Exhaust Manifold/Muffler combination

Good day Josh,

I have both QuickSilver and Bell exhausts for my BB and I prefer the Bell. The Quicksilver is excellent too, but the sound is not what I was after. The Quicksilver sounds like a late 60's F1 car which is very cool, but the Bell has more of a resonant tone that I prefer. I should also note that I have standard headers on my car and not the "sport" headers... although I am unsure if they would make any difference with my exhaust(s). If you do decide on a Quicksilver and would consider a lightly used one (single season) let me know, as I would sell mine... although the shipping cost may be prohibitive (I am located in Canada).

Cheers,

Sam

 

The 365 (or sport) manifolds have 2" collectors vs the 1.5" collectors for the 512. One would think that would provide a gain. I prefer the look of the 365 manifolds but think the performance difference would be almost non-existent. The reason I say this is the number 6 and 7 primary pipes are really restrictive on all boxer manifolds and that is where a big benefit can be had if someone modified it. If I wanted a gain I would rework those two pipes first.

As for mufflers a number of years ago I worked on a boxer that had a single can stainless muffler with a ball socket joint arrangement to properly position the tips - brilliant. I looked everywhere on that system with it off the car and couldn't find any markings indicating who made it. I know it was from the early 80's based on how long the car had been sitting. Drives me crazy that I can't identify it but it sounded amazing.

 

This is the muffler I speak of that produced a glorious sound. I always suspected it was Tubi but never found one like it.

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I sent the pic to Tubi Italy after a brief conversation. They’re going to identify if it’s one of theirs.

 

Can you expand on the Bell brand? I've never heard of that.
Thanks...

 

Good day Don,

Bell has been around for some time and are located in the UK:

https://www.bell-silencer.co.uk/exhausts

Sadly, the current website does not show the exhausts they manufacture. However, I have attached a a picture of what mine looks like. As for pricing... I have no idea as to what the cost now, but about 12 years ago they were around $2800 USD + shipping.

The quality is excellent, but the fitment was a bit of an effort.

Cheers,

Sam


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Good day All,

Just to round out the Exhaust pics...here is what the QuickSilver BB exhaust looks like. Overall all of the exhausts are somewhat complicated in that the number of inlets have to match up to the four headers... The Fabrication jigs must really be something and/or took lots of effort to build.

Cheers,

Sam

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Thanks! It looks beautiful, but could you elaborate on the "fitment" issue? Pipes to pipes, upper brackets? What exctly?

 

Good day Don,

The issue was fitting the inlets to the headers... they were slightly askew and lots of jiggling around and attempts to bend the inlets to match. Since the Bell and QS are 304 SS they are quite stout and so they do not bend very easily... even if one applies heat to the pipes. In fact one has to be careful when applying heat, as the pipe changes dimensionally as it cools.

I had similar issues with the QS, although to make the inlets line up the header pipes a more radical modification as needed. Here one of the QS inlet's had to be slightly cut so that it could be bent into the proper position and then welded into place.

I do not know if the above is the norm or there is just something off with my headers... which appear to be factory headers (e.g. part stamps present, etc.). On a side note I found that my "upper" headers were made from different metal than the "bottom" ones. I say this, as one set of headers were magnetic and the other was not... which I found really odd.

That being said, I would advise those considering Bell or QS to plan on some effort to make them fit. They certainly were not plug and play for me.

Cheers,

Sam

 

I'm in the final stages of putting on a Bell. Had some fitment issues but not as bad as I thought it was going to be(Long story, but they had damage in shipping) I have the ansa sport exhaust so headers are different.

So far it's on, buy my tips are not where I want them and Sam you are right they don't like to move. Need to get the left side down a tad. Tomorrow I hope to have it done. Will take a couple pictures and post.

Know someone who has a bell and that's what inspired me. The sound is lovely.

Oh yeah, the new exhaust donut gaskets are so much thicker than my 30 year old ones. Been told by an expert they will start to crush a bit after some heating cycles. Adds to the fitment fun.

 

Here are a few pictures of the setup that we went with, Quicksilver and Fuchs. I purchased the muffler from Koenig a few years ago. With a little persuading, Paul was able to get everything lined up properly. It sounds great and flows really well.




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Good day dwhite,

That is interesting that you too have Bell fitment issues. In fact I forgot about the tips being slightly higher than the rear apron cover... It would seem that Bell's fabrication jig is a bit off. What is interesting is that I notified them of the issues (at the time... so 10+ years ago) and provided details one what items they needed and/or should change... and it looks like they did not.

Another similarity was my first Bell was damaged in transport as well... one of my tips was crushed. It took months with the shipper to pay the insurance claim (I was one day away from starting litigation) and in the end Bell remade a replacement and I sent the damaged one back. Overall a bit of a gong show... ah the joys of shipping big and bulky items 1/2 around the World!

Cheers,

Sam

 

Good day 4right,

Interesting setup. I am wondering what parts are Quicksilver you mention? I ask, as my Quicksilver is quite a bit different and has a fixed setup for the inlets and the tips. That being said the design you have looks to be better, as the non fixed setup would allow for header variances would would make fitment much easier.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Here are some pics. All done! Took it for a brief drive to start getting the crap burnt off and the weird smells to go away. More tomorrow

 

The manifolds are quick silver and they fit well. They've improved their fitment by purchasing a boxer head as part of the jig they use. The fuchs mufflers fit as well as OEM which means a little persuasion is required. Its a seriously complicated system on the boxer.

The one and only Bell I tried to install was terrible and the sound wasn't worth the install time.

 

Im thinking I need a BBLM set from quicksilver. Put some baffles in the collectors like motorcycles do on straight pipes to tone them down.

 

The headers are Quicksilver, the muffler is Fuchs.

 

Good day Paul,

Thanks for the info! I can only imagine the fab jig setup... yikes. Using a head as part of the jig makes a lot of sense. I suspect that their jig evolved over time, as my QS exhaust was much, much, more complicated to install than the Bell... easily 2-3x longer.

The pic of the Bell I posted earlier certainly reflects that. In fact given the spaghetti nature of the exhaust I wonder if this is the reason that Most Boxer Exhausts are dual can systems. Getting all of the inlets lined up and in the correct orientation on a single can system (like Bell's) looks (and appears) to be problematic.

As for the Bell's Sound... I have not heard as many exhaust types as you have, but my Bell sounds pretty nice. Given how many years have elapsed since I acquired mine, I am wondering if Bell changed the inner baffling given your comments on its sound?

Cheers,

Sam

 

Good day 4Right,

Gotcha. Thank you for the follow up!

Cheers,

Sam