Copper exhaust pipe

[jagnut66]

Hi,
Well Olwyn is now back on the road and to celebrate we had a trip to see a friend of mine in Macclesfield, via the Peak District National Park, such a beautiful place. Sadly the Cat & Fiddle pub is closed and up for lease, anyone know a celebrity chef looking for a historic pub in a wonderful location?
Anyway, as part of the refurb I renewed my exhaust, imagine my surprise when I went to cut up the old exhaust and put it out for the scrap man, the back section of my exhaust (after the silencer box) is made of copper. It's covered in splodges of red oxide paint and other stuff, so I wouldn't have known unless I was cutting it up. One things for sure the back section would never have rusted!
I am saving this to see if I can reuse it in the future. This must have been done in Tasmania as a home repair, the front section was joined to the box by a clamp in the normal way. Then after the box there was section of shaped metal pipe welded in (as another repair??) and then finally a rear section had been made up, out of copper pipe, including shaping it so it would go over the rear axle (extremely well shaped by the way). This was then held in place by clamps attached to straps, attached to the body, as normal. Although the straps looked home sourced as well.
Make do and mend at it's finest!
Best wishes,
Mike.

PS: I think the club should offer 'Keep Calm and Carry On' mugs on the regalia stall at shows, they epitomise the character of the typical classic car owner!

[johngrigg]

Reminds me of a friend who was a musician and the owner of an MG p type some 60 years ago To improve the exhaust note he obtained a length of copper pipe and fashioned an exhaust The muffler was dispensed with as an unnecessary impediment to both performance and sound. In due course plod intervened and told him to quiet it down and present it for inspection. He inserted a roll of insect screen up the tail plpe and took it round to plod who listened and was satisfied. Aound the next corner he removed the roll and continued on his merry way and was never troubled again. But It did make a wonderful sound!.

[Chipper]

I once heard it is illegal to use copper in the exhaust system - something to do with it creating poisonous fumes.

This may well be some old wive's tale though...

[BrianHawley]

Presumably a previous owner was a plumber and had some lying around.

Good job it wasn't lead

[jagnut66]

Do they worry about 'fumes' down under?? ...............

[twincamman]

I once heard it is illegal to use copper in the exhaust system - something to do with it creating poisonous fumes.

This may well be some old wive's tale though...

You're right about that. Just be thankful that the minor only had to pass a 'visible smoke' test, 'cos I reckon that hooking it up to the machine would've given 'interesting' results!

By the way, stainless exhausts have a mild catalytic effect, reducing noxious emissions= that's according to Dave Vizard.

[jagnut66]

So you're saying put the copper pipe out for the scrap man then?? Otherwise I might poison the whole neighbourhood..............

[twincamman]

To be on the safe side, that's what I would do. The eco-fundamentalists are becoming increasingly vocal these days.
'Locals poisoned by Morris Minor' is probably a headline we could do without.......

[CAR734B]

Pretty sure copper won't last long on an exhaust. Make it out of cheese and have done. The combination of moisture and acids will put pay to copper pretty fast. Hence not a good material anyway. It'll effectively disappear with the gases going thru' it, which I suspect evermore toxic. The reason it is illegal.

[jagnut66]

'Locals poisoned by Morris Minor' is probably a headline we could do without.......

(appeals to 'evil' Michael's sense of humour though..........)

The reason it is illegal.

Never heard of copper exhaust pipes being illegal and as for it melting away, I suspect this was on it when it came back from Tasmania, so it has been on for a while......
Anyway I shall put it out and watch the scrap men fight over it, nice piece of copper......

[Adrian Pearse]

Copper isn't used for exhaust pipes for several reason. Cost would be the main factor small bore pipes are relatively inexpensive however the larger the more expensive. As it is a smooth metal it helps keep the resonance level up thus making a louder sound say over mild steel, thus it used for the making of musical instruments. Copper gives off toxic fumes when heated high enough some lovely toxins can also be given off as well such at Arsenic Lead & Cadmium. We all know Arsenic is lethal. however Cadmium is a class 1 Human Carcinogen and has been banned from scientific research for years. A lethal dose is between 9 - 12 mg/m3.

[jagnut66]

Blimey!!
Just as well it's no longer fitted then! The scrap men are welcome to it in this case.........
Best wishes,
Mike.