Lets’ start with the death shot image to the left
Ok… so the exhaust is removed. At first glance it appears to be a success — but not the kind of victory I had in mind. I was picturing a clean, one-piece removal, like pulling a sword from a stone. Instead, it was more like digging up an ancient fossil with a jackhammer.
Sure, the pipe was so rusted it wasn’t going to win any beauty contests, but technically it was doing its job. It did function as a “silencer,” though in that very British way: it didn’t silence much, it just made the noise sound slightly more polite.
Now, here’s the fun bit: the pipe is held on in two places (A) and (B). The whole system is actually two pieces joined with one pipe sliding into the silencer, clamped at (C). Easy enough in theory. Except the section in the yellow box passes through the kickstarter, the foot peg, and the gear shift. Once everything was loose, you’d think the pipe would just slide out with a cheerful “pop.” Nope. Instead, it was like trying to solve a mechanical Rubik’s cube designed by someone who hates you.
Removing the foot peg should have made it possible. But of course, the bolt and nut had other plans. The foot peg bend blocked a socket, and a spanner? Useless. Too close to the ground, bad angle, no leverage. The open end managed to get on one set of flats, but with enough pressure it started rounding the corners. Arrgghh. At that point I summoned the pneumatic impact — my Excalibur — but all it did was create rounder nuts, inside and out. Almost heroic, but not quite.
Enter the Sawz-All. When 50+ years of engineering stubbornness meets modern reciprocating fury, there’s really no contest. Let’s call it: Engineers 0 – Sawz-All 1.
Oh, and the kickstart? That had its own little trick — a wedge piece pulled into the lever to hold it against the shaft. Over time, the pin had collected more dents than a bumper car, and it fought me every inch of the way. It’s now on the shopping list.
Finally, the exhaust pipe — slip fit into the cylinder, held with a bracket. I had a quick sanity check call with Mario (every restorer needs a “Mario”), who confirmed the finned ring casting was just a heat relief and could be removed later. Good to know I wasn’t about to dismantle something sacred.
Next up: engine removal.
If the exhaust was this much fun, you can only imagine what’s coming next…
Ha! When in doubt, Sawz-All it out! A time-proven method that overcomes all obstacles.
And in the event the cut was wrong… Duct Tape to the rescue!!