I'm guessing that several people have had this issue of the pre-bent Bell exhaust will not fit thru the IRS with enough space between the back of the IRS and the back of the trunk. I have worked on getting the exhaust pipe to fit for a couple of days. The original cradle had been bent up and mangled when the exhaust pipe had been previously replaced so I purchased a replacement cradle. I don't know if there are different cradles for the XJS. I ordered one for my 1989 XJS convertible. The distance between the back of the cradle and the back of the trunk is 2-1/2" The new exhaust pipe radius is not tight enough to fit between the cradle and the trunk. What have people done to fix this issue? Cut out more of the cradle back plate or had the pipe bent more?

 

Ask Bell before you make decisions, Looks a long way off. Good luck

 

 

What's the ground clearance on that?

 

I remember refitting the factory exhaust after doing a diff rebuild and I remember that it was tricky to fit and I knew it came out!

It only went in one way, I can't remember the exact sequence now, but I think the over axle pipe has to go in from the front and go towards the rear. If you try and put in in from the rear it won't work was my memory.

 

I talked with someone and they said that the pipes would only go in one way and out one way. The pipes will only fit if pipe is installed from the back of the cage. To remove the pipe the pipe needs to slide forward to remove the pin from the support then the pipe is removed from the rear of the cage. I have found the issue with the installation. Bothe 90* bends in the exhaust pipe need to extend outside the cage to rotate exhaust pipe horizontally and vertically to mate up with the resonator. With both 90* outside of the cage the 2" exhaust pipe will rotate within the 2-1/2" gap between the cage and back of the trunk to the proper horizontal and vertical location of the resonator pipe. I will see what Bell and SNG say.

 

They are 2.5" pipes, lowest point is about 5" clearance, the pipes are tight tied to the front of the lower center IRS plate.

Clearance is similar to the differential of a rear wheel drive solid axle car.

Doug

 

I tried to get my old pipes out in one piece. Couldn't do it on a four post lift, something was always in the way, probably could have with a two post lift.

I ended up using sawzall to get them out.

Doug

 

I have found with the stock exhaust at least, that they can be fitted from the rear easily if you remove the half shafts.

 

The car needs to be fairly high off the ground to accommodate the gymnastics to get it through the cage. You also have to manipulate the olive collar at various points to get it through cleanly. If you can’t get the car high enough off the ground; as mentioned above, removing the diff side of the half shafts so that they lay down flat makes it a lot easier.

 

FWIW I removed the IRS to re-seal the differential and install a rear anti-roll bar. (Great mod BTW.) I don't have a lift.

I took the IRS off with the rear part of the exhaust pipe still 'entangled' and lifted the IRS high on a engine hoist.

Removal and subsequent refit (of the stock exhaust system) was reasonably easy.








HTH, Dave

 

I was rebuilding the entire IRS assembly, so the cradle is on the ground. I have removed the half shaft to make it easier to adjust the pipes. I see in one of the pictures below that the pipe is exiting the cage is the under the cage. Isn’t the pipe supposed to go thru the back side of the cage not under the cage? SNG has send my pictures and other information to the factory to evaluate the situation. I will let you know what they come up with.

 

Pictures below show how my stock exhaust was routed when I removed the IRS. I put it back the same way. I believe it is correct, and have no reason to believe it had ever been removed since the car was new.

Picture shows the assembly with exhausts being transferred from ATV jack to custom dolly, and should give a good idea how the exhaust was threaded through the cage.







HTH, Dave

 

No. I made the same mistake when I rebuilt my IRS, and wasted lots of time. Eventually, I reviewed all the "before" pictures I took before I lowered the IRS, and saw that only the front ends route through the holes in the cage, and the rear ends route under the cage.

 

This makes me very mad more than mad, but I don't want to get in trouble with profanity. I contacted my SNG salesman that I have had for over 3 years and asked him for a drawing or some type of information confirming the routing of the exhaust pipe thru the IRS. He said he could not locate any information. So, I waisted 3 days like others, tore apart some of the IRS that was 100% competed, torqued, safety wire everything. What makes the maddest is that some of the custom painting got scraped up. Now I must have the paint repaired. The SNG salesman sent off my pictures and drawings to the BELL factory and still have not received a reply to my issue.

One more question. The drawings and parts supplied with the exhaust system shows that the exhaust is only supported at the engine, in the IRS cage and a hanger at the final muffler. There are no other supports? Nothing around the transmission area or support for the mid muffler before the IRS cage?

 

My 1986 had a bracket that connected downpipe/cat assembly to transmission, hangers on top of IRS and at the rear before the tips. Thats it.

 

Same here on my 1987.

-Dave

 

They all do, and getting the rod welded on top of the through-cage pipe into this bracket is essential. There is a rubber bush in the bracket AND a ceramic insulator, both must be there to hold the pipe securely.
See parts 25 to 29 in this diagram:
https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.../brand/jaguar/
Part 29 bolts up to the roof of the cage and will surely be there; the other parts, maybe!
27 the ceramic bush is no longer in stock at Jaguar, but Moss have it: https://mossmotors.com/cac2750-mount-bakelite-bushing. It serves to protect the rubber bush (which is in stock) from exhaust heat. You can make something up out of some non-conducting material to locate the exhaust properly. Hard wood would work for a good while, for example.

The over axle pipe needs to be detached from the rear silencer as well as from the centre one, to ensure it gets into the bracket properly, then attached the centre pipe, firmly enough to stay in place but not tight, so it can be moved about; then the rear box, and then carefully manouvre the bits about, gradually tightening until all is OK. Keeping the axle pipe away from the brake caliper is important. It is an exercise in trrial and error and infinite patience!

 

See my post number 18. The blokes at SNG know damn-all.

 

Have you tried reaching out to the manufacturer bell-silencer.co.uk? I have found that most manufacturers want their products to work….