Exhaust pipe problem

Hi. I've got a 1964 Beetle and a rather steep driveway. The engine is a modified 1641cc.

Its so steep that I invariably scrap my exhaust pipes going up the driveway. I've wrecked 3 exhaust systems over the last 10 years on it. Now I've broken one of the pipes recently and instead of welding it back I was thinking of replacing the whole assembly with a more modern exhaust system - but is there one which will be better for steep driveways? (Don't ask me to move houses 🙂

Is your bug lowered? If so the best i've seen for lowered is Vintage speed exhaust.

Hi

We have a really step driveway, my son has A1 headers on his car and clear OK

Steve

I have a vintage speed exhaust on my convertable and a A1 copy on the ghia, the exhaust on the ghia is higher and has more clearence. be carefull about the size of the exhaust you but, if it's to large for your engine size the drivability will suffer.

tar76 wrote:Is your bug lowered? If so the best i've seen for lowered is Vintage speed exhaust.

The front is lowered a little bit. The back is not lowered.

vwo60 wrote:I have a vintage speed exhaust on my convertable and a A1 copy on the ghia, the exhaust on the ghia is higher and has more clearence. be carefull about the size of the exhaust you but, if it's to large for your engine size the drivability will suffer.

I LOVE YOUR GHIA!!!!! Have you got more photos of it to show??

Have you tryed building a small bridge ( say 1metre long ) at the bottom of the driveway so it takes some of the angle out also still flows wast water?

toey1984 wrote:Have you tryed building a small bridge ( say 1metre long ) at the bottom of the driveway so it takes some of the angle out also still flows wast water?

No, because the driveway also includes the public walkway/ footpath and I can't build a permanent bridge over that.

The only way I can think of is to construct a folding metal plank bridge screwed into my driveway which extends pass the footpath and one which I can fold back after I drive into my garage.

The problem with the driveway is only with the Beetle and my old Volvo - cars like the Mazda3 and new Mini have no problems with it.

vwo60 wrote:I have a vintage speed exhaust on my convertable and a A1 copy on the ghia, the exhaust on the ghia is higher and has more clearence. be carefull about the size of the exhaust you but, if it's to large for your engine size the drivability will suffer.

Where can I purchase "vintage speed exhaust"? or "A1" ?

I'm currently using a stock muffler.

My engine is a 1641CC.

You can try www.vollks.com.au for an A1 and I believe Matt Berry can fix you up with a Vintage Speed

Baja it.

I thought I should post some photos of my muffler and driveway to give you a better idea of whats the problem.

I thought I should post some photos of my muffler and driveway to give you a better idea of whats the problem.

I think any type exhaust will scrape there, man that's steep.

The vintage speed will be draging it's arse, if the engine in your car is standard they both will be to big, the standard exhaust shown in your photo's is probably the smallest option.

tar76 wrote:I think any type exhaust will scrape there, man that's steep.

Sometimes if I angle it right, my exhaust don't touch the ground. Right now, its slightly brushing against the ground. What I don't want is for it to gorge holes. Once I used a quiet muffler flanged where the exhaust came out in the middle - and that proved impossible to drive up the garage without some damage.

I thought maybe the GT Exhaust system might be a good option.

http://www.vollks.com.au/store/GT-STYLE-2-Tip-Exhaust-System.html

That driveway is ridiculous. Almost all modern cars would scrape up there, let alone the poor Beetle. What you need there is a car with really short overhangs, like an old Mini.

waveman1500 wrote:That driveway is ridiculous. Almost all modern cars would scrape up there, let alone the poor Beetle. What you need there is a car with really short overhangs, like an old Mini.

The driveways in my court are really crazy - its got really odd angles.

However, the new Mini can drive up there no problem. I think the Mazda series also has no problems.

reverse up?

That's a cool bug!

I repeat my previous comment.

Don't Baja that. I'ts too cool, but get yourself a nice basic Baja that's not too radical and you will still have a DAKDAK and the problem will be solved.

It looks like you would have that problem no matter where you live in that street.

Get a new drive way

I don't have the money to buy a new driveway. But Boris from Volkscare suggested I get a Hideaway Muffle/Exhaust system - incl delivery - $420.

Has anyone else used that?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=421047

Just doing the research on the hideaways - it seems you have to remove them to adjust the valves. ekk.

not if you tuck the exhaust up in the guard. 😉

You mean if I tuck the exhaust up in the guard- I do not have to remove it when I adjust the valves?

I have the sidewinder on my car with no probs with ground clearance.............as for doing the tappets, well it takes all of 3mins to remove the muffler, so there's no big deal.

thats what i mean its just a slight twist on the idea.
ill try to find a pic

this is what i mean

something like this would suit; it's a little neater than the stock muffler and has shorter pipes so won't hang out the back as much.

