I’m inches away from being able to drive the 72 I’ve been working on this past year but I’ve hit a snag this week with the Bell Stainless Steel exhaust system I got. I’m really surprised at how sloppy this thing fits together. The resonators won’t fit over the ends of the pipes that go through the cage - had to eventually buy a pipe expander - and the mufflers fit so loosely on the ‘y’ pipe that even when I crank down the fancy band-style clamp until it hits it’s stop I can still move the muffler around a little. That means they can’t hold the y pipe in place so I had to fabricate a way to support the y pipe, I woulda just used old fashioned U-bolt clamps but I need this thing to come apart when I do the rear end .
Plus the downpipes are too close together to fit into the manifolds properly without making a sort of spreader to push them apart.
So be warned, these kits are probably cheaper than having a custom exhaust made depending where you live but they aren’t exactly plug & play… I was a little surprised about that.
Unless the car is in a very wet clime, SS seems unnecessary. Mild steel usually does just fine.
Only a portion of the original exhaust remains on my car. But it does include the front mufflers.
Still solid.
A local muffler shop connected the engine to the mufflers, including an H pipe and converters. 800 bucks. But, the CA special converters were a large part of that.
I painted the down pipes in aluminized muffer paint. Still intact. I never got around to painting the new bare pipes. It seems no matter, no rust seen there at all. I am aware that they rust from inside to out side. But, the “new” is now 17 years old and healthy.
Caveat, folks n the wet, icy and slush do not fare that well.
Hi Rob - I’d definitely like to know how yours fits. These things aren’t exactly cheap - I expected less aggravation.
FYI - I replaced just the Y-pipe and downpipe (no catalytic converter) in my Series 3 with Bell parts. Those were fine but I didn’t go all the way back so no experience with S3 mufflers/pipes. I will say however that the Y-pipe is only 2 years old and the car is garaged, rarely sees rain and never snow and it’s got a coating of light rust on it. Obviously alot of iron in that stainless - at least in the Y-pipe. The downpipe looks as it did when installed.
@Cadjag Hi Carl - the attraction of the Bell system is also that it’s a little cheaper than full custom most of the time - I think the system with hanger kit was around $650. Also if you live in a less populated area like I do it’s much easier to have UPS bring me the stuff. Otherwise I would have to have the car flat-bedded to an exhaust place - an expensive proposition.
Hi John - what kits did you use? Mine is a Series 2 coupe kit with flange/olive joints for easy take-apart (same wheelbase as Series 1 SWB) Everything fits in the right place they just don’t slide together well… that and the issue with the downpipe.
Could just be manufacturing variation but still annoying.
One was for a Mk X and the other was an 84 XJ6. I think the Mk X was all slip joints and I don’t recall any trouble. The olive joints on the XJ6 are always better though!
Yeah - I do love those olive joints! I’m waiting to rebuild the cage til I get the car running so it’s imperative that I can get it back apart with a minimum of cursing.
~Mike
some years ago I put on Bell’s stainless from the y-pipe to the end tips and was quite satisfied. Fit was perfect, even over-axle, even though it took some time to get everything in place. But yes, SII have the olive joints as well.
The one thing I remember though is that my y-pipe was too short so we had to weld on an extension. However, this seemed to by a mystery of my individual car, as another mild steel y-pipe I had purchased separately was exactly the same length and the original y-pipe gave trouble for exactly this reason - and, yes, all three of them were for LWB cars. Until today I have no clue why my car is running out of specs.
And Carl, you’re right - the original Jaguar set up is of quite high quality and good for many years, if used adequately. Yet, the rear resonators are far away from the engine and it takes quite some driving to really get them hot enough to expel any water collecting in the phase of cold running. Stainless steel is just so much more forgiving in that respect: my Spitfire’s rear resonator basically needed welding after two years and replacement after three; the stainless type now has been in for - wait - almost 30 troublefree years! That makes up for the undeniable loss in sound.
I put a Bell system in a TR6 around 10 or 12 years ago and had no issues. I don’t know - maybe they made the parts for this S2 set I just installed the Friday before the holiday break or something… or maybe it was Bring Your Booze to Work day at the factory
Well it’s all installed now. Annoying that I had to mess around more than I should have with the 4 slip joints and the downpipe but it is what it is.
Hi all
I just fitted a Bell SS system to a series 1 which was something of a PITA to do and came across a problem in that the old chromed exhaust finishers are the same diameter as the outlet pipe of the back boxes so will butt up but won’t fix on. I have found some pipe from the old system which has the same external diameter as the internal of both the box and the finisher pipes so can mount the finishers but now of course they stick out way too far beyond the bumpers and look ugly. Does anyone make finishers for the Bell system or am I going to have to cut the old ones.
I had that same problem but my S1 finishers were not looking good so I wound up using a perfect set of S3 I had around. Those fit. The only difference is the rounded over end and I believe they are Stainless Steel instead of Chrome so probably better longevity.
You could also try an exhaust pipe expander tool on the old exhaust tips to spread em out a little more.
I have had the same problem, the finisher is the same diameter.
Came up with the exact same solution using the leftover mild steel parts that were still good and will cut the length by which it would fit. I‘ll bring my rear bumper to see if it’s the correct length at the tip, and then go to town on the stainless. Mine isn’t branded but it came from Limora/SCParts, not because I like them but because they were cheapest there and seem well made and they do fit otherwise (I already knew how ugly fitting it would be, especially crouching on the floor). Sound is very nice too.
