MAGNAFLOW Exhaust Systems Have Arrived !!!

[alfa-sportivo]

The front exhaust section was clearly for a hanging pedal car as some modifications had to be made to clear the pedal box on this car.

[101/105guy]

Looks like a fun project! Will be eager to hear the new system.
Speaking of hearing it, how come we never see you at Cars & Coffee on Sat. morn. ??
Just over the hill for you.
Randy

[alfa-sportivo]

The center section was rusted out from the inside; probably from moisture just sitting in the mild steel housing. I have always liked sporty exhaust notes, and while these holes made the car louder, the sound quality was just not pleasing.

[alfa-sportivo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 101/105guy Looks like a fun project! Will be eager to hear the new system. Speaking of hearing it, how come we never see you at Cars & Coffee on Sat. morn. ?? Just over the hill for you. Randy

[alfa-sportivo]

Here is the rest of the removed system. Anyone seen this brand before?

[alfa-sportivo]

Here are the manifolds; after some LPS the bolts came off with some effort, but were not too bad.

[alfa-sportivo]

Manifolds have been sand blasted and painted dark grey. These are very nice and well designed; in most cases these manifolds will probably work better than most sets of cheap headers. The brass nuts were all there and in good condition, so I will be reusing them.

[alfa-sportivo]

For the installation of the exhaust system I used new copper gaskets. I also cleaned up all nuts with a tap and purchased 6 new bolts (8mm by 1.25 pitch) for the connection to the manifold. I started by bolting the newly painted manifold to the cylinder head, but left the nuts loose.

Next came the front down pipe. Here I slipped the bolts onto the manifold and placed the 3-bolt copper gaskets on the lower side of the manifold. The bolt threads will hold these in place as long as they are not disturbed. I then carefully brought the front pipe section up into place, against the manifold. If you hit the bolts the copper gaskets will fall off. After the second try; I got it. Some will use rubber bands to hold the gaskets; I didn't.

After this, I progressed towards the rear of the car, installing one section after the other.

I did leave all connections and bolts, very loose.

After positioning everything as best I could and at least with 1 to 3/4 inches clearances, I started tightening from the front of the car and ended at the tail pipe.

[alfa-sportivo]

The tail pipe sticks out too far as this system is designed to fit different GTV and Spider applications; I have marked it where I intend to make my cut.

I like the fit of the system, the hangers line up nicely below the mounting points on the chassis. The stainless materials are of good gage and the bends are well placed. The slip fit joints have at least 2 to 3 inches of overlap and the band clamps work well with good grip.

I personally rate the installation difficulty a 3 out of ten, with the gasket/bolt connection to the manifold being the most involved.

The sound. Let me first state that I have owned Alfas since 1984, I first drove an Alfa (1969 1750 GTV) at 16 and have been around Alfas since I was a kid; so I have a good feel for how an Alfa with a Nord engine should sound.
Even thought the car had a 'sporty' system before, the rotted center muffler did not sound good. At part throttle the sound was OK, but at idle and high rev's it was just that of a bland 4 cylinder. The new system exceeded my expectations, the tone is deeper with a low rumble. Very pleasing to the ear at idle and when going thought the gears.

[smestas]

alfa-sportivo,

I'm glad to hear that you are pleased with the system and it's exhaust note.

Thanks for the posting the details of your install!

[smestas]

Save some money on shipping

Anyone interested in a system and is going to Monterey let me know. I have two left and would be willing to bring them up to Monterey for anyone interested.


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[BattleBug]

...what you can do with a spare hour and a nice assortment of sandpaper.

With machinery it would've taken less than 15 min and would look even better (I'm sure Magnaflow has "machinery"--hint, hint)

[JeffM]

I did the same polishing to the tail piece of the Magnaflow system on my GTV. A few different grits of sandpaper strips, and then I took it to a buffing wheel on the bench grinder. Not a mirror finish or a mimic of chrome, but a nice stainless shine that looks great. I highly recommend that any Magnaflow installers take the time to polish the tail section - it's worth an hour and a little elbow grease.

[smestas]

Great job on the polished tip Paul! Looks great. Part of the beauty of having stainless steel.

We thought of having them all polished but opted to leave them plain and leave the final finish to the end user.

[smestas]

Has anyone here mounted one of these systems to a '69 GT? I have someone inquiring about how this will fit a '69. From everything I know it should be a slam dunk but I thought I'd ask the collective here and refer him to this thread.