I've recently purchased A Series 3 fitted with a 200Tdi Disco engine but it doesn't have an exhaust, there was one on it at some point but it has gone missing. All that is left is a pipe that drops vertically from the manifold to under the chassis with 90 degree bend in the end.

Anyway what do I need here?? I was down with an exhaust guy and he is planning on ordering an off the shelf system and making it fit, but should I order the original system for a diesel Series or a system for a 200Tdi engined Defender??

Or should I get a custom system made up from scratch from one of those classic exhaust specialists, which I'd assume would cost a fortune.

Ok, need more info really.

Are you running the engine with the turbo? If yes, then you need an exhaust suitable for the amount of power/gas flow the engine makes. If you are running without a turbo, you can get away with a smaller bore exhaust. But a small bore exhaust, such as a standard Series exhaust will strangle a turbo fed Tdi and reduce performance.

If you have a turbo, do you know if it's a Discovery or a Defender manifold? Discovery's have the turbo down low, while a Defender had it mounted up high on top of the engine. The difference this makes is the routing of the down pipe. Although you seem to be suggesting you already have a down pipe from the engine.

The reason for asking is, a standard Discovery down pipe on a Discovery located Turbo will not clear the chassis rail on a Series. So you have to have a custom downpipe for it.


Options:

-If you already have a down pipe fitted and located and looks to be ok. Then you can either fabricate something up using Defender Tdi or Ninety TD parts. You'll probably need to fab up some hangers as the routing will be different from where the standard Series exhaust would have gone.

-A complete custom exhaust. No idea on prices for these nowadays. We had one made for a V8 90 years ago for £220 made from stainless. Again, if you have the down pipe, then a custom exhaust would be easy and you can decide where you want it to go and how many silencers. Just ensure it's of suitable bore. Following the route of the original and using the original exhaust hangar locations might be an option.

-Last up is to buy a pre-made exhaust for a Series Tdi. But this will depend on where your turbo is located, to what is available:
https://www.steveparkers.com/product-category/conversion-exhausts/series-swb/

I've assume you have an 88, although if a 109 it is't fundamentally any different.

The Steve Parkers exhaust isn't the cheapest, but should do the trick and last.

If you are capable of cutting up an old exhaust and welding it together then Thats one option (tdi exhausts are 2.5" with standard series one being 2")

Im using the old disco exhaust to fit the tdi in my lightweight but seeing as you dont have an exhaust at present those steve pakrer ones dont look too expensive

Thanks for the replies guys, and to clarify a few points. Yes it is an 88 and it is running the turbo (Disco 200Tdi) and yes there is a down pipe attached exiting just below the chassis (I'll try and get a few pics up tomorrow). So is the important thing here is the bore of the exhaust pipe, as long as I use a 2.5" pipe I take it that the route or number of silencers aren't really that important?? I was worried that I needed 200Tdi specific silencers to create certain back pressures for the turbo or is it just about the flow of gas out of the exhaust??

I did have a chat with Steve Parker and he can sell me a specific system for my set up right from the turbo manifold all the way to the tail pipe which will use the existing hangers etc (if they are indeed still on mine, I'll have to check) for £320. I'll just have to get it delivered and then get it fitted, which I should be able to do myself. I want to weigh this up against getting my exhaust guy to fabricate something using the down pipe that is already there but I want to make sure I have him use the correct parts.I guess it's all down to cost at the end of the day.

If you are slightly tight for funds you could just get a custom downpipe made that can fit to off the shelf pipes.

The 200tdi in my 109 has 300tdi turbo fitted to enable a 300tdi downpipe to be used, this then goes to a 200tdi 90 centre silencer pipe finished off with a 2.6 6 cylinder 109 tailpipe. All was free minus the 6 cylinder tail pipe. Yet luckily it all managed to fit.

Thanks kind of what I was thinking, I was going to order the 200Tdi 90 exhaust system and get it welded to the down pipe that is already fitted to mine, It all depends what the shop will charge for the fitting and fabrication on top of the cost of the system as I know the system itself will cost a lot less that Steve Parker's system. I just want to make sure that I order the right one and that it will be compatible with my set up.

If you choose the Steve Parker option, and it fits, you won't regret it. I bought a complete one from him for my SIII with a Def 200tdi. It didn't fit, front pipe got returned, adjusted and resent to me a substantially different shape. And still didn't fit. Steve blamed my engine mounts. I blame his jig system. I gave up, cut 6" out of it at the first bend a replaced it with flexible which worked very well and saved further aggro. The rest of it was beautifully made and I don't regret buying it, just wish he'd been a bit more helpful, maybe it was an 'off' day.

Funny I was asking him about the fit and is it possible that the engine positioning might be slightly different as it is all non standard. After all it may vary depending on how the individual who did the conversion decided where the mounts should go. He did say that basically all conversions are practically the same.

Well, mine had the engine at the front and the exhaust went to the back, so practically the same as yours I'd guess.

Seriously though, I haven't seen anyone else complaining and mine was probably a Friday system. As I said, I'm pretty pleased with it despite that, and I'm sure that yours will fit perfectly.

Yea engine in the front, haha.

