[Healeys] Hot Healeys

[Bob Spidell]

Hmmmm ... I fail to see why exhaust wrap would cause more water in the 
downpipes after shutdown than no wrap.  If anything, the retained heat 
would boil the water off more completely.   Conventional wisdom is that 
the water that rusts out exhausts comes from short trips that don't 
allow the system to heat up enough to boil off condensed moisture 
(witness the steam coming from exhausts when engines and ambient temps 
are cold).  I take mostly long trips in my Healey, and I've yet to rust 
out an exhaust (I've battered several to death, however, over nearly 
100K miles).  If anything, more heat in the exhaust is a good thing WRT 
rust.  IMO, stainless steel is a waste of money in a Healey--you'll 
trash a muffler before it rusts, mild or stainless.

I built "Frankenmuffler" from stock (Ansa) piping and aftermarket 
glasspacks--no baffles, but the fiberglass packing may not survive the 
heat.  The Ansa muffler was glasspacks too, with no internal baffling.  
I've heard from various sources that all Healey mufflers--including 
OEM--were glasspacks (that's been my experience so far). 


bs


Alan Seigrist wrote:
> Bob -
>  
> It's not the water in the exhaust gasses when the car is running, its 
> the ambient water that comes into the exhaust system after you shut 
> the motor off.  That's what causes all the rust.  If you have SS 
> exhaust, it should be less of a concern.  Plus the additional heat 
> will cause more post shut down corrosion in your mufflers if they are 
> mild steel.  It wouldn't suprise me if the baffles in your mufflers 
> break loose sometime soon (the welds holding the baffles always rust 
> out first).  Of couse, if you have SS it will be less of an issue.
>  
> Alan
>
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Bob Spidell           San Jose, CA            bspidell at comcast.net
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