Alfetta 116: Exhaust advice

[Midda Samid]

Hi there,

I am looking for some advice/direction with regard exhaust sizing and reputable suppliers or fabricators..

In all my years of owning 2.0L GTV's, I have so far only been happy with 1 exhaust that was built by a group in Bendigo that no longer exist.. I sold the exhaust on a car in 2002 and haven't been able to find a decent aftermarket/fabricated system since.. My current exhaust is 2 1/4in that was assembled very poorly by a place in Ringwood out of mandrel bends at considerable cost.. I obviously won't give the name, but performance certainly was not what I got. Not the worst part (but a considerable pain in the azz) was that they welded the thing from engine pipes to tail pipe.. good luck doing any form of routine Alfetta maintenance with that setup. I won't go on.. I have since cut and shut it a number of times and it is currently a drivers side side pipe infront of the rear wheel with a single straight thru muffler. In this position it actually sounds pretty good(a tad loud and much too close to the ground), but part of making my Alfetta a streetable supercharged drivers car, I need to get the tailpipe in the rear where it was designed..

So, here start the questions..

Since available aftermarket bolt on systems are pretty much non existent in Australia(unless someone knows something that my web browser doesn't) I am left with no option but to revisit a fabrication shop and start from scratch at the risk of wasting more money. I have requested pricing(including delivery - ouch) for Supersprint and CRC but expect ridiculous costs and after sales service would be difficult to say the least.. I'd prefer to spend my money locally too..

Has anyone currently got the Supersprint installed? or the CRC system for that matter.. if so, what are the tube sizes? what is the volume level like?

next, can anyone nudge me in the right direction for a decent exhaust fabrication group that can navigate around the rear brakes and wheel tub of an Alfetta with mandrel tubing.

Has anyone out there got a custom stainless exhaust on their 2.0L Alfetta? what size tubing did you go with and what brand/size mufflers. how's the volume?

I plan on keeping the standard headers with the standard engine pipes with the resonator removed. I also want to route the exhaust over the rear drive shaft past the brakes as per original routing.

I plan 2 mufflers and a resonator(possibly a tip resonator aswell), but to be honest, have no idea what the car needs and really need would like to hear what people have done/experienced.... I guess muffler brands and types would be a great start.

lots of questions.. sorry.
cheers, Dan

[Darryl]

I *had* a supersprint exhaust (bought by a PO not me) on a 75 TS but the rear muffler was so big it was impossible to get clearance between tank/wheel well and watts link despite much stuffing about with fine adjustment of mounts, centre - to tail section etc. I had it cut out the other day and a small hotdog put in its place. It is now a bit loud on overrun) but it fits...

If it had fitted better I would have been happy with the supersprint - decent pipe size, very solidly made etc. It wasn't that the pipework wasn't accurate, they had simply tried to fit too much in the space available.

I've had mixed experiences with exhaust fabrication - and none down your way.

[Mat Francis]

G'day Dan,

You say you had work done in Ringwood, I assume you are around this area?

I've been going to "Exhaust Fix" in Croydon on my last few cars, and so far extremely happy with his work. Ronnie is his name, and was recommended to us by a friend who had him build all the exhuasts for the Robnell Cobras. The short version is he knows what he is doing.

If you're around Ringwood ish, I'd be happy to show you the exhaust on the alfetta he made for me. But it will have to be in the next week or two before the car is sold.

I believe it's 2 1/4 (might even be 2 1/2?) right through, I think it's only mild steel though. Flange jointed all through. No issues over the rear driveshafts.

Initially had a small resonator, centre muffler, than another resonator in place of a rear muffler. Sounded awesome, but far too loud for my liking. From memory I think this cost $250.

About 3 months ago I got sick of the noise though, and took it back to have it shut up a bit. Unbolted the rear section to keep and use on the race car eventually, and had a second rear section made up with another muffler in it.

Aside from the vibration that has recently appeared somewhere in the system at around 3k, it still sounds awesome.

Anyway as I said if you want to have a look and see what you think, send me a PM.

[Midda Samid]

I *had* a supersprint exhaust (bought by a PO not me) on a 75 TS but the rear muffler was so big it was impossible to get clearance between tank/wheel well and watts link despite much stuffing about with fine adjustment of mounts, centre - to tail section etc. I had it cut out the other day and a small hotdog put in its place. It is now a bit loud on overrun) but it fits...

Thanks Darryl, I have to admit, the pics of the supersprint rear muffler look mighty wide.. and the twin pipe rear would look plain stupid hanging under the single pipe check out in the body work.. The Alfettas already struggle with rear muffler knocks.. thanks for the response.

G'day Dan,

You say you had work done in Ringwood, I assume you are around this area?

Thanks Mat, I am bayside(poor rusting Alfa).. used to live in Knoxfield and was recommended the Ringwood exhaust place. Is your exhaust mandrel bend? Do you know the brands of the mufflers used?

I guess I should find out when the next Alfa show day /meet is and get a look at owner's cars.. you've given me an idea Mat.. Thanks,.

[Pat]

Hi Dan
on ebay australia if you do a search on alfetta and then filter in car,Truck parts you will find a few posts for exhaust sections fron nationwideradiatorsautopars. They have for sale what looks like all the sections you are after and they are local (Blackburn)

Hope this helps.

Regards

Patrick

[Midda Samid]

Thanks Pat, that's all original size gear.. I am after custom size tubing. I am supercharged.. Thanks for the tip though.

Cheers, Dan

[Duk]

I can't help you with the building of, but I can recommend 'Tornado' style resonators for knocking noise out of an exhaust.
I added 1 to my supercharged MR2 (2.5" mandrel bent system with a Genie muffler) before I added the turbo (the turbo really shut it up) and it knocked about 7-8db's (tested with a sound meter) out of the racket while maintaining tone and performance.
Similarly added 1 to a premade Japanese system for my old Silvia, again with very good results. And I plan to use 2 under my 75 Potenziata but they will be in parallel. It's not a twin system as such (secondaries will join before the cat), but twin 2.25" pipes for ground clearance until after the transaxle's cross member, then joins into 3" over the rear drive shaft. Rear muffler will be a Hooker Aerochamber.

[Midda Samid]

I have had some other people recommend a group in dandenong, and have spoken with them on the phone.. sounds promising.. they carry a large range of both mild steel and SS glass and fibre pack mufflers and seem to know their way around performance exhausts, so will get the car down to them for a discussion about best design and quoting.

Got a quote back for the supersprint delivered to me from the distributors in NSW.. the 2 parts delivered was $1050.. a bit rich for a prefabbed setup, and the guy selling it doesn't know anything about it.. I figure if I spend $1050 at an exhaust fab shop, i'll get a cracking exhaust.. that said, I hope I don't spend $1050 on half an exhaust for a small 4cyl car..

Stay tuned.