Date:         Sun, 8 Aug 1999 20:27:40 EDT
Reply-To:     Blbachman@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Blaine Bachman <Blbachman@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Eurospec update - weak muffler brackets!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Another chapter in my ongoing evaluation of the Overland/Eurospec 2.0L inline
conversion (after all, I paid for it, I should be somewhat qualified to talk
about it).

I started to notice a tinny rattling of the muffler at idle - a brief
look-see didn't reveal anything obvious, so I chalked it up to a harmless
gremlin.  Oh how wrong one can be at times!

Well, on August 1, on the road from Albuquerque to Durango (CO), the exhaust
started to get loud - at first, I thought it was the intake noise that I was
familiar with whenever the engine was under heavy load (headwind?  grade?),
but a stop-and-check showed that the exhaust system had failed with a
complete break in the catalytic converter just aft of its inlet flange.

We pressed on to Durango (another 50 miles) because what the heck is there to
do in Aztec New Mexico with a failed CAT on a Sunday afternoon?  (Retorical
question - answers cheerefully discarded!)

Removed the cat and the broken flange and went to a Durango welder (Monday,
now).  He did a very good job heliarc welding the cat and I went to put it
on.  At this point I notice that the entire muffler is swinging a bit, and I
quickly realize that the cause of the failure is fatigue stress cracking (at
the bends) of the all-too-thin fabricated brackets to which the muffler is
strapped.  In the end, the welder fixes those for me, too.

Everything goes back together okay.  Back in ABQ, I drop by the shop where
the install was done.  They reimburse me for the welding (and throw in
several $ more for the inconvenience - nice guys that they are) and we place
a call to Overland.

Now here's the part where I start to get cranky.  It becomes quickly evident
that this is a known problem and they've already beefed up the brackets on
subsequent kits.  Of course, they'll send out a replacement pair of the new
ones.  I'm irritated because they haven't taken a proactive position on a
known weakness (and done a recall/service bulletin).  I mean, had the entire
muffler fallen off (and been squashed by a following semi) would they have
sent out a complete, free exhaust system?  Maybe.

So, not to rant on, if you're a Eurospec-er, you might want to check the
state of your muffler brackets!

-bb