Would you mind taking a pic or two of the relevant pics? Much appreciated. I was thinking of ordering a single exhaust but you saying the performance is better is all I needed to stick with mine for now. Heck I haven’t even driven it yet! Getting close thou.
Copies of the book are available through paul skilleter in the uk or Welsh jaguar or me here in Australia and can highly recommend the book as a research tool
Terry Tmcgrath@bigpond.com
chris
I have one here been bumped, cut and knocked but is suitable for pattern will mark out cardboard template is this the bracket on the earliest of cars or the later single exhaust?
Thanks, Terry. I’m going for the later single exhaust which exits under the nearside bumper. Nobody seems to make the side-exit tailpipe, unless someone knows otherwise…
This is how I would make it, measured from mine.
All dimensions in inches of course, as was the original.
(Edit: 1st version deleted, revised version added)
Is it possible that SE cars had both single and dual exhaust mountings installed? Mine has both, including that vestigial bracket attached to the left rear bumper bracket.
Rob, thinking about it some more, does the bracket not hang vertically? In other words, should the top flange match the angle of the downward-sloping chassis member? Wes’s picture above seems to show the top flange at an angle. Of course it could also be adjusted by fitting a suitable wedge between the bracket and bumper iron bracket… I think I’ll wait until I get the tailpipe before I decide exactly what to do to make it fit without the rubber bobbin being under any bending stress.
The angle makes sense. Mine is one of the first to have the rear exiting tail pipe, so possibly this part was changed over the production run. I see a notch in Wes’s where mine has just a hole.
Mine also has the tab a few inches forward where a hanger for the side exiting tail pipe would go.
Nick’s may be a case of a line assembler error, half asleep and not thinking that a twin exhaust car didn’t need the bracket.
Nick, when viewed side-on, are the top and bottom surfaces parallel, or does the top one angle down? They look parallel in the picture, but I thought I’d make sure. I assume it’s an original piece?
Chris
