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Uprated poly exhaust mounts - how many interested?



  Clio 172 2003
Comment to be eddited.
 

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  406 V6, Race Buggy
Is that a "The exhaust sits a lot higher, but mainly because the backbox is on my face because the jack fell over" ?
 
  Clio 172 2003
Time limit to edit the comment expired so I'll post it here:
Hi there. So I fitted mine to my 172 yesterday.

The parcel arrived on Friday and apart from the mount I got a little riddle when I've seen the "Dolphin Friendly" logo showing through the tape. My girlfriend bet on some sort of fishing equipment I simply had no clue. Turned out to be a box of cat-food. My cat approved of this straight away.

Cheers for putting in the efort of putting my nick on the mount. Absolutely love it. Back in a day when I worked at MINI Plant Oxford in the Engineering department i was responsible for managing all the rapid prototyping jobs from engineers, so I appreciate this took an extra few minutes to do.

My exhaust was dropping down so I knew the mount will be in sorry state, but what I've seen kinda shocked me. I've unbolted the mount, which was quicker than expected as one of the bolts was snapped by previous owner ;) Then I proceeded to cut out the old insert which was an absolute b**ch to do. In the end I've gotten nearly all of the rubber out all the way to the mettal using 3 different knives, a small hacksaw and small, pointy pliers. I guess it could be handy if with the mounts you could provide the instructions of how best to tackle this job when you start the proper sales as it can be frustrating.

I lubed up the outside of the insert and inside of the bracket with fairy liquid, and was able to insert the mount quite easily by hand. Now this could be down to the way I cut out the rubber. Basically there is a small step in the metal at the narrower end of the mount on three sides of the box section (sides and bottom, not top). If I cut the rubber out flush with this step i think the fit would be perfect, with me getting rid of all the rubber, the fit is perfect but the metal doesn't grab it too hard. Once fitted to the car I moved the mount to align the bolts, and instead of the insert moving on the exhaust rod, the bracket was sliding on the insert.
My recommendation would be to make the mount 0.5-1mm wider and taller or make sure that rubber of the old mount is cut out flush with the step (although I find the step useful for holding the mount in place.

Then I also swapped out the old black center-section mount as mine was stretched beyond what seemed reasonable and the whole thing was just flopping about. I replaced it with the new style red mount which I have also wrapped with 2 thick cable ties to give it a bit more strength.

I then proceeded to change the downpipe to cat spring-s as one of mine is loose and rattles like hell at 3.5-4.5k revs. I didn't even get to start, because instead I learned why lifting an MK 2 clio front using 2 scisor jacks is a stupid Idea. Thank God I wasn't underneath the car when the whole thing collapsed, because otherwise I wouldn't be writing this. ;) This morning with my neighbour's hand I managed to get the Honda Jack from underneath the car. I'll report back when I do a test-drive and provide more pictures. The exhaust sits nice and high now.

Thanks very much Philip! :)
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Yes, I need to sit down and write some fitting instructions when they ready - I usually just burn out old mounts (bury 'em in the hot coals when your BBQ is cooling down is another good option). That way they're always sat on clean metal

Let me know when you've been for a run whether the noise/vibration levels okay?
 

Louis

I Park Like a C**t
ClioSport Club Member
Time limit to edit the comment expired so I'll post it here:
Hi there. So I fitted mine to my 172 yesterday.

The parcel arrived on Friday and apart from the mount I got a little riddle when I've seen the "Dolphin Friendly" logo showing through the tape. My girlfriend bet on some sort of fishing equipment I simply had no clue. Turned out to be a box of cat-food. My cat approved of this straight away.

Cheers for putting in the efort of putting my nick on the mount. Absolutely love it. Back in a day when I worked at MINI Plant Oxford in the Engineering department i was responsible for managing all the rapid prototyping jobs from engineers, so I appreciate this took an extra few minutes to do.

My exhaust was dropping down so I knew the mount will be in sorry state, but what I've seen kinda shocked me. I've unbolted the mount, which was quicker than expected as one of the bolts was snapped by previous owner ;) Then I proceeded to cut out the old insert which was an absolute b**ch to do. In the end I've gotten nearly all of the rubber out all the way to the mettal using 3 different knives, a small hacksaw and small, pointy pliers. I guess it could be handy if with the mounts you could provide the instructions of how best to tackle this job when you start the proper sales as it can be frustrating.

