Exhaust Replacement

I had a blowing exhaust that developed last week, sounded great but that's another story.  Thought I would sort it out so got underneath and found the joint between the cat and back box was blowing.  Ordered a new gasket that arrived yesterday!  Job for this morning split the joint replace the gasket and rebuild!  How wrong could I be!!!  On jacking the car up it became aparant that the connection was badly corroded hence the blowing.  It turns out the end of the cat flange was rusted through and the back box was badly rusted.  So I need a new cat and back box!  Any recommendations?  Car is standard 135! (at the moment) 

The great thing about our cars is the exhaust dries out almost as soon as you turn the engine off, thus corrosion is kept to a minimum. Even though I have a stainless system (it was second hand & cheap), a good mild steel one would be fine.
‘Bitz do the same make as was originally used & it is that that they use in their workshop.
You ask for a recommendation & that would be mine.
M

I had exactly that on my last TF. I was convinced it was just the flange to the rear box but as soon I started to dismantle it I found there was almost nothing left of the flange on the cat. In my case once id started to remove the cat and the rear box  I discovered the down pipe from the manifold to the cat was also in a poor way as it was loose at the flexible joint.  I replaced all the parts from Mgfntfbitz and was pleased. You need to tell them that you need the gasket and fitting bolts when you order.  Some people go for more upmarket stainless steel sports exhausts, which they also stock, but I went for a mid range normal steel one.  Like Airportable id also agree that' Bitz are about as good as you can find for service and value.
You will.need to remove the lambda sensors from the old system. Ive got a special socket for these so shout if you need to borrow.

 

Update:  TF now back on the road.

Disassembly was fairly straight forward as the cat bolts nearest the flexi sheared, the bolts from the cat to the back box were undistinguishable as bolts so they got ground off when out!  Disconnecting the O2 sensor was a doddle, unclipping the connector from its mounting bracket was a pain. Removal of the offside exhaust mount was ok and the back box and cat were removed.  Undoing the rusty mounting brackets for the back box was not easy but with a bit of brute force and ignorance soon got them off.  The heat shield died in the process, back to order more bits.

New parts ordered:
Exhaust gasket £5
SS Performance Back Box from Ebay, looks great but both mounting hooks fixed. £200
Cat from Ebay (Ordered one got two) £135
Exhaust Mounting kit £34
Heat Shield £98. both from MGFnTFBITZ

Reassembly would have been a doddle, apart from going for a rear box that had fixed inward facing mounting hooks (not a removable one like the standard exhaust).  I ended up having to fit the heat shield to the back box and then fitting everything with it on, as I couldn't get the back box in with the heat shield installed, then I had to remove the new cat as it got in the way of the heat shield, when it was on the back box.  A little bit of a pfaf but got there eventually.

Now sounds great!!


 

Well done for getting this fitted. I know just what you mean about the state of the old bolts