Exhaust note - 2 litre engines

[littlepippin]

Does anybody else think that the exhaust sound on a 2 litre is a bit .... ahem... tame ?

Nice and quiet, but more suited to a regular 2 litre family car, than a sports car ?

So, any ideas what I could do to get a sportier sound, without going to the expense of fitting a whole new sports exhaust system i.e for a budget of less than £100. I thought about getting a new, more hollow back box, but not one of the boy racer cherry bomb fart boxes, rather more something that suits the look and age of the car.

A guy in the local last night said get a long metal rod, shove it up your tail pipe (whoops) and knock the baffles out of the way - but somehow I am not sure about that method although the £0 aspect of it certainly appeals to me !!

Cheers all.

[saabfast]

Not sure which silencer has the baffles, mid or rear. Knocking them out is OK as long as they don't come loose and fall across the pipe blocking it with a baffle or wadding. You could look for a second hand sports exhaust, I think S&S were advertising some a short while back. Could also try Robsport, both do second hand parts. I think you have heard mine running, tubular manifold with a Rimmers sports system (basically what it came with 12 years ago). I like it and don't need the radio on but my wife hates it, too noisy. Had to buy her a nice Saab convertible which she loves because it is so quiet!!

[simps]

Mine runs a tubular manifold and a stainless "sports" system. Sounds great - at first... gets a little wearing on runs. Impossible to hear the radio at all!

Be careful what you wish for!!

Runs well with K&N filters and BAL jets though

[busheytrader]

The rear silencer contains baffles. I replaced a couple of silencers back in the day when they perforated in 18 months or less, god bless BL. IIRC the baffles are spot welded to the outer casing. If you try to knock the baffles through you may well tear the silencer apart.

As said earlier, be careful what you wish for, I fitted a noisy system to my V8 and it was unbearable at motorway cruising speeds...........

[saabfast]

You are welcome to try mine Sean. I find it OK, went up to Gaydon for the annual this year and went down to Hove (about 65 miles/1 hr+) last week and it was not too much for me. Maybe I am a bit deaf, as I said my wife does not like it (but I think that's on principle as she has never been further than Tunbridge Wells in it).

[Hasbeen]

My son backed just the tail pipe of one of the 7s into a low earth bank in a car park. This bent the tail pipe up a bit, & tore about the bottom third of the weld onto the back of the back box. This sounded much better than before. The metal was too thin on the back to reweld the pipe back into place, so I enjoyed the new exhaust note, until the pipe was falling off.

At this stage I cut the hole back to reasonable metal, & welded in a bigger pipe. Went from probably 2" to 2.75". This made an amazingly big improvement to the sportiness of the exhaust. I think it was a standard exhaust, & with just the larger tail pipe it sounded better than the current 7, with it's S&S sports exhaust.

Try fitting a larger pipe to your rear box.

Hasbeen

[saabfast]

I think the rear box does a lot of the silencing and sets the final 'note'. On my system (obviously not original) the rear box is connected with a clamp just to the front side of it. If your is similar you could try removing the box (and insert a section of pipe if you have one) just to try the sound. Not a proper solution or safe long term but might give an idea for a short run.

[littlepippin]

Well I will go and speak to a couple of local exhaust workshops and see if they can do anything,,
Definately want a sports car sound, cos' its a sports car

Thanks for the tips all..

[FI Spyder]

The resonator (front box) helps eliminate a certain frequency (forget high or low), the rear box helps eliminate the other. I have the perfect balance on mine. I still have the front box (resonator). On the rear I have an oval SS Magnaflo muffler that was close to the oval muffler it replaced. After that I have twin pipe Thrush muffled tips. They are no longer available but Thrush was known back in the day for deeper tones with little back pressure. They are heavy so have a lot of "stuff" in them but being short and open I don't think they do much. The sound is deep and quite easily heard over the radio at lower speeds while at highway speeds road noise (wind, engine, other cars tire noise) yet never gets tiring at least no more as the "other noises" cause. In other words the best of two worlds. I would have no problem doing the same on the other TR7.

[jimbray]

hi i have a brand new unused rimmers stainless steel sports system surplus to requirements (now converting to v8) you can have it for £100, im only in Bromley not far from you.

[littlepippin]

Thanks very much for the offer jmbray - will be in touch if I decide to go down that route.
Gonna try and gently modify whats on there at the moment then if I ruin it I will have to get a new one won't I .......

[spanner]

We swapped the complete engine and exhaust from the white fixed head to the green convertible
This gave same engine and power but previous owner of the white car had very cunningly fitted a Honda Prelude back box which as others have pointed out has quite an effect on the final note
The exhaust is loud and throaty exceeding the wishes of every teenage driver but not unpleasant with the top down
A bit if experimentation is called for I think!

[littlepippin]

Thanks for all the tips, and thank you hasbeen for your story - it prompted my to grab a hacksaw and take off 8" worth of tail pipe.

Wow ! what a great sound, exactly what I was after and a lovely burble when going downhill with foot off the gas.

I am so pleased, really quick and easy and not a penny spent.

Chuffed from Tunbridge Wells.....

[sonscar]

Just a cautionary observation,beware of exhaust fumes finding their way into the cabin.Be safe,Steve..

[simps]

8 inches sounds quite a lot (minds out of the gutter please)

What's it look like?