I lubed up the outside of the insert and inside of the bracket with fairy liquid, and was able to insert the mount quite easily by hand. Now this could be down to the way I cut out the rubber. Basically there is a small step in the metal at the narrower end of the mount on three sides of the box section (sides and bottom, not top). If I cut the rubber out flush with this step i think the fit would be perfect, with me getting rid of all the rubber, the fit is perfect but the metal doesn't grab it too hard. Once fitted to the car I moved the mount to align the bolts, and instead of the insert moving on the exhaust rod, the bracket was sliding on the insert.
My recommendation would be to make the mount 0.5-1mm wider and taller or make sure that rubber of the old mount is cut out flush with the step (although I find the step useful for holding the mount in place.

Then I also swapped out the old black center-section mount as mine was stretched beyond what seemed reasonable and the whole thing was just flopping about. I replaced it with the new style red mount which I have also wrapped with 2 thick cable ties to give it a bit more strength.

I then proceeded to change the downpipe to cat spring-s as one of mine is loose and rattles like hell at 3.5-4.5k revs. I didn't even get to start, because instead I learned why lifting an MK 2 clio front using 2 scisor jacks is a stupid Idea. Thank God I wasn't underneath the car when the whole thing collapsed, because otherwise I wouldn't be writing this. ;) This morning with my neighbour's hand I managed to get the Honda Jack from underneath the car. I'll report back when I do a test-drive and provide more pictures. The exhaust sits nice and high now.

Thanks very much Philip! :)
Instead of buying new exhaust mounts you should have invested in axle stands and a proper trolley jack!
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Yes, I would advice anyone getting under a car for anything puts axle stands under there, even hydraulic jacks collapse sometimes.
If you don't have anything and it's an emergency at least take a wheel or two off and push them under the sills - better a wheel getting damaged than yourself.
 
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  Clio 172 2003
Instead of buying new exhaust mounts you should have invested in axle stands and a proper trolley jack!
You know how it is: jacks collapsing and other such storries can't happen to me, they only happen to random people on the internet. I'm careful and I know what I'm doing. Surely it will be fine... ;) Now being serious I live in a flat in London, keep the car on a common parking in front of the building. No space to keep a trolley jack anywhere, and besides I don't wrench on it often enough to justify it.

Meanwhile I drove down to the south coast today. The mount is great, same level of vibration as my previous worn one (which i think is perfectly acceptable, can't compare it to a fresh stock one) but obviously less backbox flopping about and clunking, so the car feels more solid going over bumps. However, it seems like I do have a loose heatshield somewhere as now I am getting an irregular buzzing noise mainly when idling. Luckily it's not too loud.
IMG_20180506_214038.jpg
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Okay, so far all the feedback I've had from testers sent out - as well as the two local/friends ones I've been having a look at when they come around - are having no issues, sag, exhaust fitment, vibration level/comfort, etc, all are reporting as fine, and the fit for the centre hanger seems perfect for everyone, whether it's a new stainless exhaust or an old rusty hanger (it's deliberately distorted in the bush so it can take a wider range of actual hanger diameters).
Fit in the mounts seems to be good, although both sysak above and one other has reported it moved a little in the housing initially - although not once they'd bedded in, then they stay retained just fine - that may be down to fitting them with lubricant/washing up liquid as the rest were fitted either dry or just with slightly soapy water.
However, bearing that in mind I've made a slight tweak to give them slightly more vertical preload (same lateral) - and increased the wall roughness slightly so they wipe/wick away anything used to fit them faster - just in case - I think they should be pretty much perfect at that.

I've a few more I'm waiting on fitting that have already gone out, and waiting on more milage for durability testing on various setups just in case - although I don't expect any problems there given I've already had a similar on go for 18+ months before the car was sold, and it's stronger and more resistant to degradation, oils, ozone, etc, than the OE rubbers - belt and braces though ;)

But it's looking good, so we should have a production run shortly.
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
It's going to depend on numbers and any revisions, and what Kev needs to hit if he stocks them (and retail packaging costs, etc) - but I'm looking at around the same price as the Powerflex options at the minute - and hopefully just below. I'll try to update on price this week.
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Will do, It's a little frustrating, but it's just a waiting game at the moment.

I could just do a group buy now to be honest but a little extra testing never hurt anyone :D
Well, apart from my material stock levels anyway.
 
