2nd Gen JCW Most liked posts in thread: R56 JCW - Build Thread - New Set Of Pipes

Been busy at work, but found a little time this past Saturday and knocked out my "Y" transition. This will be where the main trunk branches off into the two rear muffler / tips.







It's moving slowly....


Sent from Arrakis, while harvesting spice, using Tapatalk when no one was looking.

 

Hah....
I was down at the shop yesterday, met Allen (rigidjunkie), and helped him with his bicycle issue. Another buddy that owns a powder coating operation also stopped by for a little R&R and metalworking.

Afterwards, I spent some time working on the exhaust. Cut the two 4" canisters that will make up the rear muffler. I have a couple of 90 degree mandrel bent elbows that will be merged into a "Y" that will feed into the two 4" muffler bodies.

Unfortunately I've been slammed with work going through the shop, so my progress on the exhaust has suffered. I might sneak off today and try and get some more work done.

Chuck

 

Well.... It's been a while since I've had time to work on my exhaust.

Found a little time today. This will become the rear muffler section. The "Y" transition will lead into two mufflers that will contain baffles and have a side benefit of being easily re-buildable without the need to remove the muffler from the MINI.

Here are some pic's.....

 

Already thought about that angle. I probably wont go any farther than just thinking about that idea. A ruptured hydraulic line would probably let the MINI down faster than I could react. MOM's would then start calling me "Shorty".....

 

Thanks Keith, Good suggestions....

I'll go with you're suggestion on changing the V-band clamps to two hole flanges.

For now, I'm going to stick with factory flange (warranty reasons). I plan to machine a tapered flange to mirror the downpipe flare dimensions. At a later date I can always change it out with something that works better. I may even come up with a split flange with two holes that would eliminate the OEM clamp, yet still preserve the OEM downpipe.

 

It is jumping.

This gets done on my time after the shop closes for the evening and on the weekends.

 

Here's a quick auto cad drawing of the rear view through the twin mufflers. I'll do a quick and dirty cut-out and hold it over the factory tips. I'll snap a pic tonight so you guys can give your impression of 4" outlets. I could also do 3-1/2" outlets but I'm trying the keep the muffler chambers as large as I can to be able to let the sound (gasses expand) in the rear baffles.

 

Easy on easy off.... backward compatible.....

Stock OEM JCW would get stored here in the shop with only 6-7K miles on it. Someday I may sell the MINI, the original exhaust would go back on.

Chuck

 

Sooo..... Adam
Keep them about the same amount of protrusion from the bumper as the stock. Angle cut tips or square cut? This is where I need input from anyone with a bit of styling sense. You will be able to see up inside the tips since the beginning of the baffle will be about a 1/2" back or so.

Thanks

Chuck

 

Excellent question Tim....

I'll try and answer it this way.

Every time I'm under the MINI, it strikes me how simple the factory exhaust looks. I'm sure the MINI acoustical engineers put a lot into their tuning of the stock JCW exhaust to get that special sound.

I'm really looking at this build as more of developing a tunable exhaust with a little less backpressure. Using the factory downpipe. Then at some point down the road upgrade to more of a performance aftermarket downpipe. All the while being able to adjust the baffles to control the sound. I'm still sort of following some of the aftermarket downpipes, but if I recall correctly, I think they all still throw CEL's. So I'm hoping those issues get resolved. I'm not interested in going catless at all.
I realize the exhaust flow is controlled by the narrowest portion of the exhaust. For now I'll assume that's up in the factory downpipe.

Chuck