Re: [alfa] Euro Manifolds and Downpipes

["Dean W. Cains" <dwc@xxxxxx>]

Hi Jon:

I've got a '72 - '74 exhaust on my '87, from the head out.  Of course, 
everything bolted right together, being made that way.  I've got the one 
piece downpipes/front resonator/center muffler, and as far as I know, 
that's the only way you can buy the downpipes now, although you can still 
buy the center muffler alone.  I've got no cat on my car, but the exhaust 
has been sniffed with an analyzer, and would pass inspection in FL if we 
still had them, as a well-tuned L-Jet car can run pretty cleanly.

I know that's not what you asked, but may be of interest because a good 
exhaust guy should be able to remove the front resonator from the '72 - '74 
front section and weld in a cat in its place.  As for your specific 
question about how the parts from mixed years line up, they all follow the 
same path along the bottom of the car, once you get past the various 
manifolds/downpipes.  The bracket on the trans is the same for all years, 
as are the hangers further downstream.  It's just a question of getting 
appropriate flanges, slip joints, etc., to mate with each other.  I know 
from previous experiences with old XKE's that a skilled exhaust guy can 
make anything look like it came from the factory, or better.  Don't know 
about what the performance improvements would be to your '77, but on my '87 
I'm very happy with the difference.

Can't you purchase weld-on flanges from someplace like 
www.jegs.com  ?  They've got a good selection of cats, too, last time I saw 
a catalog.

Regards,

Dean
Lutz, FL
'74 & '87 Spider Veloce's

At 12:54 PM 8/11/2004, you wrote:

> Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2004 03:17:38 -0700
> From: Jon Pike <jhpike@domain.elided>
> Subject: [alfa] Euro Manifolds and Downpipes
>
> Hi all..
>
> Quick, late night question..
>
> Has anyone converted their later, post 74 Spider to the 72-74 manifolds
> and the corrisponding downpipe/resonator section?
>
> Specifically,  my 77 has a cat setup,  and thereby a flanged end center
> muffler to go on the other end of the cat.
> The early type downpipe has the resonator/first muffler where the cat
> would be,  and a slip joint to go to the non flanged version of the
> center muffler.
>
> I've been told both that the early downpipe wont line up with a cat type
> center,  and that they will.   So, I'm trying to find someone who's
> actually done this,  to see who's right,  and if it's a good idea or
> not,  to buy a new center to go with it.
>
> While I'm at it.. I'm still looking at various ways to come up with
> affordably manufactured cat flanges,  so one could  (assuming the answer
> is "they do line up") take a euro downpipe and have it cut and welded to
> go to the cat for a bolt up conversion,  or other types of exhaust
> creativity that might benifit from one.  So let me know if you are
> interested in some of these..
>
> Jon
> 77 Spider
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