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Date:         Fri, 17 Sep 2004 11:16:28 -0700
Reply-To:     Vince S <gipsyflies@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Vince S <gipsyflies@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: Exhaust Pipe Question
Comments: To: THX0001@AOL.COM
In-Reply-To:  <15c.3f043dab.2e7c6877@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I am glad someone points out the important of the fit of the pipes to the engine. Unlike the American cast iron V8 you can fit black pipe used for household plumbing and it wouldn't care or crack, you don't want to put some cheap ass after market pipe on these engines. It is extremely frustrating to deal with pipes that don't align to each other and you can spend a lot of time fixing it.

With all the discussion of the potential superiority of high performance exhaust and significant room for improvement, unless you have the patience and time, means and access to very good custom work your best bet is OE pipes. You don't run to risk of the flanges a 1/4" off or co-planarity problem of the flanges WRT the two exhaust port of the two adjacent heads.

- Vince

http://gipsyflies.home.comcast.net 1989 Vanagon GL Camper 1993 Mazda Miata (for sale) 1996 Land Rover Discovery 2005 Mini Cooper S

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of George Goff Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 9:19 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Exhaust Pipe Question

In a message dated 9/17/04 10:47:49 AM, vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM writes:

<< These Danish made pipes are direct copies of the originals and have the same fit and quality as what the dealer sells, but for much less money. >>

Stop propagating this hogwash because it is simply not true. The Dansk pipes may be copies of the OE VW pipes, but, just like Pat Boone's version of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti", they are poor copies. The fit of the Dansk pipes is atrocious, the welds are poor and the bracket lugs hardly last long enough to justify their existence. Whoever doubts my words, just do a side by side comparison of the two. For example, compare the welding at the crotch of a 1.9L Y-pipe on a factory pipe to the poorly wrought example that Dansk has to offer. Even a dilettante can see the difference. Also, the factory pipes are made from a cast iron alloy, not some run-of-the-mill mild steel tubing, which is probably why they last so long.

I'm on my 4th van. Each one was bought used and each had at least one stripped exhaust stud tapping when I went to do exhaust work. The worst even had an exhaust stud boss broken out of the head. I have little doubt that all this carnage was caused by mechanics forcing ill-fitting aftermarket headers into place.

I've used both factory and aftermarket and the aftermarket pipes can't even smell what VW sells. Sure the VW pipes cost more. But then, you only get what you pay for.

George


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