Hanging low…

Okay so not really hanging low but almost hanging free. The Tiger Super Six exhaust runs down the side of the car. I understand which side depends on the engine. On the Zetec I have the exhaust is on the off side. The exhaust is supported by rubber mounts which, as well as providing the support, insulate the car from some of the vibrations of the engine. These had almost perished completely.

Here is the rear mount:

The rear mount is pretty straight forward and is attached to an L-shaped bracket that comes from under the chassis. Both fixing nuts are easily accessible (once I buy a few more spanners!).

Here is front mount:

This mount has a little more mystery to it as I’m not sure what it is fixed too. It could be into a vertical chassis member or it could be to the bodywork. I don’t think this is too likely because the bodywork is only fibreglass and quite flimsy.

I also think this mount is a modification as most pictures I’ve seen of other Tiger’s the silencer only has a bracket for the rear mount.

30/09/2019: So this is my first real go at getting some spanners onto the car. A modest first step, but still a step! The parts are really quite cheap and everything is accessible with the exception of the mystery fixing for the front mount.

My first foray into working on the car didn’t last long! The outside of the two nuts on the rear mount is really stuck. It’s spinning the whole mount and I have nothing in the garage to grip the mount with as I try and loosen it. I don’t think that some WD40 would go a miss either and I don’t have any in the garage with me. I kept myself occupied with cleaning as looking at the pictures the car is really grotty!

I also popped to eurocarparts to pick up a few more tools. I have a decent socket set but there was a 150 piece tool kit they had on offer which looked like it would be useful. When I was in there I spoke to the chap behind the counter and he was comfortable that if I brought in the mounts they would be able to match them to something they had in stock. That’s the plan for tomorrow, get the mounts off, get some replacements and get the whole lot refitted.

31/09/2019: So partial success to report. Even with an adjustable set of grips and WD40 the nut wouldn’t budge. The remaining rubber was too perished to resist the turning force and I was going to tear it in two. Stepping up the encouragement I bought a 3-in-1 torch, hot air and soldering iron to heat the nut.

I’m glad that I thought this through as, inevitably, the WD40 sprayed on the nut earlier in the day set on fire. I already had a basin under the mount and 2L of water in a bottle with the cap off and ready. Totally under control but it still made my heart race a little!

With a small amount of heat added the nut came straight off. One mount down, one to go.

In order to see how the front mount was fixed to the body I removed the off side interior panel. This is held on with screws and whilst a little awkward is not too difficult. Access to the screw nearest the front of the car was restricted by a dash trim piece. I decided to remove the lower part of this trim piece to improve access. Judging by the wear marks on the screws holding the interior panel they have been on and off a fair bit. The front one has almost been stripped as it has been loosened and tightened with a screwdriver at an angle. I didn’t want to make this worse.

With the panel off and torch in hand in became clear that my first impression, that the mount would fix into the chassis, was wrong. A metal plate has been bonded to the back of the bodywork and the mount is fixed through this. A quick spanner and socket later and the front mount was off too.

Here’s the best pictures I could get on the removed panels and the plate behind the bodywork:

Here’s a picture of the two mount off the car:

Front and rear rubber exhaust mounts removed from the vehicle.

They are in quite a sorry state, the front mount (on the left in the picture) is particularly badly misshapen.

This is where my run of progress came to end. I headed back off to eurocarparts, mounts in hand, only for the same chap to say he had never seen anything like them. O well, back to the internet it is then.

I measured up both mounts and have ordered the following:

2 x Classic car rubber bobbin. The depth of the bobbin in 20mm and the diameter is 30mm. The stud is 5/6 UNF. These come from Minimine in Stoke-on-Trent via ebay.
1 x Rubber exhaust mount from Tiger Racing.
2 x Universal rubber bobbin. Total length 55mm, M6 stud and bobbin is 25mm x 25mm. These come from Moores4motors in Stourbridge via ebay.

I’m pretty sure that the Universal bobbin is an exact match for the front mount I’ve removed from the car. I’m sure that one of the other two that I’ve ordered will be close enough to the rear mount to do the trick.

So I’m stuck with the exhaust supported by a jack until the parts arrive sometime in the middle of next week.

One final thing, I left the battery connected yesterday and it’s totally flat! I’ve added fitting a battery isolator switch to things to do and now I’m off to buy a trickle charger!

03/09/2019: The packages from Moores4Motors and Minimine both arrived today and I was straight to the garage after work! Both fitted fine and the fruits of my labour can be seen here for the rear mount:

And, here for the front mount:

The bolt caps are not quite fitting properly because the studs are a fraction longer than the old mounts. I have some new bolt cap covers on order and I will file the studs down a bit if required. I think I am happy to call this the first job done! And guess what I found lurking under the dashboard: