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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - 1275 exhaust

I am thinking of replacing the exhaust with one that absorbs less power.
I have a twin box sports system from MGOC on the end of a LCB manifold on a virtually standard 1275. I was thinking about fitting the RC40 from Magic midget.
Has anyone got any experience with these?

Dave
D Brown

yes. it's great, fits *just* between the fuel tank and the spring. sounds fantastic and mr vizard reckons no power loss up to about 130hp

replacement silencers are cheap as well, got mine for £27 from minispares

kept it for the K as well :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3404316015_691c9b4990_b.jpg


that waxoyl smelt nice once it was going....

I fitted a heatshield between it and the fuel tank, my dad has fitted one and didnt bother with the shield and he hasn't gone bang yet so must be OK :)
Rob Armstrong

My RC40 fit was a little tricky ended up being very low. It hits the road every now and again which is no bother.

I'm not sure about the power thing but it sounds good.
tm wainwright

My pics off an RC40 install.

http://www.eatworms.org.uk/mg-midget/projects/77-midget-rockers

I'm not hugely happy with the sound. I have a rattle somewhere but will admit I believe it was self inflicted with some over exuberant persuading during install.

Dean Smith ('73 RWA)

We have used a std MGB silencer, fits well, nice sound (and we had them on the shelf so above all it was easy)
Paul Walbran

Dean - is it a rattle like a raspy noise?

mine seems to do this as well, think it's something to do with the RC40 being part of a twin box system - the front box on the mini gets rid of more high frequency noises, both my A series and dads one both make a rasp in the same rev range on overrun, mini with twin box doesn't :)
Rob Armstrong

Dave,

Maniflow - sounds good - fits perfectly - great quality - had to richen it up a bit after fitting so must be flowing better. Just a happy customer

Mike
M J Pearson

Had to reactivate this thread as just fitted a Maniflow LCB and RC40 to my 71 1275. Never knew a standard Midget engine could sound so good, it's somewhere between an A and a B, a nice deep, mellow bellow.
Had to trim the edges of the hole in the chassis to get the manifold through and then take a while to line up the joining pipe but the silencer fits a treat between spring and tank. Excellent and fabulous service from Magic Midget.


Jeremy
Jeremy 3

Dave,
I wonder what makes you think you're losing much power from your present exhaust

plus it's got to be able to go in to get out

this of course is where full and proper servicing, maintainence and repair will pay dividends

if all on the car is in good condition then a trip to Peter Burgess's rolling road -

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/peterburgess/

- may well find that power with whichever tail you have

I had a unknown LCB on my car when I bought it swapping it for a Maniflow LCB make a very noticable and grin inducing difference

even more so after the trip back from Peter's
Nigel At

"this of course is where full and proper servicing, maintainence and repair will pay dividends"

Nigel, you forgot to include the link to the owners manual, where it details the 36000 mile service :):)

Lawrence Slater

Dave's already seen the link :)

best tuning you can do is full and proper servicing but it's often forgotten and without it you're seriously compromising any further stages of tuning which includes the exhaust
Nigel At

Although my sprite is a '66, I fitted the twin box silencer system in stainless.

I seperated the 2 boxes, and rammed a big metal spike through the baffles in the box that crosses the rear.

It sounds just like a B. That hollow metallic echo they have.

Since I have never been near, let alone on a RR with it, I have no idea what power I have lost or gained, but it goes well enough, and sounds sweet as. :)
Lawrence Slater

I have a Maniflow manifold and 'across the back' single box unit - nice sound but not to noisy for longer runs.

The box is an oval single box , without the normal small resonator unit mounted by the springs.

R.


richard boobier

That's why I fitted the twin box system, I got fed up with the noise on long runs. But being as it was so quiet, I decided I wanted a bit of a note. So I spiked the baffles and got the B sound quite by accident.

It's loud enough to please me, and not loud enough to annoy me.

Pretty pathetic really imo, that people including me, are bothered by the sound that a car exhaust makes lol.

Maybe something primitive in us, we like the roar of a bear, or the animal in us.

But actually, I look back now, and see just how bloody annoying I must have been, when I was practically straight through. Late at night I would come home and wake all the neighbours.

My Triumph bonny was even worse, that WAS loud, VERY loud.

What happened to the excessive noise legislation? I can remember being nicked several times for excessive noise on my bike and in the sprite. These days I never hear of anyone being stopped, bike or car for excessive noise.

Maybe I'm just getting old lol.

Lawrence Slater

Nice fitting Richard - after it was fitted we did think about mounting the box along the back like yours as it neatly tucks it out of the way.
There's definitely something in us about the sound of an exhaust. I remember a lovely retaining wall in Holyhead which I used to drive up and down when on holday just to listen to the exhaust note on my old B reverberating!
I live near the Woodvale rally so if you want to hear loud try a Harley or a huge Peterbilt truck, both completely drowned out the little Midge yesterday!

