Federal Vs Euro exhaust system

[omegaman]

10 minutes ago, LOTUSMAN33 said:

My car had the S2 valance, if fitting to the S1 I’m surprised Steve didn’t advise the S1 system.

This S1 had the S2 valance fitted.

Dave  
 

 

Oh I guess there must have been some confusion at the start of this thread then, I assumed you knew my car was an S1 when you gave me the part numbers 🙂 Oh well, I'll figure it out. 

[LOTUSMAN33]

Yes I was answering the quote from Paul about fitting a domestic system to a federal car, I just quoted what I used with S2 in the description. Apologies if caused confusion.

I would try and exchange the link pipe with SJ as that’s easier to modify or exchange the system. 
Have you fitted domestic springs or retained the federal units?

Are you still running the standard timing and distributor? Does your car have an air pump and air injection?

Your wheels look really good, who did you use?

Nice to see you have deleted the marker lights as well. 👍🏻

 

[omegaman]

Yes, I thought you had fitted an S2 system to an S1, no worries. There can't be that much difference from S1 to S2, I'm sure I can make it fit after I fit the S1 gearbox bracket back on, make some cuts and weld it up. 

 

I have a new vacuum advance style distributor, removed all the air pump rubbish, set of refurbed Dellortos as well. 

I used a company called, spit and polish, very reasonable prices. 

Lets see if we can figure this out then. If I stick the S1 gearbox support bracket back on, the exhaust should be at the right height. Is the rear box itself the same unit as the S1 uses? as in, does the exit pipe come out in the same place?

 

If not then I guess I'll have to take the whole lot back to SJ. I don't mind cutting the middle pipe up , I don't think I'd want to chop the rear box up 🙂

[omegaman]

The funny thing is, I emailed James at SJ today asking why the silencer straps didn't fit (too big) He said oh you need s1 straps....But the rear bracket is S2, the Exhaust system is S2, surely the straps should fit that, albeit in the wrong position. 

[LOTUSMAN33]

Just read your post, I see yours is a California car so you should have turned your pulleys to get full power, the CA cars are down tuned for emissions. My JPS was the same so I fitted a U.K. distributor and like you DHLA45E carbs.

I take it you removed the air injectors and blanked the head?

The wheels are really good, were they expensive to diamond cut? I always worry they will take too much off.

Thats strange with the straps? I wonder if he gave you a mix of parts?

[omegaman]

Yes I set the pulleys right when I replaced the belt and the front and rear crankshaft seals. 

 

Yep blanked the air injector holes.  I forget how much, somewhere around £90 a wheel. 

[LOTUSMAN33]

You will be good to go then, the joy of CA cars is the lack of rust.

That’s a good price with the wheels 👍🏻👍🏻

I’m sure you will get the exhaust sorted in no time, are you retrimming the interior and is it all original?

[omegaman]

Yes West coast cars are great, only small areas of surface rust on the suspension, some parts looked like new. The car had been parked in a garage for 27 years. 

The interior was shot unfortunately, previous retrim, a bad one. It was brown originally. I have all new carpets, boot floor panels etc. The seats and dash will be the final part once its mechanically sorted. Front suspension out next. I read all the horror stories about seized bolts on the rear hubs etc, mine only took a gently tap to remove, zero corrosion. 

Nice job on your engine, looks amazing !

Edited February 9, 2022 by omegaman

[LOTUSMAN33]

I think I remember your car being for sale at a garage in the US and enquired at the time, did it have a sunroof and aftermarket steering wheel?

I’m a definite fan of the federal cars, you have done a nice job of yours. The interiors do suffer with the heat, my JPS one needed lots of work as well.

I take it you are leaving the car LHD and not converting at some point? 

[jonwat]

1 hour ago, LOTUSMAN33 said:

 

 

 

I'd have sent that back, no way would I have paid good money for welding like that 😬

[omegaman]

10 minutes ago, LOTUSMAN33 said:

I think I remember your car being for sale at a garage in the US and enquired at the time, did it have a sunroof and aftermarket steering wheel?

I’m a definite fan of the federal cars, you have done a nice job of yours. The interiors do suffer with the heat, my JPS one needed lots of work as well.

I take it you are leaving the car LHD and not converting at some point? 

Yeah that's the one, I bought a new roof panel from SJ....still need an original steering wheel though, hard to find. 

Yes keeping it LHD, I've had  few LHD cars in the UK and it never bothered me...A Delorean and a Golf G60, it's quite nice stepping out onto the pavement. I guess if I ever sell it, it would be good for a European buyer. 

[LOTUSMAN33]

1 minute ago, jonwat said:

I'd have sent that back, no way would I have paid good money for welding like that 😬

I tried initially and got no response, I then ground and fixed it myself before getting a unapologetic reply about someone being off so another person welded it. I shan’t be using them again and needed the part.

[omegaman]

1 minute ago, LOTUSMAN33 said:

before getting a unapologetic reply about someone being off so another person welded it. 

Was that Stevie Wonder? 🙂

[LOTUSMAN33]

Good job doing the roof, I did the same repair years ago to a White S1. You have a safe investment with a white LHD S1 as not easy to find on the continent.

I do have a spare S1 steering wheel and pod mirror but was planning to keep for the future in fairness as want a 76 car one day. 

[omegaman]

I'm not a big fan of the pod mirror look.....I'll gladly take your steering wheel off your hands though 🙂

[omegaman]

I think this is the way forward. 

[LOTUSMAN33]

Yep that should do it nicely, I have a spare new S2 silencer I plan to fit on my LHD car so will end up doing the same mods as you which isn’t a big issue. I’ll do my bodywork when the weather warms up. I just fitted a pair of alloy tanks to mine although it’s a few hundred cars earlier than yours.

How did you get on with the Delorean? I have come close to importing one of these several times.

 

[omegaman]

Yeah I fitted Alloy tanks, one of my steel one was fine, the other was shot. 

The Delorean was a good car, under powered and a bit heavy though. If you ever get one, be sure to change the trailing arm bolts! I had one snap and the car spun in the road, Luckily I was only doing 20MPH at the time. 

[jonwat]

10 hours ago, LOTUSMAN33 said:

I tried initially and got no response, I then ground and fixed it myself before getting a unapologetic reply about someone being off so another person welded it. I shan’t be using them again and needed the part.

Name & shame them. There's a good chance that welding that bad doesn't have good penetration & the vibration will break it soon after it's put on the car  

Edited February 10, 2022 by jonwat

[LOTUSMAN33]

It was a PNM system, It took best part of an hour to file the flange flat enough to use as totally concaved.

You can see the lack of root fusion here. I’m sure they have improved since this purchase during early lockdown but lost my custom now.

 

[omegaman]

I had a look at the exhaust today. The S2 gearbox bracket held the silencer way too low. The Fed S1 bracket moved it a bit higher but it was still too low for the larger diameter silencer from the S2. 

I decided the cut the support plate off the Fed bracket and weld it to the S2 gearbox plate in a higher position. I then noticed the lower part of the plate is wider than the S1 plate, the spoiler wouldn't fit over it. 

 

I had to cut some bits off and now I think the silencer is in a good position. I compared the new S2 down pipe with the Fed S1 pipe and they were identical. The Fed Cat was also the same length as the S2 middle silencer.

I put the original down pipe back on and cut the ends off the old cat and will weld a flexi joint on to link the rear silencer to the downpipe. 

 

 

[omegaman]

 

Finally finished fitting the exhaust system. I made a pipe with a flexi joint and welded the fittings off the old cat on each end, worked a treat!!