Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 09:20:00 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      RE: extractor exhausts


>Which of the extractor exhaust systems are the most sturdy?  I've been
>told that there are two manufacturers: S&S and Thunderbird.
>If so, which of these is marketed by BugPack, Empi, Rocky Mtn Mtrwrks,
>etc.? I think I'm interested in a dual quiet pack for an early bus (Type
>II engine).

I put a Thunderbird single quiet-pack on my '69 bus many years ago, along
with a 009 and a Weber 2bbl carb. A sweet setup-- nice power, especially
top end (it was a dual-port 1600 from a '74 bug). The reasons I liked
the Thunderbird single quiet-pack, was (a) it has a bigger collector than
others I've seen, (b) the muffler was on the right side where I couldn't
hear it with the driver's window open.

One odd thing that happened, tho:

I parked the bus near the Denver airport for about 10 days for Christmas
while flying to CA to see family. During that time, it got snowed on of
course, and as the snow melted, the water drained down the corners of the
bus, and on the right rear, it flowed down the curve of the lower quarter
panel until it got to the point where the curve caused the water to
separate from the body and drip straight down-- directly into the exhaust
pipe coming out of the muffler. If they tried to DESIGN it to do that,
they couldn't have done a better job.

Naturally, every night the temp went below freezing, and the water in the
muffler froze. By the time I got back, the muffler was absolutely full
of ice-- one big solid muffler-shaped chunk. Engine cranked but wouldn't
start, of course. Finally unbolted the muffler and drove without it to a
gas station, sounding like a baad Harley all the way. They let me put the
muffler in their heated office, until the ice next to the metal skin of
the muffler melted, enough to let exhaust gas flow around the rest of the
block of ice.

Bolted it back on, and the engine ran. Exhaust gases melted the rest of the
ice pretty quickly (funny to see ice cubes shooting out the tailpipe), and
the bus and I lived happily ever after. What a weird, freakish thing to
happen.

The muffler rusted out in about two years. But that water-in-the-tailpipe
thing probably had a lot to do with it. If I need to put a quiet-pack
system on another VW, it'll be a thunderbird single QP. and I'll put a
little water dam where the rainwater flows down the right rear corner of
the bus, so that it drips off somewhere other than directly above the
tailpipe opening.

 ______________________________________________________________________
           _                                            ______________
    ______//________    Steve Maher    smaher@gi.com   //__][__||____\\
   /o _   |  -| _   \   San Diego, CA     75461,1717  (o _-|       _ o|
   `-(_)=======(_)---'                                 '(_)-------(_)-'
 '66 Mustang Coupevertible      '89 Son Sherwin        '80 VW V6anagon

                      http://www.wp.com/IrishMafia

  "There are plenty of jobs to be had-- I have three of them myself!"
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