Lovely and dramatic it was. Bombing along the back roads at 60, just heard a little tinkling sound, then a clatter and the biggest racket I have ever heard from a car. I knew what it was, perhaps the beauty of having owned a Charade before.
The exhaust had snapped where the pipe meets the Cat. Luckily the Cat has a curved edge so with a bit of care I managed to limp home 2 miles with the majority of the exhaust threatening to dig into the ground at any time, but it didnt - the leading edge is worn badly though where it was dragging the road.
Problem was, I had to be at work in 40 mins so a quick look showed the remaining pipe from the mainifold was secure and nowhere near the ground so I opted to slice the two rubber mounts off and wiggle the whole system off which I managed to do after jacking the car quite high. I can salvage the tail pipe section but the system is only in two bits and it is the expensive bit, maybe £180 or so, so happy new year Stu.
Drove it to work OK, its a bit down on power and the noise is epic as it is totally unsilenced - being a 3 cyl it does sound ever so slightly like a Merlin at certain revs, the trick to keeping the racket down is keep the revs up and go light on throttle. I felt very foolish driving through town, I dont know how these people with drainpipes on their cars can drive in public, I hated it, everyone looks.
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First car failure of the year! new
First car failure of the year! new