2/3/09
1747: Exhaust and Transmission Mounts

With the transmission and drive line just about done, I turned my attention to the exhaust system. Again, this is a largely original car, and it was amazing to find the original exhaust still hanging from under the car.

Somehow the pipes are still in decent shape, and I have yet to find a hole or leak in any of the cans or pipes. Even most of the original pipe clamps are still in place.

One clamp that did not belong was a hose clamp mounted on the first pipe. After removing it, I cleaned it up to find it was at least a “Cheney” clamp!

Due to the leaking rear differential that we now fixed, the exhaust was covered in gear oil. If this car was ever run up to a good hot working temperature, the exhaust would have smoked quite a bit. Scraping all this grease off is imperative, and painting the exhaust system might preserve it a little longer. (Notice how Abarth welded these tube spacers between the pipes instead of sheet metal spacers found on the Ansa systems.)

As I removed the years of dirt and grease, I uncovered an original Abarth sticker on the exhaust tip! There was evidence of another sticker on one of the mufflers, but it was too far gone to make out.

Another one in better shape was found on the other set of pipes. Since Abarth exhausts are no longer available, this is a pretty rare exhaust system. Most people have either replaced them with Ansa systems, or had replacements fabricated when their old ones rotted away.

I got a set of transmission mounts for the car, and the dimensions of the rubber and the steel backing plates were identical to the ones I took off the car. A few slight modifications had to be made to the mounting holes so everything would align correctly, but this was easily done with a drill bit and round file.

Just a reminder, I’m looking for a new Vintage Ferrari Project. If you have, or know of a restoration project, please let me know. It would be great to restore another car on this website! My E-mail.

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