Thanks Jim.

Darn those "bad vibrations"! Shakin' up those metal molecules (I
assume) Your 1" plate comment illustrates that more clearly now.

The exhaust is mounted entirely to the engine. I figured one metal
flex bellows http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/ExhaustBushin.jpg would
suffice. Obviously I missed the point.

I did not know about the isolators needed for the exhaust system.

Unless I misunderstood and you mean the isolators (DV setup) between
the engine carrier bars and frame. I used two Fox rubber mounts
between the engine and the carrier I made.

I didn't know the Vanagon exhaust had isolators. I'll study my Bentley.

Thanks for the pointer to that and the other tips.

Obviously I can't make it strong enough and need to make amends with
the exhaust Gods soon!

:^)

Thanks,

Neil.

On Tue, Sep 23, 2008 at 6:10 PM, Jim Arnott <jrasite@eoni.com> wrote:
> Neil,
>
> When I peeked under your van at Catherine Creek, I saw the potential for
> exactly what you're experiencing.  The problem is the engine vibration. The
> solution is rubber vibration isolators. You need to develop a support system
> that has a bit of 'give' in it. You could do what you've done in 1" plate
> and all you'll have done is lengthened the time until it fails. Find someone
> local with a stock diesel vanagon.  (Shawn Wright or Tobin Copley come to
> mind.)Take a look at the muffler mounting. You'll note that VW did mount the
> muffler to the motor (actually to the motor mounting system) and used
> elastomeric mounts. One on the right and two perpendicular to each other on
> the left. You'll need  to come up with a similar system. I'll send you jpg
> of the relevant ETKA page p-mail. You might also chase down Bjorn Ratjen. He
> has a TDI mounted at 15 degrees and IIRC lives in Vancouver.
>
> Jim
>
> On Sep 23, 2008, at 5:29 PM, neil N wrote:
>
>> Hi all.
>>
>> After repairing my exhaust:
>>
>>
>> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/JustForLaffs.jpg/JustForLaffs-full;init:.jpg
>>
>> (yes you can laugh now)
>>
>> I found yet more nagging details. Like broken exhaust brackets:
>>
>> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/brokenexhaustbrackets
>>
>> I *think* the passenger side breaks are due to me bumping into a hill
>> side whilst escaping from a logging road on my last trip. The driver
>> side likely started to fail due to the increased motion. Plus upon
>> disassembly, I realized I had mistakenly built a little tension into
>> the design. i.e. inlet of cat needs to be pushed a little to line up
>> with the flange on primaries.
>>
>> So I'm hoping engine vibrations aren't the culprit.
>>
>> But if they are ......
>>
>> Does anyone have some pointers on a better design for these parts?
>>
>> I like where they're mounted, and the material should be suitable
>> (1/8" mild steel) but the design may be the fault here.
>>
>> FWIW, the welds held up fine. There is an flex bellows in the exhaust
>> system.
>>
>> TIA for any pointers or pics of successful designs!
>>
>

--
Neil Nicholson '81 JettaWesty "Jaco
http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/