The V8 Owners Forum -

Hi There, I am looking to replace my tired original exhaust with a stainless performance version. I have had one quote so far, which was a bit steep at 750 plus vat. I would also like to have some freer flowing manifolds, if I can find some at a reasonable price! (The place that quoted me for the exhaust gave me a price of 1400 plus vat for the manifolds!)Does anyone have any recommendations for either. I want a system with only one silencer, at the rear & a 3" tailpipe, the louder, the better!

As a reference, a stainless system for a Range Rover P38 is about a grand. Without manifolds, but with 2 cats.

For my Landie, I made one myself, using Jetex parts (in stainless).

Chris.

Had a better quote now, luckily, no cats needed on this baby . I presume the original manifolds are quite restrictive? if so, it would make sense to get new ones first, so that the exhaust can be made to fit these. Do P38 manifolds fit a P6? as these seem to be readily available second hand. Someone else suggested MGB V8 block huggers? advice & other suggestions welcome.

I think p38 ones have the exit pointing back, rather than down. Not sure if that would work given the limited space in the p6 engine bay!

My 3500s had a stainless exhaust fitted when I bought it, came from a place in Devon somewhere. GS exhausts I think? Another p6 owner recently asked me where mine came from and I think they ended up using them too. Its a single exit, two silencers. Dead quiet at idle and cruise but sounds nice when you give it some beans. Might be too quiet though if you are after something lairy!

Thanks Quagmire, funnily enough, the first quote I got was from them. It would definitely be too quiet anyway. At the moment I have the standard system, minus the rear silencer, which sounds pretty good with a good gurgle at idle & a satisfying roar on the road. Maybe I will have to go with the block huggers from the MG then, unless there any other suggestions. I do intend to fit a 4 barrel carb. at a later date & possibly a different cam & upgraded heads.

Yes, the P38 ones do exit at the back, and are angled rearwards. I am sure there are pictures on eBay. They are tubular, and have sound deadening, so they are the business.

Chris.

I can see what you mean about exiting at the rear now! I have had a look at block hugger headers on google images & in all honesty, they don't look that much different to the originals that are currently fitted (3500S) I don't see much point in spending a lot of money on headers that don't add much if any power? can anyone confirm roughly what upside I could expect bhp wise, if I do go ahead?

ChrisJC wrote:Yes, the P38 ones do exit at the back, and are angled rearwards. I am sure there are pictures on eBay. They are tubular, and have sound deadening, so they are the business.

Chris.

You can swap them round so they exit towards the front if you want to

p6v8s wrote:I can see what you mean about exiting at the rear now! I have had a look at block hugger headers on google images & in all honesty, they don't look that much different to the originals that are currently fitted (3500S) I don't see much point in spending a lot of money on headers that don't add much if any power? can anyone confirm roughly what upside I could expect bhp wise, if I do go ahead?

The MGB block huggers are quite restrictive as standard. But depending on the room you have they can have the collectors cut out and opened up to 2" easily. Or even 3" if you have the means to re fabricate the collector section.

The problem with the P6 is the chassis. There is a very limited size hole for the exhaust to pass through, so you are limited in options.
If you are (or know of) a good pipe fitter you could make up a 4-2-1 set-up, but it's tight and the benefits for a street car are probably only going to be noticeable at the pub when you tell your mates what you did.

I'd get the original manifolds cleaned up as far as possible with a die grinder to remove casting flash and sharp corners and have the lot ceramic coated to keep it cooler, personally.

Other thing is cast iron is better at keeping the noise inside the exhaust. And noise which comes through the manifolds may not be a pleasant noise.

The idea of swapping the p38's over sounded like a good'un, in fact I couldn't weait to get my head under the bonnet to have a look. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed. The aperture is too small, & I don't want to cut it about, so back to the drawing board. I don't mind noise, in fact I don't like a "shy" V8, it needs to be loud & proud! I have seen a kit on Amazon, consisting of a set of pipes which need to be welded up, can anyone comment on these?

I think you may have missed my point. 'Nice' exhaust noise - regardless of how loud - normally comes mainly out of the tailpipe. If it is coming through the walls of the pipes or manifold, it can sound more like an exhaust 'blow' which is not a nice noise. To me, at least.

Sorry DaveEFI, I probably did miss your point, I thought you meant the sound differing between the tubular manifolds & the originals, as I always thought that the tubulars give a deeper sound, which I like. Mine sounds a bit "waffly" at the moment, like it may have a blow or two, especially at full throttle, which I agree, isn't such a good sound!

Here are a couple of places a bit closer to home

http://www.powerspeed.co.uk/ - I can personally recommend them

http://zeroexhausts.co.uk/ - I have heard a lot of good things about them

HTH