revilla Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Having got to the end of the "proper" service items this winter I decided to take my exhaust off for a polish. Good job I did - I've found it's cracked.It's a standard Caterham SV K-Series cat-in-can side-exit single-piece (Cheesman) exhaust.The weld where the front pipe section joins the conical section to the catalytic converter has failed, basically there is a crack running pretty much right around the cat side (rear) of the weld, you can actually wiggle the front pipe around slightly with the main can clamped to a bench. I think there's still a tiny bit hanging in there preventing it from actually coming apart or doing further damage.Can anyone recommend anyone (the closer to the East Mids / Leicestershire area the better but will travel if needs be) who could make a decent neat job of re-welding this without breaking the bank?Any idea how much such a repair is likely to cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM25T Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Do you use the centre exhaust mount ? If not, there is a huge bending moment in the middle of the exhaust. My CC original failed where inlet entered can. Had it welded and a second skin (front end disc) added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM25T Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Repairs cost only £40-ish from memory. Subsequently found a fracture in a replacement (non-CC) system ... 8000 feet up a mountain in the Pyrenees. Found a stainless welder within 20km .... who repaired it without charge ... and in their lunch time !!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavic82 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Not to far from you, Harrison Randle in Nuneaton. Used them a couple of times for ally and stainless. Do a lovely neat job and never been to many notes.herehttp://www.harrison-randall.co.uk/site/home.phpbut I would assume there must be similar folk nearer you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilla Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 @Mavic82 - Nuneaton isn't a problem, only 40 mins away. There may be people nearer but a recommendation of a lovely neat job for a decent price is worth more than saving a few miles' worth of petrol. Thanks very much @SM25T - Yes both mounts in use. Looking carefully it looks as though the exhaust has been fouling the lower edge of the cutout in the side skin which won't have helped, probably put a bit more stress and vibration into that front joint. The engine mounts still look good as new so I think I'll just relieve the cutout slightly before refitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM25T Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Check the mounting bracket bolts are secure. On my middle one the bolt was tight ... but the bracket loose. The bolt was too long and hit the other wall of the chassis tube before clamping the bracket ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilla Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 @SM25T - Will do, thanks again for the hint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlesElliott Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I'm sure that McMillan Motorsport in Hinckley could do it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Not sure McMillan would want to tackle stainless welding themselves (at least, not where a neat "polisher" job was needed) but they have a friendly exhaust man just the other side of their access road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilla Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 @SM25T - Brackets checked, all secure and absolutely rock solid. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM25T Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 That's almost a shame, as it would have explained the fatigue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECR Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Swadlingcote any good ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilla Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Well I managed to get hold of Harrison-Randall in Nuneaton today, will weld the exhaust while I wait on Wednesday morning for me, quote was "worst case £35 depending upon rust etc., it'll take me longer to clean it than it will to weld it". Sounds fair enough, thanks for the tip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavic82 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Hope it goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilla Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Just back from Harrison-Randall. Did a lovely job while I waited for £20! Said the original weld was MIG not TIG and that the ends of the weld hadn't been correctly overlapped, leaving two weak spots which is where the cracks had started from. Would definitely use them again for any future exhaust repairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted January 21, 2015 Member Share Posted January 21, 2015 Good outcome. So the stainless steel wasn't too rusty...:-)Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilla Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 :-)It was however suprisingly grotty behind the alloy guard when I removed it. Some of it looks like galvanic corrosion from the alloy/stainless contact, some of it looks like dirt, and some of it looks like ... I have to admit it ... good old rust (particularly areound the catalytic converter where it gets hot)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavic82 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 glad you got good service.stainless does corrode, just less than steal. Also depends highly on the grade of stainless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilla Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 For completeness, here is the finished repair (and the results of my the polishing which found the crack in the first place). There's a slight loss of "shine" where the steel has annealed in the heat-affected zone from the weld but I'm pretty pleased with a £20 repair and it sure beats £1K for a new one. I've relieved the bottom edge of the side skin hole by 5mm which will hopfully stop the exhaust hitting it on the overrun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM25T Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Nice job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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