Fitting Moss Manifold

[woodward]

Hello

 

I am trying to fit a Moss tubular exhaust manifold to my TR4. Having read some of the previous posts, I was expecting some trouble getting this to fit and I have found it at step 1... When I fit the manifold, the pipes at the end are angled donwards so that the exhaust would not fit through the box in the center of the car. Furthermore the manifold fouls on the chassis at the Y piece way before I even get to the box. My solution is to take the header down to an exhaust shop and have them bend a few more degrees into it so it is more horizontal. Has anyone had this specific problem before and if so, what was your solution?

 

Thanks

 

Myles

[alantr4]

I once had a similiar experience with a moss manifold for a GT6 . In this case it patently didnt fit the head properly! My solution was to take it back and ask for a refund ,when they queried it I asked them to get a cylinder head and proove to me it would fit.They tried and failed. That was 15 years ago and I havent been back to them since.

[BrianC]

Has anyone had this specific problem before and if so, what was your solution?

I haven't got a TR4 and therfore haven't had this problem, but if I did, before wasting any more time and money, I would ask Moss to take it back and exchange it for the correct item which should fit or give a refund.

 

I have an old TriumphTune 4-branch manifold on my TR3A which was made just after SAH became TriumphTune but was still independent of Moss. This fitted perfectly and I believe the TR4 ones of that era were also OK, but I have heard that the modern versions, although still to the same design are less accurately manufactured and some do not fit without a lot of work. It seems to be more prevalent with the stainless steel versions than the mild steel so perhaps Moss have different suppliers for these. Quality control may allow excessive variation, or you may simply have been supplied with the wrong item (it has happened to others).

[Bully]

I have had a similar problem on my TR4A, although not excessive, it did touch the chassis. My solution was to bend the lip of the chassis, and slightly squish the manifold, so they no longer touch, and allow enough room for vibration.

 

I'm going through a rebuild, so this was before chassis powder coating.

 

Is it way out, or only just touching?

 

Bully

[Rhodri]

I had exactly the same problem and bent the pipes using oxy-acetylene- wait till you try and fit the rear sections!

 

Rod

[andyhall]

Take it back & get a Phoenix one

[JJC]

Hello

 

I am trying to fit a Moss tubular exhaust manifold to my TR4. Having read some of the previous posts, I was expecting some trouble getting this to fit and I have found it at step 1... When I fit the manifold, the pipes at the end are angled donwards so that the exhaust would not fit through the box in the center of the car. Furthermore the manifold fouls on the chassis at the Y piece way before I even get to the box. My solution is to take the header down to an exhaust shop and have them bend a few more degrees into it so it is more horizontal. Has anyone had this specific problem before and if so, what was your solution?

 

Thanks

 

Myles

Have to agree, I too experienced similar problem some time ago with TR2. To solve the problem I got a bespoke version made by Torque Techniques just outside Salisbury copying my Derrington original. They made it and fitted it all for very little more than I paid for the Moss one! I still have the Moss/SAH version which I had been planning to fit to my TR4. Sounds as though I might have to think again.

[Rhodri]

My non-fitting exhaust system was a Phoenix one......

[woodward]

Thanks for all you suggestions. Unfortunately I can't take it back as I've had it for over a year and it's also been ceramic coated.

 

Anyway, I took it down to an exhaust shop near the office and the put bit more of a bend in the pipes and now they fit a lot better. Now I am trying to fit the rest of the exhaust and I have one other question - there's a mounting point on my TR4 chassis just after the rear axle. I can't quite see from the Moss book which parts I need to mount to the exhaust to this point - can someone who has done this enlighten me?

 

Thanks

 

Myles

[RogerH]

Hi Myles,

been following this thread and it appears they all do and don't fit properly.

I have a Revington extractor manifold and when fitting had to make the mandatory phone calls back to vendor on how/what/where and why.

Basically there is only just enough room between engine and chassis for the standard manifold. I had to grind away part of the chassis top lip adjacent to the pipes.

 

The reawards pointing outlet to the manifold should be parallel (approximately) to the exhaust ports in the head. Is your engine lower at the back than the front this could make it point out of alignment.

It's a shame that you coated it as it reduces your options.

 

I have got a ceramic coated Phoenix big bore waiting to be fitted - you have given me cause for a little bit of panic!!

 

Roger

[ianc]

Both the Triumphtune/Falcon manifolds (made to the same pattern as the 1960s SAH manifold) which I examined at Revington in 2005 were not aligned correctly and it would have been impossible to get the manifold onto both the foremost and hindmost stud on the cylinder head - which is why Neil had to use a hydraulic ram to push the tubing apart by about 0.2". Had it not been for the fact that I wanted to maintain originality, I would have bought something which fitted!

Ensure that the faces of the manifold (where it mates with the cylinder head) are absolutely flat and aligned - if not, you will get leaks at the gasket! If you have had to bend the pipework to make it fit (as I had to when fitting a same pattern replacement for my original, 1962, SAH manifold), this is doubly important as the faces may become misaligned as the bending is done. If that happens, you may have to spend some considerable time grinding the faces to achieve correct alignment. It took me a day and a half and a lot of grinding wheels to get to with 1.5 thousands of an inch - I used a spare piece of kitchen worktop as the surface against which to check the alignment.

Ian Cornish

[rudi]

I have a complete big bore 4 into 1 SS system with one silencer made by Phoenix. Fitted perfectly without any alterations on my 3A. Only had to make a new mounting point for the rear silencer and used a gearbox mounting from a later TR instead of the one from a sidescreen. Although a bit noisy I am very satisfied about the quality.

grtz, Rudi

[mandarawessels]

Thanks for all you suggestions. Unfortunately I can't take it back as I've had it for over a year and it's also been ceramic coated.

 

Anyway, I took it down to an exhaust shop near the office and the put bit more of a bend in the pipes and now they fit a lot better. Now I am trying to fit the rest of the exhaust and I have one other question - there's a mounting point on my TR4 chassis just after the rear axle. I can't quite see from the Moss book which parts I need to mount to the exhaust to this point - can someone who has done this enlighten me?

 

Thanks

 

Myles

having fitted my exhaust last month, I came to the conclusion that at the rear one just has to improvise a bit.

all the bits that came with the moss kit had to be cut and bent a bit but in the end it worked out fine.

cheers

John.

ps i had to grind the down pipe flange quite a bit on one side to give the downpipe enough clearance from the chassis.

Edited November 18, 2008 by mandarawessels

[Alec Pringle]

Don't expect miracles when dealing with cars that are 40 or 50 years old, and which may well have been rebuilt more than once over the years.

 

In the late 70s/early 80s I had an involvement with a specialist exhaust manufacturer, prototyping TR performance systems. What fitted like a glove on the first test car, fouled on the second, and fouled again on the third car but in a different place - all good original unrestored TRs. That's how much they could differ . . .

 

Throw in the odd rebuild, a legacy of accident repair, and repro components that aren't quite 100% . . . and the whole fitment plan is in disarray. Bear in mind that even a slight 1mm difference in engine or gearbox mounting can become several millimetres error by the time you're at the other end of the exhaust system. The same goes for the exhaust system itself, of course - and these are small-production items made by small firms employing relatively skilled hands and eyeballs.

 

If we were dealing with robot-made monococques and exhaust systems producd by megabuck manufacturing it might be a different story . . . but have you seen the price of Audi or BMW exhaust systems ?

 

Cheers,

 

Alec