Yes I do plan on getting in touch with Bell directly as many of you have suggested. As I stated system is on and tight and it is not coming off. Total cost of the sleeve and clamps was around $50, but then there is my time and the waiting of those parts, keeping the car of the road longer. We will see where it goes.

It make me wonder if anyone from Bell really looked at the photos I provided which all of you saw. How could one determine that the pipes should be reversed? I tried that and as the pictures clearly show that would not work!

Thanks
jjsandsms.

 

But surely the issue is still that you have a 3.8 with a 3.8 exhaust but 2.4/E-Type manifolds, if you get some 3.8 manifolds, fit them and then it still doesn't fit then you can go back to Bell but at the moment all you are basically saying is the exhaust doesn't fit my car because the car isn't what the exhaust is built for?

If you had the 3.8 manifolds the exhaust would move further back and you probably wouldn't have the gap.

It seems unlikely that Bell who will have no doubt built hundreds of these exhausts for 3.4/3.8 cars without complaint have built this one wrong and far more likely its because your trying to put the bits together in a configuration that they are not intended to be in. If the exhaust fitted your car it wouldn't then fit a normal 3.8 with the correct manifolds.

If I tried to fit a 2.4 exhaust to my 3.8 or a 3.8 exhaust to my 2.4 it wouldn't fit correctly either, thats not the exhaust manufacturers fault.

 

Homer
Those later swept back manifolds are not standard on early cars and not just 2.4s.
Those vertical outlet manifolds were standard on ALL early Mk2s including 2.4, 3.4 and 3.8.
I have the parts book which gives the changeover car identification numbers for the introduction of the swept manifolds.
I still cannot get a scan of that parts book to attach to my replies.
LOL

 

if you want to borrow my 1963 swept-back manifolds to experiment in your 3.8 engine and Bell exhaust, come and get them, just don't break the 4 long studs, and you need donut seals and brass nuts with those. They came off a 1964 S type 3.8.

As I said before, the Bell system that I installed in my S type caused no issues, everything fit perfectly, and I did it all myself, piece by piece, with car raised on blocks and jacks.

 

Gentlemen

Several comments,

First, if I would install swept back manifolds, then the existing down pipes I have would never fit. Look at the photos, current pipes essentially make a right angle to horizontal as they connect to my straight manifolds. As such it would be impossible to fit them to swept manifolds. Entire new pipes would be required bent at a much less of an angle than 90 degrees.

As far as the actual issue of the one pipe being too short and the other being too long, there may very well be some application (vehicle) where my pipes fit, but not on may car.

But here is my actual system add copied from Barratts Webb site that I reproduced.


Thanks
jjsandsms

 

As far as I can make out from SNG's website:
The straight down/vertical outlet manifolds have the same part number for the Mk2 2.4 and for the E type. They have a different part number for the early 3.4 and 3.8 Mk2. Looking at SNG's photos, for all the part numbers for straight down types, the outlet seems to line up with the exhaust port of number 3 or number 4 cylinder (for rear and front manifolds respectively). If that is the case, using an E type or 2.4 manifold might well upset the vertical alignment, but shouldn't have a big consequence for fore-aft. It's possible that Homer's 1959 car has the vertical outlet manifolds. If he could have a look and check the alignment ...?

Homer - I can just about imagine that Bell have produced hundreds of exhausts for Mk1 and Mk2 cars, but this particular set of front pipes are used only on 3.4 Mk1 and the first thousand or so 3.4 and 3.8 Mk2 without PAS. Considering that most of the cars haven't survived, several of those that have will have swapped to the more common swept back manifolds, and that Bell are not the only producer, it's quite possible the number that Bell have sold is in the tens rather than hundreds. It's also possible that no one has complained as we are all used to pattern parts that don't fit.

 

My 1959 MK2 has the swept back exhaust manifolds but as the factory made a lot of changes to it before they sold it on in 1961 (including two engine changes) I wouldn't take much notice of that.

 

Actually the swept back manifolds would require an angle greater than 90 degrees of the pipes, not less, my mistake.

Jjsandsms

 

Contact Bell direct and ask the question. They know their products far better than Barratts.

 

I am utterly sure that they will sort out your issue for you. I have been through their plant in Swindon. They know what they are doing.

 

Before I started my restoration I was on business in London. I took a few days off to go & see all the suppliers I was going to use. I've met the Bell guys, Mr Barratt, David Manners, Jon Skinner, MWS etc. etc. etc. That way you get good service. Mr Barratt has a picture of my car on his office wall he was so proud that they provided 99% of the spares some of which he personally located NOS.

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/m...austed-198042/

Looking back through the forum, this isn't the first time there's been discussion of the fit of Bell exhaust systems to Mk2s. The link above is an example and, as is often the case, there's no final statement of any conclusion with SNG B or Bell. It's worth noting that it seems to be a Mk2 problem; most reports are that the systems fit perfectly on S types.

Hopefully, we'll hear from one of the posters that have had problems what responses they finally received from the suppliers and if the suppliers took any actions to resolve things.

 

I don't have any of these exhaust systems on my MK1 or MK2.
All exhaust systems are made up locally and for a fraction of the prices quoted in SNG. Not stainless but still work OK.
The incredible prices being quoted for delivery of items sourced in the UK really turns me off.
I recently looked at a part costing 25 pounds but there would have an 80 pound "delivery fee".
Unless the UK aftermarket industry gets it act together over this sort of rip off they will join the dinosaurs.

 

If it had been made in China, the Chinese government would most likely have covered the delivery cost.

 

We are lucky. Barretts gets the most amazingly cheap courier prices out of DHL to SA. (3 day saver rate)