Sportex Exhaust 2.8i

[Pedro 70]

Thought I would give my experience with the above exhausts. Purchased the full Sportex system manifold to tailpipe about a year ago from a company on Ebay.. Arrived in a plastic bag with lots of scratches apart from the protected 3 inch (big mistake,more later) chrome tail pipes. I have a carpeted garage so with ramps and axle stands, this was going to be a piece of cake ha ha, so I set about fitting the system. The system will fit, but it aint easy. The brackets on the silencers do not fit the brackets on the car so fabrication needed. Every joint needs to be in the right spot, you cannot just assemble it under the car and tighten up the clamps. It will joyfully hit the springs, axle, rear valance and anything else it can get close to and vibrate against. I think I put it on and off about four times until it cleared every thing, very frustrating. Even now the silencers do not have huge ground clearance and will scrape man sized speed ramps. It does sound gorgeous however, if a little loud, but even the MOT man didn't mind the decibels. Never ever have the window closed. Now the 3 inch end pipes. Apart from the extra faff in getting them to clear the rear valance, I think they look a bit boy racerish! So do other drivers it appears, as it seems to annoy some and they must do anything to overtake. I am sure this did not happen with the old pipes. I contacted the company I bought the system from asking if I could purchase the two tail sections in 2 inch end pipes. They never got back touch despite numerous reminders. Much the same with Sportex themselves, no reply to calls/mails etc. I now have to either purchase another system or live with what I have got. Think it will be the latter. Would I buy another Sportex system? Probably not, might be worth the extra outlay on a better system. And a 3 inch pipe, oh no.
As an aside, I had the remains of a tin of hammerite white paint in the garage so painted the system with it before assembly, thinking it would burn off but leave some protective residue. To my surprise, some I year and 2000 miles later it is still there, shiny white and matching the diamond white paintwork.
Hope that was of some interest to someone . All the best to everyone on the forum, keep safe. Peter

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi Peter,
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences of the Sportex exhaust system.
I can't recall anybody being able to fit the system straight on the car without some form of jiggery-pokery to get a decent fit.
I've got the 2" tailpipe on mine and I think that looks and sounds just right.

Andrew.

[Major_Tom]

Yes they all need fiddling with, especially getting the leaf spring / lower quarter area sorted.

I have 3" tail on my mild steel exhaust... because it was the cheapest option! Looks ok though.

[D366Y]

I had the 3" sportex without the backbox as it was the cheapest option and it worked a treat and sounded alright to me

Glad I went up to 3 and a half though with the stainless I had made

[Fordoholic Nick]

Im with Tom and Danny. I dont think the 3" looks boy Racer at all. In fact it really sits well in what is after all a sports coupe. While the standard one does the job absolutely fine and sounds fine i personally always tbought the rear end needed something bigger and I always wanted to be able to brag I have a bigger shaft than Jason too

[Jasonmarie]

You know what my wife says about blokes with big exhausts

[Fordoholic Nick]

You know what my wife says about blokes with big exhausts

Yes she told me over a nice cup of tea didnt she

[Wideboy1]

Sportex can be a bit fiddly to fit however there are a limited number of exhaust suppliers out there so sometimes you have to go with what's available.
I have 3" tailpipes but let them into the rear valance so they sit higher across the axle and have some room on the rear body work

[Pedro 70]

Thanks for all your comments and pics guys. My 3 inch pipes are looking better all the time. Regards. Peter

[Not_Anumber]

When I got my 2.8 the Sportex exhaust on there insisted on knocking against just about every part of the underside that it possibly could. The previous owner was apologetic as he had just put it on and couldnt get it right. I actually sourced a standard original exhaust & cast manifolds but when I went to swap the systems over I quickly realised the Sportex just needed slackening off and all the parts rotated correctly. It was soon as right as rain so i saw no point in fitting the standard system.

[80s-new-man]

It’s taken me about 18 months to realise the SS exhaust rear section sometimes (if going fast) bangs against the side of the rear leaf spring, when going down a dip.. my mechanic pointed this out, but only after going through everything and every bush to make sure..
pain really, but she sounds so awesome that I am tending to leave alone rather than cut and manipulate the 3” exhaust..

[Mc Tool]

Cut a chunk out of the spring

[pbar]

As an aside, I had the remains of a tin of hammerite white paint in the garage so painted the system with it before assembly, thinking it would burn off but leave some protective residue. To my surprise, some I year and 2000 miles later it is still there, shiny white and matching the diamond white paintwork.

That's pretty incredible. To be honest I've been using Hammerite more and more recently, both brush on and spray, metals and plastics, seems to cover everything very well. Never thought about painting an exhaust with it though, that's great!

[stevemarl]

It works well and looks good!

[pbar]

Who needs VHT paint when you can use Hammerite.

[Major_Tom]

You know what my wife says about blokes with big exhausts

Yes, big exhaust clamps

[Jasonmarie]

Funny I got this sent in the post from a laser forum member I think it’s the 3” exhaust

[Fordoholic Nick]

Funny I got this sent in the post from a laser forum member I think it’s the 3” exhaust

Now who would send that to somebody Jason

[Jasonmarie]

Funny I got this sent in the post from a laser forum member I think it’s the 3” exhaust

Now who would send that to somebody Jason

Do you think the brake bleeding machine will help ? If so could you send it back to me