Posts Tagged ‘classic’

Capri Exhaust manifolds

Friday, October 5th, 2012

In between jobs we’ve been working on some new manifolds for our Capri Race car. Proper exhaust manifolds take a long time to make but there’s a lot of calculations to make before the welding begins. Race manifolds need to take into account all sorts of details about the design of the engine, head, valves, cams and even the gear ratio’s and rolling road power plot. Once all of that is taken into consideration the work can begin. You can see from the picture how much is involved with getting so much tube wrapped around the engine bay. The power gains are well worth it though.

low rider

Friday, October 5th, 2012

This classic cortina gets used in the occasional hillclimb and sprint event, which having worked on it is very brave of the owner. These things are worth a bob or two and he’s a brave man throwing it around a track. Especially considering he restored it from a basket case by himself. All we had to do on this one was get him some more ground clearance. The exhaust had been custom built elsewhere but it didn’t really fit his needs. The car is lower than standard and the exhaust scraped in various places. We reused a large amount of what was already there but with a few changes we tucked the exhaust away. There was so much extra clearance that we were able to lower the engine slightly which will help the cars handling. If I had a car this valuable and I was throwing about on a race track I’d want the handling to be perfect!

V6 Pinto Capri

Tuesday, August 14th, 2012

Back in the 80’s this would have been a common mod. we built a mild steel exhaust for this 2.0 Pinto engined Capri so it looked like the V6 engine version from the rear. Determined not to be all show and no go the owner is bust getting tuning parts together for the engine and we will help him get it all assembled. Next on the list id weber carbs, and maybe cams. Capri twin exit exhaust

classic BMW under renovation

Friday, April 27th, 2012

After having a mad run on modern BMW’s wanting Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) removals we had this little classic come through the door. The owner was taking the time to bring the car to date as he carried out a rolling restoration. Items such as Poly bushes in the suspension, uprated brakes and an air-conditioning unit are all either done or being done. This type of gentle modernisation is a speciality of ours and is the ultimate in recycling. You can drive around in a beautiful car which can keep up with modern traffic whilst knowing you’ve saved the planet by avoiding another car going on the scrap heap. Our part was a simple stainless steel exhaust build. The customer wanted a little more noise but nothing excessive. We kept the number of boxes to a minimum as this helps reduce the cost too. We look forward to seeing the cara again when it’s completed.

Classic Ford Capri Custom exhaust

Friday, April 27th, 2012

This Classic Capri needed a bit of TLC on the exhaust. The owner wanted something a bit more special from the sound and the look. We settled on a mild steel exhaust build as the car doesn’t get much use. We used a simple stainless steel exhaust tip to finish off the look.

Ford Capri gets more aerodynamics

Friday, April 27th, 2012

The AA Silencers Ford Capri is always getting little developments here and there. Because of a change in championship regulations we have been able to develop a new front splitter and diffuser. The device is designed to control the airflow to the under body section. The splitter harvests pressure ahead of the car to create downforce. Further back air is accelerated to create downforce towards the middle of the car. The new front section controls the air in stages to manage its flow. It is also designed to create vortices along the underbody to seal the floor section and improve downforce. It’s not a perfect design as we have to work within the regulations but it vastly improves lap times. Also fitted are a type of dive plane in front of the rear wheel. Unlike regular dive planes these are mostly to deflect air from the exposed portion of the the tyre.

Rolls Royce Repairs

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

If you’ve never driven a Roller you won’t be able to appreciate how effortlessly luxurious they are. This one was in need of some exhaust work and the owner wanted a full copy of the original exhaust in stainless steel. There are a lot of exhaust boxes in the twin system to keep it silent and the owner couldn’t stretch to having it all replaced, especially as a lot of it was still in remarkably good condition. Instead we built the required parts in mild steel and repaired other parts where required. The final bill was a fraction that of what he’d expected and he wafted off into the sunset, another happy customer.

Moggy weldathon

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

We’ve been doing a  lot or Morris Minors recently. I think a lot of owners are pre-empting an increase in value so have taken to welding and waxoyling. This Morris needed lots of welding on the floor, but the further we got into it the more it needed. You can see from the pictures the amount of panels that went into the car, that’s not counting the ones we had to make! It took 2 solid weeks of cutting, dressing, welding, fabricating, welding again, dressing some more then waxoyling to get some strength  back into the old girl. After all of that I’m sure she’ll be on the road for another 30 years yet.

Awkward Alfa

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

This beautiful looking GTV had been giving it’s owner headache and heartache for months. The owner wasn’t shy when it came to getting his hands dirty and certainly know’s his way around Alfa’s. Everyone needs a little help from time to time though and we’re more than happy to work alongside the owners efforts.  The car has a pretty big turbo blowing through twin 40 DHLA carbs with a Canems ECU controlling the sparks. Every part of the system had faults that interfered with each other making the task of getting it running like trying to knit spaghetti. We did a little rewiring and resetting of things which improved the situation. Sadly as hard as we tried the carbs wouldn’t work sweetly, although it was healthy enough for an MoT. These projects are rarely a quick fix, more work in progress. The owner has new carbs on the way and we’ll try again when they arrive. Despite the challenge it’s a pleasure working on such a beautiful and special classic.

A cheaper option

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Not all cars need stainless steel exhausts, even if they are luxury classics. Show cars and performance cars spend most of their lives away from road salt and poor weather conditions. Because of this a tailor made mild steel exhaust will usually give many years service. This XK came in for a mild steel exhaust build. The pipework and boxes are exactly the same as stainless steel and a stainless tip was added so the final look is the same. The only difference is the price, usually about half the cost for a mild steel exhaust.