Morris Minor Owners Club

After just under 4 years of restoration I now have my traveller back on the road and TÜV tested (German MOT) and I am loving driving around, a moggy ,although seldom, is still a part of the English landscape. But here in Germany it is such an exotic car and doubly so that the steering is on the right side , people smile, wave and laugh when they see the car, OK preaching to the choir. However there is one fly in the ointment, I got the car with a bog standard steel exhaust which was more rust than metal, but the former owner had tried a stainless steel exhaust but replaced it because he did not like the sound and he gave me the exhaust along with a whole bunch of other spare parts.
So to cut a long story short I now have the Stainless exhaust installed and the sound is truly MY FAVOURITE CAR IS A DATSUN CHERRY. It sounds so aggressive, so my question is has anyone else experienced something similar and whether there is a solution, I did think about a DB killer as with too loud motorbikes but I am guessing that I am not the first to suffer from this problem. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

The problem is that there are so many different exhausts, and each has its own note. I use stainless on three Minors, each sounds slightly different, two make the classic "parp" sounds, one doesn't. None of them, to me, sound aggressive. They've been on the cars so long that I have no idea where I got them. These days, there are single silencer box and two box exhausts, two piece and three piece systems; but there's no guarantee as to what they sound like.
With standard 1098cc engines, what does sound aggressive is when the air filter silencer tube falls off and you get a throaty roar on acceleration.

I fitted a 3 piece stainless from ESM and yes it’s very loud. I’m almost a bit embarrassed. Mine’s a convertible and I hardly ever have the hood up so the noise is rather noticeable to the driver. The standard steel exhaust was much quieter even with a significant blow. Still it is what it is and I’m not changing it!

Stephen

Recently fitted a stainless steel exhaust from ESM and found it to be quiet and non parping on the over run.
Also it will probably outlast the car!

A loud exhaust is OK as long as its tuned to the key of A-sharp Minor!

Boomlander wrote: ↑Fri Oct 27, 2023 9:38 pm Recently fitted a stainless steel exhaust from ESM and found it to be quiet and non parping on the over run.
Also it will probably outlast the car!

Really? Mine is snap, crack and pop. Trumps and parps louder than ever. It’s not the head as i swapped that. Going down a steep hill in third is really quite something. I was on a run out with the local branch and they did comment. I was asking them if the car smoked or whatever. No they said. It’s really quick but it’s so loud. I learned to drive on Xav at 17 and 34 years later he’s still my pal.

I really like the idea of a stainless exhaust, just one thing less to worry about. But I want people looking because of the beauty of a traveller and not because it sounds like a bad boy racer. I will try inserting a DB killer in the end pipe and see if I can just knock the edge off. I will have to weld something up as I could not find one small enough to fit the pipe, I will let you know how I get on. Thanks for all of your replies which leads me to believe that even if I went for an alternative product it would not necessarily solve the problem.
I was horrified to see that my post had "I love Datsun Cherry" in it until I realised it was a replacement for a naughty word!!!!

My 1963 convertible has a Maniflow LCB stainless system, and it's "Just right" in terms of noise for me, even with roof down.

It was all standard until I put a modified 1275 A+ in last winter; like you I was worried about noise levels, and did not want anything excessive. It is a twin box system (second box fits snugly alongside the fuel tank at the back), with straight through silencers. When I first ran it I judged it OK - not too loud, but a nice hint of sporty note to it. But don't just take my word for it .... when I took my partner out in it for the first time, her words were "nice exhaust note, not too loud" which I class as a win. We've done 1500 miles in the car this summer and it remains the same, it's fine even on long (3 hours, 150 mile) trips including motorway. It does get a bit wearing above 70mph but so do the originals.

Mine is the larger bore system, not standard, but I think you could do a lot worse than talk to Maniflow - they do a standard system aswell, I think. And as far as I know it's not the one that ESM sell.

Mine sounds like a spitfire coming in on the attack!

I had a stainless set from ESM that was embarressing loud. So I bought a second set and used the silencer as a second silencer at the rear. No boy-racer sounds now.

Michiel wrote: ↑Sun Nov 05, 2023 4:46 pm I had a stainless set from ESM that was embarressing loud. So I bought a second set and used the silencer as a second silencer at the rear. No boy-racer sounds now.

Mine is the ESM one and it is a bit much. It has a single silencer at the front. I had also considered a stainless exhaust made by Bell. Does anyone know if that is quieter? I'm stuck with the ESM stainless one now so the idea of adding a second silencer seems a good one. The exhaust fitted easily and I was pleased until I realised how loud it is which is a particular issue in a convertible. It isn't really "boy racer" as much as a bit ridiculous.

Stephen

You can get the sort of thing below which goes in the tailpipe.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302804730120

(loads of different types on ebay)

We have a similar issue with the stainless exhaust on my wifes mk1 mx5, fitting one of these has made it much quieter, mind you It seems to be getting louder again now, I suspect most of the muffler wadding has gone.

Maybe ESM have changed their supplier(s) over the years? I fitted a stainless exhaust system, about 20 years ago, from ESM. It's still perfectly intact.
I can't say it's noisey except for that characteristic sound when changing gear and on the overrun.
I doubt it does anything, but there is a chrome plated "finisher" fitted to the tailpipe?

I'd be more concerned if it didn't make a noise - one of the joys of Morris Minor motoring!

myoldjalopy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 06, 2023 12:43 pm I'd be more concerned if it didn't make a noise - one of the joys of Morris Minor motoring!

Yes of course the parps and burbles are all part of the car's character. I have always liked the fact that you can recognise a Morris Minor just by the sound but there are limits to how loud that can be without it getting really quite tiresome.

Stephen

I did weld and drill an end pipe damper, made of scrap I had lying around,which just slipped into the end of the exhaust and thanks to a smart phone app I was able to measure the difference in DBs. Needless to say it made no difference whether it was in or out, either in the measured or the perceived volume.
After a bit of research I did read that one of the problems with INOX exhausts is the relative thinness of the material which can increase rather than reduce the tube´s own resonance. So long story short, I fitted a new bog standard steel exhaust and I had my morris back instead of the bad boy racer it had become.