Quicksilver to the Rescue (Post # 131)

Armed with the "Need to Know",  Dave's MIG welding
setup, and a confident, but misplaced sense of "How Hard
 Can It Be?", I finally screwed up the courage to start 
welding.  Let's hope I don't also screw up the exhaust 
system! 

Better late than never . . . . I spent a few days last week teaching myself how to MIG weld, something I should have done years ago but didn't have a sufficiently compelling "need to know" until now. Replacing The Alfatross' exhaust system provided the need and, as luck would have it, Dave Carrell just happened to have a complete MIG welding set he no longer needed. It's amazing what you can learn on U-Tube these days . . . .

The system Jeff Robison and I put on The Alfatross last year was good enough for the car to do well in the 2016 Arizona Concours d'Elegance and Santa Fe Concorso, but I knew it wasn't an exact reproduction of the original. And it sounded a little too loud--OK maybe more than a little--even to my admittedly "insensitive" ears.   

After removing the part of the exhaust system that still
survived, I sketched it and added a few gross measure-
ments.  Note the crossover pipe between the two long
straight sections.  

When I got The Alfatross in 1969 it was already 14 years old and had spent at least half that time in Michigan and Illinois subjected to harsh winters and salted roads. In those days no one expected an exhaust system to last that long, so I wasn't too surprised to discover that The Alfatross' was intact but heavily rusted from the headers to the rear axle . . . where it ended abruptly!  Beyond that the system was entirely missing except for a hanger strap dangling forlornly from the frame.  I concluded that the remaining elements of the system were original and made a simple sketch with measurements. But what about the missing parts? What did they look like?   

I was surprised how complicated the remaining system was with twin pipes running the whole way through at least two sets of mufflers.  The large cavity in the bodywork next to the trunk was obviously for another muffler or resonator, but I couldn't tell if the pipes were supposed to pass over or under the rear axle on the way there.  It took several years to figure that out.

This period photo of one of The Alfatross' siblings shows
that the twin tail pipes are not just straight pipes, but
angle down from inside the body before angling up. 

The official parts catalog is the ultimate
source for establishing what is original!
Note the crossover between the two 
long pipes.

The breakthrough came when I found this illustration in the 1955 Alfa Romeo Model 1900 parts catalog that David Smith sent me.  Not only does it show the complete system including the headers (The Alfatross' original headers were in excellent condition), but also the absolutely essential heat shield located between the first muffler and the driver's seat!  As I was to discover later after I got the car running, that muffler gets really hot!

I also found a page from an in-period catalog offering replacement exhaust system parts.  Back in the day I could have bought a full system including the headers for only 63,500 lira. I have no idea what that  translates to in modern dollar$, but it doesn't sound like a bargain . . . .

As a result of all this I knew what an original exhaust system should look like, but did not want to try to make one from scratch and for years couldn't find a decent reproduction . . . until several months ago when David Smith made me aware that Quicksilver Exhaust Systems, based in England, now makes a very authentic stainless steel system for Alfa 1900C Super Sprint spec cars.  I was delighted to discover that the US distributor for those systems is The Creative Workshop in Dania Beach, FL, an outfit that has already been very generous and supportive of The Alfatross' restoration. I e-mailed proprietor Jason Wenig, ordered the full system, and it arrived about three weeks later. Compare that to the order I placed with AFRA last year. It cost almost the same but took 9 months to manufacture and in the end there wasn't a single piece I could use!

The Quicksilver exhaust system came in 17 pieces running from the headers to the tailpipes and including the clamps and hanger tabs .  The head pipes, straight pipes, and tail pipes had to be shortened considerably to fit the short wheelbase of the Zagato-bodied Alfatross.

So now I am deep into the process of lining all the parts up, supporting them under the car, marking them, cutting off excess length, making sure they fit, positioning the hangers, attaching the header flanges, and tack-welding it all together. It should be finished by next week, but will still need to be coated. It turns out that there are a lot of other things that should be done while the exhaust system is off, including adding additional insulation to the heat shield, removing and testing the brake master cylinder, adding a filter to the fuel line, and installing the new, shorter coil springs on the rear axle. 

The Piston Head Army

Yes, there is still a lot of work ahead.  Problem is, I got distracted by all the things you can do with a MIG welder.  Now I'm looking for excuses to play with it . . . .