  Clio 172 2003
...
However, bearing that in mind I've made a slight tweak to give them slightly more vertical preload (same lateral) - and increased the wall roughness slightly so they wipe/wick away anything used to fit them faster - just in case - I think they should be pretty much perfect at that.
This will be spot on. You will have lots of happy customers. ?
Best of luck :)
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Yes, I've already made a pair and tested them, they can still be fitted by hand albiet a bit harder to do, in a clean dry housing, so all good there. A bit of water alone is enough to get them into a housing with rubber remanants.
I'm in the middle of trying to write some idiot-proof instructions at the moment, just in case :D
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Right, instructions are done, I think they're relatively straightforward, I'll post them up later so people can see if I should add anything (I guess bolt sizes and torque specs for the housing might be a good idea)
 

Louis

I Park Like a C**t
ClioSport Club Member
What sort of warranty will you offer on these? I think that's the difficult part of pricing so close to powerflex as most people will go with those everytime just because of the name and the lifetime warranty!
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
I'd love to go cheaper, but unfortunately with the simple solid poly cast ones they can probably turn out 50 of them in the same time it takes me to make one, not even counting the oven time.
I don't think there's any problem with giving the usual 2-year warranty against defects or faults, short of doing something silly like spraying them with acid or acetone or something, there's not really much that will happen to them bar a little creep over time, which all mounts do.
 

Leo182

ClioSport Club Member
  Blk/Gld 182 Cupped
Fitted mine today as the oem ones were finally dead, some serious banging when going over bumps were occurring.

I've not really drove the car since fitted - just around the block although I did maybe hear the heatshield now flapping onto the backbox, will fit some bigger washers as the ones there are doing nothing.

I shall report back, exhaust sits better and seems firmly in place.

Watch this space...
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Great, what was the fit like in the mounts?
I have revised them and made them a little tighter fit as I did have one - sysaks - that wasn't as tight as it should be - although everyone else's has been good.
 
  Clio 172 2003
Hi Phillip. I have followed your advice. Drenched a rag and a small block of wood in solvant, placed in the middle of the mount and set on fire to burn out whatever rubber I wasn't able to cut out. The remains scraped off nicely with a wire-brush. I have washed the soap off the insert and refitted using only water as lubrication. It fitted more snuggly. I haven't driven it that much since then, but judging by the lack of sounds from underneath the car it's still all good. I'll have a closer look tomorrow.
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
That's great news, hopefully was just the rubber remains in yours stopping it going up tight then.

I may have to think about buying a few housings and offer them pre-fitted on the production ones, just to make things easier for people needing a fast swap.
I can just sandblast them up here in bulk to take the rubber out.
 
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Leo182

ClioSport Club Member
  Blk/Gld 182 Cupped
Great, what was the fit like in the mounts?
I have revised them and made them a little tighter fit as I did have one - sysaks - that wasn't as tight as it should be - although everyone else's has been good.

Fit seemed ok to me, I didn't burn the old rubber out though just used a stanley knife took a while though!

I managed to use brute force with a little fairy liquid and a clamp to ease it in, seems fine to me.
 

donnylad

ClioSport Club Member
are you selling these now? how much? I have skim read so sorry if I have missed it.

If you have a mould and want it moulding let me know and I can prob do it quite cheap, especially if you supply the material.
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
As the design is at the moment it couldn't be easily moulded without some hassle, as it has sectional changes throughout that result in quite a lot of undercut areas on both sides - I'd have to revise it, but I don't think that really makes sense at the current numbers.
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Right, since testing seems to have gone fine, I'm going to push forward with these - I've got a few suspension bushes to finish this week, and then the machine is free for a few days - so I'll probably get the first small production batch out next week, around 10-20 units.
 

mintno1

ClioSport Club Member
  Ph1 172 / Mk1 Valver
Am interested as discussed over PM, let me know what price you are thinking for 1, would be interested in complete or as a DIY ?
 

Darren S

ClioSport Club Member
  406 V6, Race Buggy
They might be slightly cheaper than that as a pair, hopefully, I'm just sorting packaging/postage costs atm.
 

DaveDreads

aka Philomena Cunk aka Barry Shitpeas
ClioSport Club Member
Well I drilled loads of holes in my Powerflex exhaust mount and it made sod all difference to the boot lid vibrating, as soon as you've got a batch of these i'm giving you some money.
 
  406 V6, Race Buggy
Right guys, KAM Racing is going to stock these, so I'll let Kev deal with prices for you/group buys, as obviously I don't know what his overheads are.
 

Kev@KAM

ClioSport Trader
  Badass Toyota
We are going to work on making a high volume of these to keep the price as low as possible. I make more selling Powerflex but this is a much better product so I'd rather help get this out to market than make loads of profit.
 


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