£32.85 spent on eBay gets you this.......

[Bolin]

As my exhaust back box was shedding it's insulation and sounding rattly, despite looking OK and having only done 20,000 miles after the previous owner fitted it in January 2010, I needed a new one.

Given a recent high level of expenditure, plus the fact that my local Longlife place has mixed reviews, I decided to delay getting a full cat-back chambered stainless steel system for a couple of years (and will have it done at Longlife HQ in Dorset when the time comes).

So I bought this for £32.85 from eBay - including next working day delivery! Ordered Saturday evening, arrived Tuesday morning.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-75-2...item43bf07d912

The quality is obviously not great, with sharp edges etc, but as a stop-gap it should be OK for a year or two, especially given my current tiny mileage.

Fitting was awkward, with the rear on short axle stands as I was fitting it from underneath on my driveway. At first it was touching the rearmost tunnel cross-strap, due to being a poor shape, so I adjusted the hanging bracket (hit the hangers with a hoofing great hammer!), it cleared the strap but was touching the boot floor - so I adjusted the hangers back a bit and it just fits.

Yes, it is really boomy and noisy, but for £32.85 I think it's worth every penny! If you are going to fit a cheap stop-gap, do it properly so that it really is cheap!

[whitevanman]

Had the self same one on my V6, to get rid of the booming you can either get some stainless wire (much like the things you put in kettles) and shove than in the pipe or do as I did which was block one exit up completely using P38.

Worked a treat and because i'm pretty sure the box is hollow it didn't restrict gases..But by using P38 if it does just drill a hole through it

[DMGRS]

I fitted the same brand to my old 75 CDTi - it worked well for me.
With the diesel the lack of sound deadening is less of an issue - it's the petrols that tend to suffer with it.

[stocktake]

An OEM strap would cost you more without the box !!!!!

[lovema75]

Originally Posted by whitevanman

Had the self same one on my V6, to get rid of the booming you can either get some stainless wire (much like the things you put in kettles) and shove than in the pipe or do as I did which was block one exit up completely using P38.

Worked a treat and because i'm pretty sure the box is hollow it didn't restrict gases..But by using P38 if it does just drill a hole through it

Exactly exactly exactly.

This is exactly what I've done on 2 of my cars with cheap back boxes, to great effect, but general scorn of others.

The cheap boxes are virtually hollow, no wonder they boom. And since its the speed of exiting exhaust gases that makes much of the noise, slowing them down by blocking one of the pipes has the same effect as all the internal baffles on a more expensive box. The remaining pipe has plenty of room to let the gases out.

Try it and see - start the engine, get a piece of rag in your hand, and simply hold it against one of the tail pipes. Prepare to be amazed at the instant reduction in sound, and you wont believe the transformation when driving.

When I picked up my current one, I was amazed how it roared and boomed in a most undignified fashion, so I stopped in a lay-by on the way home, took off my shoe and...you can guess the rest! Its still there now all this time later - the rear of the system doesnt get hot enough to make it burn.

[stocktake]

So thats where the term "put a sock in it" comes from

[lovema75]

Originally Posted by stocktake

So thats where the term "put a sock in it" comes from

Exactly...

Grumpy1 nearly choked laughing when he found out!

[Grumpy1]

Originally Posted by lovema75

Exactly...

Grumpy1 nearly choked laughing when he found out!

Our secret's out at last David.

Chad.

[David Lawrence]

Originally Posted by whitevanman

Had the self same one on my V6, to get rid of the booming you can either get some stainless wire (much like the things you put in kettles) and shove than in the pipe or do as I did which was block one exit up completely using P38.

Worked a treat and because i'm pretty sure the box is hollow it didn't restrict gases..But by using P38 if it does just drill a hole through it

Why don't they just make them with only one outlet pipe in the first place? Cheaper for them and quieter for us.

[whitevanman]

Originally Posted by David Lawrence

Why don't they just make them with only one outlet pipe in the first place? Cheaper for them and quieter for us.

I guess it was a bit like the 3 series beemers of the time, if debadged, a round outlet meant 1.6/1.8 whereas an oval outlet meant 2Ltr, 2.5 had twin outlet..(From memory, might have been vis/vers) All a bit of oneupmanship I think, but the only 75 I had with one outlet was the 1.8 N/A