I thought that's what he just said?

It doesn't cause fractures on vans, meharis and the other A-series that were fitted with it from the factory though?

If you can tell any difference in power between a full length pipe and a side exit I'd be amazed.

i could well be wrong, but weren't they fitted with a sort of metal stabiliser to prevent movement? It fits on the rear silencer rubber. Roy used to sell them BITD & there's one fitted on my red 2cv.

Maybe, there's nowt like that on our 400 (which I admit has been rebuilt a few times now). I've not personally had any trouble or fractures by having a side exit pipe, I've done it too all my cars because I get fed up with the rear section dragging on the floor.

IIRC Ken reccomends the use of a thick cable tie roung the rear hanger to restrict movement?

That's what i've used in the past & it seems to work ok.

2cv engines doesn’t care performance wise what the exhaust system is doing or not doing. The bracket fitted on systems with short side exhaust is only there to stop the torpedo muffler knocking on the body. If both mounting rubbers are fitted correctly the swan neck pipe does not crack. Only if the torpedo muffler is not secured properly, moving around too much, the swan neck pipe will crack.

The worst thing I've come across for cracking swan-necks and crossboxes is when the mounting "lugs" on the crossbox break off or aren't bolted on to the gearbox. I had loads of problems back when I could never be bothered to replace those bolts ( ) but when I started to do the job properly and fit those bolts-all was well.

The other problem I've encountered was caused by the one bolt clamps designed for Minis/Metros.

Yes, there was a strong bracket preventing excess movement on vans etc. Worn engine mounts can also create a problem, especially with rough clutch use.

2CV Viking, most engines care performance-wise what their exhausts are doing, including the flat twin. The cross box is where it is because it improves torque. Induction and exhaust gas flow has an effect on an engine's performance. Admittedly, a short tailpipe has a negligible effect on things, performance wise. It's just that the small engine needs every bit of help going!

Please explain how a 2cv front muffler improves the torque. We are tking 2cv not any other motor. Remove the entire system and it still runs like a bat out of hell.

Viking, gas flow theories are full of long words which I have to keep looking up in dictionaries! But an exhaust system can be likened to an organ pipe, and at the right length it can help the flow of gas out of the combustion chamber, using resonance.

Best to use real world experience, while keeping the idea in our heads that an engine is a tuned system, from the bell mouth of an air filter to the tailpipe. Or untuned, in the case of many. (Just look at the attention to detail in old Alfa Romeos' and BMWs' inlet and exhaust tracts. It's one of the reasons their engines produced a lot of power at high revs. This sort of thing is an art in itself, an what old-fashioned engine tuners excelled in.)

On a 2CV the crossbox impedes exhaust flow. It wasn't just put there because it looks nice or because it would cause mechanics to curse. It is there because it works well, helping improve torque, at the expense of power. Just what you want for a tiny engined car designed to work hard for its living.

Removing the baffles in the crossbox is an old way of improving a 2CV's power, some racers may still do this. If you remove it altogether, with a carefully tuned 2 into 1 system you increase power even more, but with a loss of torque. Ideal for racing.

As to removing the entire system, then in my experience it doesn't go as well as when a well-designed exhaust us in place. If you have a crossbox with a big hole in it, performance is well down.