So Bill and I sat down over a mug or three of tea, and had a chat about exactly which direction this was heading. When I said I wanted big Cannons, I was a little baffled when the reply was that we would use Cherry Bombs. I remember them well from the pictures of 1970`s custom cars that adorned my bedroom walls when I was a child, they were fitted on all cars that didn`t have a set of Lake side pipes. Bill then handed me a 4.5" Stainless Cherry Bomb which was certainly unlike any I had ever seen before, and there was no denying its build quality compared with other silencers I had encountered.





I was given a quick lecture on how this particular style had a series of flutes running down the center that gave it a very distinct sound . . . .





And before I could but in and say that it looked a bit like an exhaust system center box and not a big cannon, he then produced a 5" tail pipe, and said that he would stick one of these on the end.





Once a few bits were wedged together, I could start to see the exhaust design that he had running through his head. However, he wanted to use slightly bigger 5" silencers and said that the rest of the pipe location and routing would really depend on how much room we had once these were in position.





Fabrication is what Bill does best, so I trusted him to start ordering in a load of bits so that we could make a start.   

And sure enough, the parts started to arrive, thick and fast - we were going to have fun trying to work out how to put this lot together





And now I see why Bill wanted to use larger silencers, because once the ends had been welded on, they would indeed look like a big mahoosive cannon.





Bill attatched the ends in place, and although you can see the joint at the moment, I know that witchcraft will eventually take place, and that crusty welded joint will soon disappear.





Something that I had not considered until now though, was the weight - these are very, very heavy   

The manifolds were fabricated, and then chopped up and refabricated the right way round, because no matter how many times you look at these, getting the plates upside down is exceptionally easy to do, and thats exactly what Bill did.





These were fitted in place, and as you can see, there is precious little room between the pushrods and very little wriggle room.





Also worth pointing out to anyone else following this, that care must be taken when attaching any bends to this, that you do not foul the access to the exhaust stud nuts, else you will not be able to remove it again.





We had these one and off so many times, that Bill fabricated some new long sleeved nuts to make access with a socket much easier 

The silencers were then hung in place using tie wraps so that we could then take stock of how it looked and formulate a game plan.





I have to say, that from my point of view, it looks awesome - and I can hear Bills mind whirring away from where I am sitting with the next bit.





Because the workshop is still being built, I invested in a car cover, just to keep the building dust from it. It was an el-cheapo water resistant car cover from the local parts factors, size medium and cost me £20. And I must say, that it almost looks tailor made for a SWB Buggy and god only knows what type of car it is meant for.

Now that the silencers were located roughly where they were supposed to be, and we had the start of the exit from the heads, it was time to decide how an earth we were going to connect them all together.

Bill knows that I don`t want too much pipework showing at the back, and is also fully aware that despite it being one of the best options, there just isn`t any room to go underneath with a four into one collector because the roll cage and tow bar have taken up every bit of ground clearance that I have. Time to put the kettle on for a brew and a think.





Moments later, the car goes up in the air and its time to put the kettle on for a brew and a think.





And the car goes back down on to the floor, where Bill stands silent, before uttering "time to put the kettle on for a brew and a think"





Eventually, after another brew and a drink, Bill has made his decision, that we will collect the exhaust gasses correctly by joining cylinders 1 and 4 together and 3 and 2 together, by running two pipes under the engine. But before he could show me, you guessed it, it was time to put the kettle on for a brew and a think.

And I will tell you more stories about the Tea later 

At the front of the engine, just behind the air intake housing, was a really good run from one side to the other, although a small notch may have to be put in place where the base of the oil filler neck goes. Because it is not in front of, nor near the air intake itself, it shouldn`t really affect the cooling system, and if anything, the air that was exiting the oil cooler would be blowing directly on it.





At the back of the engine, Bill reckoned that he could get a pipe between the engine mounts if the cage mountings were ground down a little.





And after the consumption of several liters of tea, he emerged with this little pipe





Which seemed to fit just perfectly   





Time to put the kettle on for a brew 

So we now have two silencers in place with their downpipes, all four manifolds showing some stubs





And a pair of pipes traversing from one side of the engine to the other.





So you can guess what we did next, can`t you - we put that bloody kettle on again 

Ok then. Those that know my good mate Bill will be laughing their socks off here in agreement, but for those that don`t, I have made a few references to tea here, because I have never before encountered a man who could drink so much of the stuff. He must have shares in Tetley. At first, I just thought he was a connoisseur of the brew, but after being given a rollicking for bringing in the wrong shape of teabag, I have fast realised that its probably a form of liquid OCD.

The rules in his workshop are very simple. The kettle must be switched on before the current mug is finished.   

Now, if you recall a while back, I told you that the workshop itself is still under construction and there is still no running water, which is not a problem for filling the kettle, because there are racks of bottled water that have been filled from home to see us through the hour. No, where we have a problem is what to do with that last mouthful of tea in the cup, the dregs, the last bit that went cold, that last mouthful that probably has a few "bits" in it (and if you do not know what I mean by that, then you are no mechanic, and have never drunk tea in a garage) well they are not simply discarded into the air with gay abandon or over the floor like many places I have been, but instead thrown into a bucket. No, its not the pee bucket, but I`ll be the first to admit that it looks the same.

Many moons ago, when I did my engineering qualifications at college, during our metallurgy course, I was taught about quenching of metals, and the effect that it had. We were taught about quenching to reduce the heat in water, we were taught about the benefits and dangers of quenching in oils, but at no point anywhere was I ever taught about quenching in a bucket of tea. I kid you not, this is the quenching bucket.





But it gets worse. 

We currently have builders in, putting up a brick wall for my tea obsessed friend, and to hold the bricks together they use a material widely known as mortar. You will be familiar with this name. In all my life, I have never heard builders wet themselves with laughter so much when mixing the mortar. You see, mortar is mixed from 3 main ingredients, sand, cement and (wait for it, as we have no running water) yes, tea !!



And of course, when the walls were ultimately rendered and the plasterer came to visit, you can probably guess the colour of the walls. To be fair on that one though, its only because Dulux do not have Tetley on their colour charts.

So the mission is to join it all together, whilst keeping the individual pipe lengths as equal as we can.

I`ll simply let the pictures do the talking here . . . . .

And finally, the picture that I am really pleased with, because it ticks the boxes that I started out with - It has two big mahoosive cannons, not too much pipework on show, and has been said to me already, it sits well and looks really tidy.





A huge and massive thanks as always to my good mate Bill from Powercraft Engineering, but I am fully aware that this exhaust is far from being finished as yet. There are still a few bits that need polishing and sorting, but it really needs a few miles put on it for a decent shakedown so that any problems can be identified and then tweaked.

And now, the moment of truth - time to start it up


But I`ll tell you about that one another time   

Looks a very nice job Bill has done you proud bet he will steer clear of any more buggy jobs

Very nice looking exhaust Dave, perhaps while your at it you should also make a stainless steel tennis ball   

That tennis ball is there purely for those walking by with dogs, a stainless one just wouldn`t be as much fun to watch   

Looking cool Dave, nearly as pornographic as mine