I've used one of these since 2004 on my bug in mild steel and now stainless and you've got to be trying to scrape it to make it happen! I never scraped with the stock muffler either but your driveway is a biatch 😵‍💫

Would it still scrap though if you went in on an angle?

I saw these two examples.

But it looks like they might scrap badly if I drove in at an angle.

That top pic isn't typical of the hideaway headers; they normally end under the rear apron. I think I may of read that thread of the blue car and it is a thing header and modified muffler.





and heres one on my car


and here is the GT one

sander288 wrote:That top pic isn't typical of the hideaway headers; they normally end under the rear apron. I think I may of read that thread of the blue car and it is a thing header and modified muffler.

and here is the GT one

That last one looks good. Not sure about the others - because they seem quite likely to come to serious grief on my driveway.

any more photos of the GT one? And more info on where to get it?

these are from bizarre




from memory he had it on a mild 1916cc

You can get these systems from classic veedub
https://www.classicveedub.com.au/cvd_new/part_detail.aspx?parts_id=16612

*
Air Shocks ???? With a compressor on board, pump it up when you need to, let it down after? Just a thought.
*

Blue65 wrote:I thought I should post some photos of my muffler and driveway to give you a better idea of whats the problem.

YIKES

maybe really BIG wheels or bigger tyres like 225s etc..
NOT low profile..

or a normal beetle towbar which goes from the torsion bar tubes to the back to the bumper brackets...
made from round pipe..

although they may stop the fitment of any extractor exhaust system...??

standard muffler with straight thru pipes..
I ran one with straight thru pipes about 1 5/8" ID
about 30-35mm id.. it was VERY loud though...

I remember back in the 60s and 70s where many beetle standard muffler pipes were worn thru at the bottom from steep driveways...

Your driveway is very nasty... going Up or Down...??

LEE

PS: I don't think driving in backwards would make any difference either.. lol LEE

probably a one off exhaust with the muffler up in the wheel arch may be the answer.. $$$ LEE



these are very low and will protect anything... lol

Get a vintage speed lowrider exhaust

What is the cars front and rear stance? Often the rear is sagged and the front high which makes the overhanging engine/exhaust drag worse than if the front is lower than the rear.

Vintage Speed are great for clearance and longevety.

Those pipes in the pic above apparently are restrictive (me? I dunno, but the Euro's on Cal Look think so).
These ones look the same outside, but apparently flow about as good as a 4-1.......
http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Tri-Mil-Hotdog-Muffler-VW-Beetle-and-Ghia-p/tri-mil-hotdog.htm
.....but that might scrape too.

When I was a teen, so sometime when Adam was eating peaches on his front porch, my aunt's beetle did the same thing in Darlington WA (bloody steep hills and driveways). My uncle and I had the simple remedy of cutting away the valance between the rear guards and putting the muffler sideways up under the engine hatch.
You might find that a bit extreme, so have you considered the "old-school" 4-1, something like this..........
http://vwparts.aircooled.net/VW-Sedan-Bus-Street-Header-1966-73-1300-1600cc-p/2031-10-2031-13.htm
.....and then use 2 hotdogs (one is bloody loud, two isn't too bad!), a bit like this........
http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Dual-Quiet-Pack-Mufflers-for-2008-2008-11-2011-p/2558-2558-13.htm
.....but get your own made up.
These systems tuck right up under the rear guards and valance, with the outlets each side not in the middle, and should give you plenty of room.

Some more ideas; whatever you get though basically if the stock muffler scrapes then most other exhausts out there will too.

IMHO I would go with either the 2-tip GT or the vintage speed. The EMPI mild steel version of the GT system is restrictive but this stainless version has about 30-31mm ID pipes so it flows alot better; where as the EMPI version has the stock tailpipe ID of about 20mm.

My mechanic installed a camber compensator to fix the rear wheels being wrecked.

It also fixed my ramp scrapping problem.

But now I got issues going around corners.

I wished they had a hydraulic system for this.

Blue65 wrote:

tar76 wrote:I think any type exhaust will scrape there, man that's steep.

Sometimes if I angle it right, my exhaust don't touch the ground. Right now, its slightly brushing against the ground. What I don't want is for it to gorge holes. Once I used a quiet muffler flanged where the exhaust came out in the middle - and that proved impossible to drive up the garage without some damage.

I thought maybe the GT Exhaust system might be a good option.

http://www.vollks.com.au/store/GT-STYLE-2-Tip-Exhaust-System.html