2003 Smart Roadster

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

Had to shorten the 60 degree bend significantly to make sure it exited high enough and the whole thing is welded now with no joints so it's one piece from the turbo. I made a clamp at the back to the original exhaust mount as it's quite a heavy thing. Couldn't fit my baffle in it so hoping that it's an acceptable sound! 🤔 I may need to add a bend to the tailpipe but I'll run it for a week and test it out first

[Davey]

Looks great but i suspect you may end up with some plastic meltage with such a short pipe from the turbo.

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

Sept 21, 2022 9:52:41 GMT Davey said:

Looks great but i suspect you may end up with some plastic meltage with such a short pipe from the turbo.

You suspected currectly 😂 it made a right mess within 5 minutes! I've fitted a bend now but just need to lower the diffuser slightly to stop it rattling and think of a way of tidying up the melty bits 😂

[CaptainSlog]

Loving this - as said looks mean now. I think some mesh would work in the exhaust opening with a bend poking through, show us the melted bits.

[twincammy]

Oct 1, 2022 15:17:17 GMT Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons said:

Sept 21, 2022 9:52:41 GMT Davey said:

tidying up the melty bits 😂

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

Latest YouTube video is up - love to hear your thoughts!






I'd be made up of some of my Retro Rides brethren subscribed to my channel - my next video is going to be all about the turbo Capri. 😎

[jo0lz]

found and read through this whole thread this evening
bought a cheap high mileage 05 roadster notch myself in April 2021
previously had a black'n'yellow notch from new in 2003, did 75k miles in that in 2 1/2 years
great underated fun cars

pic of mine on Wirral foreshore

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

Nov 14, 2022 22:51:07 GMT jo0lz said:

found and read through this whole thread this evening
bought a cheap high mileage 05 roadster notch myself in April 2021
previously had a black'n'yellow notch from new in 2003, did 75k miles in that in 2 1/2 years
great underated fun cars

pic of mine on Wirral foreshore

Hi! Just found your thread! Looking forward to seeing some updates 😊 hope to see you out and about on the roads 👍

[grizz]

Old but thought it may make you smile.

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

Nov 15, 2022 21:57:53 GMT grizz said:

Old but thought it may make you smile.

Great vibes in that vid 😊

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

Well, she failed the mot! Couple of ball joints and flexi hoses which are sorted but the biggie is emissions. I can't help but feel partly to blame for that one...

I decatted it and just assumed the emissions wouldn't be too bad anyway with it being a tiddly engine... I was wrong!


I have a plan though - there's no space to fit a cat, the original cat is really big and strangely shaped.. I've bought hi-flow sports cat and I'm going to cut the cherry bomb in half, weld the hi-flow cat inside the cherry bomb, and weld it all back together. I'm going to remove the o2 sensor spacer and cross my fingers. Wish me luck!

[Davey]

Be careful with the Cat material. Its nasty and brittle!

[zeberdee]

Are you going to put the complete cat , outer shell etc , inside the silencer ??
Or just the cat internals ??

If it’s just the internal , make sure it’s a tight fit .
Any slight movement will break the cat very easily & possibly lead to a blocked exhaust & non running .

👍

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

Dec 1, 2022 15:46:28 GMT zeberdee said:

Are you going to put the complete cat , outer shell etc , inside the silencer ??
Or just the cat internals ??

If it’s just the internal , make sure it’s a tight fit .
Any slight movement will break the cat very easily & possibly lead to a blocked exhaust & non running .

👍

I've bought a cat that should slot inside the cherry bomb - I'm going to tack it in place and then sleeve the cherry bomb back over it before welding it back together. It's a bit of an unusual thing to do but I can't think of any reason why it won't be ok. If I'm honest, it is a bit louder than I'd hoped at the mo so I don't mind too much if it muffles it a little. I'll be sad to lose the crackles though

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

Well - this is the 4th exhaust that's been on the Smart now! I made a straight through pipe thinking the turbo would keep it relatively sensible but it was far too loud. I then put a baffle in and it worked but after a few weeks I still felt it was too much. After that, I fitted a cherry bomb that took a lot of the higher pitched frequencies out and I was pretty pleased with it. Unfortunately, the emissions were too high without a cat 🙄 I ended up getting a high flow cat and I was going to fit it inside the cherry bomb with the bomb sleeved over it but it didn't work. I ended up using the high flow cat as the only extra in it. It has some old wheel bearings in the end of the pipe to provide some back pressure for sound levels and also to heat the pipe up a bit and improve emissions. It's my favourite version and I'm pleased that the volume has dropped to a more sensible level!

I don't have a mig so I arc welded it all together and went for a more aggressive exit angle.

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

I managed the smash the front splitter to smithereens the other day so ran it splitterless for a few weeks. I was amazed how less stable it felt on the motorway.

Anyway - got a new one and took the opportunity to change the angle and the width. I've brought it in narrower following the lines of the car more - I've also gone for a more aggressive angle. Much happier with it!

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

Looking every bit a daily at the moment - washed it last week, too! Having more trouble with the latest exhaust. The exhaust is supposed to be bolted to the block but there's so much movement on wide open throttle that it keeps damaging the mounts and snapping them. This makes the exhaust loose and rattle a bit. Thankfully, the design of the turbo elbow to exhaust means it doesn't leak - it's kind of domed and so allows for movement (not sure what it's called). I'm thinking that the next move might be solid engine mounts?

Took it on a relatively long trip the other night to collect a Capri dashboard and it was wonderful 👌

[Daveyboy20 aka Rusted Pistons]

After securing the exhaust, my next job will be to paint the windscreen pillar black - I think just having the trid silver will look great.





I'm toying with the idea of taking the massive wang off and making an acrylic ducktail of some sort. There are some angles I'm not a fan of, but others I think it looks great 🤔