Haven't decided which way to go just yet. She only arrived at the weekend so I've a lot of poking and prodding to do before I order anything major.

prunty said:

Thanks for the replies guys, and to clarify a few points. Yes it is an 88 and it is running the turbo (Disco 200Tdi) and yes there is a down pipe attached exiting just below the chassis (I'll try and get a few pics up tomorrow). So is the important thing here is the bore of the exhaust pipe, as long as I use a 2.5" pipe I take it that the route or number of silencers aren't really that important?? I was worried that I needed 200Tdi specific silencers to create certain back pressures for the turbo or is it just about the flow of gas out of the exhaust??

Click to expand...

Needing back pressure is a bit of a myth. It really stems from older petrol cars, where if you reduce back pressure they'd run like crap, because when you do this, you should really also adjust the fuelling and maybe even different jets in the carbs.

EFI engines can cope better and might just run a little rich, although a tune is still useful.

But you really want minimal back pressure on any exhaust system. With diesel it's even clearer cut, as diesels have no throttle plate and the turbo creates an massive resistance in it's own right.

So for a Tdi the only concern on an exhaust is flow rate. Too small a bore will strangle it and reduce power and make it not want to rev as well.

2.5" should be sufficient. But going bigger would cause no harm at all. The bigger the exhaust the greater the flow rate. The lower the EGT's. But big exhausts are difficult to route and if you aren't going for maximum power on a heavily tuned and modified engine, I really wouldn't worry.

prunty said:

I did have a chat with Steve Parker and he can sell me a specific system for my set up right from the turbo manifold all the way to the tail pipe which will use the existing hangers etc (if they are indeed still on mine, I'll have to check) for £320. I'll just have to get it delivered and then get it fitted, which I should be able to do myself. I want to weigh this up against getting my exhaust guy to fabricate something using the down pipe that is already there but I want to make sure I have him use the correct parts.I guess it's all down to cost at the end of the day.

Click to expand...

As you have a down pipe fitted already, it seems someone has either fabbed one up, or you have one from someone like Steve Parkers already. Or if it's a standard Disco downpipe, then your engine has been mounted in a different way.

Maybe see if you can post some pics up.

But as you have a downpipe already, I suspect it might be cheaper to fab something up to it. But maybe more grunt work.

A Steve Parkers exhaust should just bolt straight on however. But if your engine has been mounted differently it may not work. The Steve Parkers one is designed to work if you've used the standard Series engine mounts in the stock locations.

I have the Steve Parkers exhaust on my 200Tdi 88. I admit I had the front wing off when installing it, so fitting the down pipe was relatively easy. It'd be a pain to do with the wing on, but probably doable.

The exhaust fitted fairly easily. And essentially just bolted together. It comes with new hangars which attach to the chassis in the stock locations (you'll still have these, as they are parts of the chassis).

Afraid I don't have any pics of the downpipe or installing it, but here it is fitted.

It does look like it stands out, I think this is because it is silver against the black chassis and I've not got any sill panels on. It does look like it's hanging a little low, but it is essentially following the route of the standard exhaust. And I suspect with a bit of jiggery pokery and loosening off of the clamps, it could be made to tuck up further. But it's actually fine off road and hasn't yet caused any issues.

Got some pics taken today:

The machine herself:


The Engine Bay


The Manifold:



The Down Pipe from the top:


The Down Pipe from th ebottom:


I take it these are the hangers, are there only two, one in the middle and one at the rear:

I continued to make enquiries on what is my best option and it seems that as the chassis rails on the 90 200tdi are in a completely different position than the old Series 3 it would mean there's be a lot of chopping to do to get it to fit.

Therefore getting something made up seem like the best option as I already have a down pipe and I'd have to buy a complete system for Steve Parker therefore costing more than I need to spend.

So I was wondering if anybody can recommend a decent fab shop in the northern half of Ireland, north or south of the border. Most regular shops are only interested in fitting off the shelf items.

You could take a sort of easier option. Order the Parker system knowing that you'll have to cut it like I did. It's not the most elgant plan, but it works.

This is the flexi that I used, and if you look at the clips/clamps tab you'll see the really good ones that I used. http://www.flexiducting.co.uk/product_cats/metal-hoses/

It's not expensive and I'm going to use it for the whole system on my project car. (Buying ready made silencer boxes and downpipes then linking with this stuff).

ihave done 4 of the conversions and i find that a standard defender intermediate pipe and rear pipe with silencer fits perfect,paddocks do them and quite cheap

So I happened to get my hands on an exhaust system (right place right time sort of thing) but there is a problem, the pipework has an outside diameter of 1.75 inches only.

There has been a lot of chat on this thread alone on the minimum diameter needed and that seems to range anywhere between 2 and 2.5 inch so I was wondering if this is a bit on the small side??

Just thought I'd throw the question out there before I start trying to make it fit??



BTW I've no idea what vehicle it is actually off...

I'm not that bothered about extracting that last elusive horse out of a Landy, but I'd never put a smaller pipe on one. Circles are funny things - work out the difference in area between the 1 3/4" vs. 2" and you'll see that the difference is much more than you'd guess.

So put this system in the bin where it was heading in the first place...

It's a bit of a shame as it is in relatively good condition, the smaller silencer even has it's original sticker from new still stuck on it...

So only getting back to this now and as luck had it I managed to source a new Steve Parker system still in it's original unopened packaging on the second hand market. Wohoo...

So I'll be getting that fitted in the very near future.