Jeremy
Jeremy 3

If you want exhaust music !! come along to one of Bill's (SGPM) 'Brum tunnel runs', something like 20 cars all giving it beans in the tunnels !

R.
richard boobier

If you enjoy exhaust music take a run through the new Hindhead tunnels located on the A3 south of Guildford. Over a mile in each direction and national speed limit applies - fast enogh to make serious music.
Ray Rowsell

tunnels are great for good exhausts - have yet to try it out in either of the Mersey tunnels.
Forgotten about those tunnels in Brum Richard which I've driven in a modern but not the Midget.
There are some IIRC dotted along the North Wales coast which may now need revisiting!

Jeremy
Jeremy 3

A symphony in, ----

A B C minor, played by a midget.

No Ks allowed. lol.
Lawrence Slater

Dave,

I've fitted the RC40 & LCB manifold from Magic Midget and also found it was a little tricky fit. There isn’t a lot space between the tank and suspension bits for the back box and back box doesn’t have a bracket (or didn’t when I got mine at Spridget50) to mount the exhaust bushes onto. I’ve not fitted a heat shield either (perhaps that’s why my petrol goes so fast!) I used temp solution from Halfords to mount it until the “T- bolt clamps” arrived from a separate supplier (exhaust parts UK). You may have to cut a small amount pipe after the back box so that it doesn’t protrude past the rear bumper (if fitted). Don’t make my mistake of cutting the other end by the manifold.

Although my car (70 Midget) sits slightly lower than a std car I do find that the manifold/exhaust sit very low to ground (only have 1.5 inches of ground clearnace) and I quite often bump the road. The manifold appears to sit just under an inch lower to the ground than a std one. Job for the winter is heat it up and bend very slightly upwards.

As for the sound I think its great, it loud enough when give the beans and not to loud when you are driving normally. The service from MM is very good as well.

Rich
R Barker

The RC40 appears to be oval shaped. Since it is such a tight fit between spring and tank, why not just rotate it 90 degrees to give more clearance? Is the problem just ground clearance? Even if it has a prebent pipe, that could be cut off and rewelded. On another note, how far does the end of your tailpipe extend out in relation to the bumper (chrome bumpers)? The chrome on my exhaust side is getting sort of discolored looking and hard to shine up. Its not soot or oil, it looks like I would imagine changes from heat would look. The tip of my exhaust is about 4" below the bumper, but stops about 3" shorter than the bumper. If you look straight down over the rear of the car, the exhaust tip is seen between the body and the bumper.
Jack Orkin

Jack,
the discolouration is possibly just the exhaust muck filming on your chrome you may be able to get it off with ordinary paint polish, it might take a few goes and will quickly coat up again but you could give it a go

be carefull about chrome cleaners as some are quite abrasive and if you use them too much or too often your go through the chrome finish
Nigel At

Jack I had the exact same problem on my MGB, the bumper looking tarnished above the tailpipe. It does come off with chrome polish. I fitted a tailpipe extension which brings the end just beyond the rear of the bumper. No more tarnishing!

I didn't get the RC40 from Magic Midget, but got this one instead (http://www.magicmidget.co.uk/images/Full%20stainless%20exhaust.JPG) which seems narrow enough to fit easily. But I can't verify that as I haven't reached that part of the rebuild yet.

Incidentally, my younger son lives only 5 miles from Kim Dear, the Magic Midget man, so I have been over to see him and pick up my bits. What a nice guy! Really friendly. He runs the business from his house and has a garage absolutely jam-packed with a couple of rusting Midgets and loads of bits.
Mike Howlett

cracking idea from Mike tail pipe end trims, get one that points down too, totally forgot about them

still try with ordinary car polish before getting a chrome cleaner you only really need that stuff when things are really bad and then as a very infrequent use continued occasional use of car polish would be better
Nigel At

Thanks for the info. I will look into extending the tailpipe a few inches, or maybe getting a new muffler and tailpipe. I, too, am looking for some good "music"!
Jack Orkin

Mike Howlett, sorry it's OT but I live only 5 miles from Kim too....whereabouts?
Max max-at-midgetmax-dot-com

Max,
As you see from my title I live in SW Scotland, but my younger son and his family live in Corsham. I visited Kim when we were down staying with the young family and getting to know our grandchildren. We don't get down very often. Next trip will be November I think.
Mike Howlett

Hah, it's just a small world! I'm about 5 miles the other way!

Max max-at-midgetmax-dot-com

This thread was discussed between 12/07/2010 and 18/08/2011

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