[bengascoyne]

Hey guys,

I'm about to buy a secong hand Milltek ( only about 3 months old ) but have seen some ridiculous prices on fitting them, guessing it can't be too hard to DIY, bearing in mind how perfect the fitment is supposed to be.

Does anyone have any advice/help on fitting the exhaust DIY, never fitted one before (I mean exhaust to any car), so if any one has a bit of a write up on how to go about it, then that'd be mucho appreciated!!

Also when buying a used Milltek, should it be coming with anything other than the obvious sections of the exhaust itself, ie when new do they come with all hangers/bolts/brackets/gaskets etc?? or is a lot of it still using the original stuff??

Thanks all, the helps appreciated!

Ben

[Rakey]

Think I paid my local kwikfit to fit my aftermarket exhaust on my last MCS, cost me about £30, worth giving them a call

But failing that, you'll need new gaskets to get a proper seal and fit, some thread lock for the bolts to ensure that they don't loosen with time, and good access to the underneath of the car.

[ButtonIt]

It's only nuts and bolts, no need to be afraid

[:: Jon ::]

its not a hard job to do yourself.. like buttons said its only a few nuts and bolts i did one not too long back took about an hour using a trolley jack

[bengascoyne]

its not the fitting it that bothers me, its knowing I've got all the right bits, don't wanna take mine off, only to find I'm missing something it should have come with etc

if buying 2nd hand, do I need to go out and buy gaskets/bolts etc or should they still be with it, and also and if I took it Kwik Fit, would they put the right gaskets in etc and have the right bolts etc??

[Rakey]

the bolts will be the ones that are present on your standard system to connect it to the car, the others should come with it, check with your seller

thread lock will be needed, you can get this from an auto parts shop

gasket you should be able to order for a quid or something like that from your dealer.

[Mathmos_Man]

Just check........

really old millteks come with welded on hangars - as fitted the pre 04 MINI's and after that the hangers were bolted onto the back box and came as 2 bolt on kits one for new style hangars and one for old style hangers....

I swapped an old milltek onto my 55 plate MINI and had to (with a fair amount of help - cheers Ste) heat up and bend the hangers to fit.......

otherwise its not really a hassle..... plus the newer millteks dont come in 5 pieces like the old ones did.......so u wont need 14 arms and lots of joint paste !!!!!

oh and for lordy's sake get it up off the ground as high as you can.....



other than that...... errrrr...... it was a doddle - plus if you can afford it and want a bit more noise - i can heartly recommend removing the centre resonator pipe and swapping it with a supersprint straight thru pipe......

If you're coming to the next
NW pub meet i can show ya - both me and Duncan have it...........

(needs the end of the supersprint section chopping off tho - tis easy tho)



Math xx

[CC07ERS]

i got mcs exhaust fitted to my cooper for £30 shop around & go in speak to the guys your more likely to get a cash in the hand job

[futureal33]

I might be able to help..... Had my Milltek fitted just this very evening and I watched it every step of the way:
My Milltek came with: Centre Pipe and Tail Pipe section, nothing else (ie no gaskets, screws, bolts or clamps) I was a little worried because of thisas I thought it should come with more, but it didnt.
I bought it 2nd hand also (had 300 miles on it, so was practically new) which is why it didnt come with any of the 'bits'

Well basically fitting was VERY easy - got it done by a garage but having watched them do it, I wish I had saved the £40 and done it myself! Really easy, litrrally a case of unscrewing the old and putting the new one on, really is a simple as that!
I needed new gaskets (which I bought from Bowker, costing £3.76 per gasket, needed 2 in total) so that was not a massive expense. The bolts were just standard bolts and were nothing special and they also used some exhaust paste which helps the seal apparently.

You wont regret it mate! Bloody love the sound, only been fitted about 2 hours but I already love it to bits!!!

[roland2003]

.Hi Guys, the Miltek cat-back is a nicely made (ok not tig welded but otherwise v.good) &packaged system. My only nit pick is they sit too high. We always use spacers to bring it down 10mm to stop it banging/rubbing the cutout in the bumper. Also by using jubilee clips on the hangers (size 000) you can create a simple 'left to right adjustment/locking method to get it perfectly central left to right too. Comes out very good in our backpressure tests we did too.
Best Regards Roland GTT

[bengascoyne]

Quote: Originally Posted by futureal33 (original)

I might be able to help..... Had my Milltek fitted just this very evening and I watched it every step of the way:
My Milltek came with: Centre Pipe and Tail Pipe section, nothing else (ie no gaskets, screws, bolts or clamps) I was a little worried because of thisas I thought it should come with more, but it didnt.
I bought it 2nd hand also (had 300 miles on it, so was practically new) which is why it didnt come with any of the 'bits'

Well basically fitting was VERY easy - got it done by a garage but having watched them do it, I wish I had saved the £40 and done it myself! Really easy, litrrally a case of unscrewing the old and putting the new one on, really is a simple as that!
I needed new gaskets (which I bought from Bowker, costing £3.76 per gasket, needed 2 in total) so that was not a massive expense. The bolts were just standard bolts and were nothing special and they also used some exhaust paste which helps the seal apparently.

You wont regret it mate! Bloody love the sound, only been fitted about 2 hours but I already love it to bits!!!

Cheers mate, great help!! Now I'm an absolute utter novice when it comes to exhausts etc, firstly do I just need to go Mini n ask for standard exhaust gaskets or are there 2 different ones?? and by bolts did you mean they just used the standard bolts from the original?

Cheers again mate, its the £40 + (and thats a cheap one I've seen) that makes me want to do it myself!!

thanks for all the help guys

[futureal33]

No problem mate, glad I could help.

Go to BMW parts and ask for the gasket that connects the CAT (catalytic converter) to the exhaust system. It looks kind of oval in shape and is made out of bendy metal similar to tin. It will have a large hole in the middle and 2 small holes at either end, these smaller holes are for the bolts and the large central hole is for the exhaust central pipe. There are 2 types of gasket, one which connects the manifold to the engine - this is much longer and has 4 holes in it - this ISNT the one you want, make sure you get the right one! The correct one was about £3.75 and the other was 4.50 - so make sure its the cheaper one and you should be right. Oh and you need 2 of them - the BMW parts man will say you only need 1 - but you need 2 - this is because the standard exhaust system is in 1 piece, the Milltek is in 2 pieces, hence requiring 2 gaskets.

The bolts were also completely standard, dont know what size they were unfortunately but they weren't exhaust specific ones or anything, the mechanic just opened a box full of bolts and picked 4 of the same size.

Its pretty easy to yourself, as I said before I wish I had saved the money and done it by myself too!
The sound it gives off is just superb - had a great drive to work this morning!!!

[Richard Crofts]

Quote: Originally Posted by futureal33 (original)

No problem mate, glad I could help.

Go to BMW parts and ask for the gasket that connects the CAT (catalytic converter) to the exhaust system. It looks kind of oval in shape and is made out of bendy metal similar to tin. It will have a large hole in the middle and 2 small holes at either end, these smaller holes are for the bolts and the large central hole is for the exhaust central pipe. There are 2 types of gasket, one which connects the manifold to the engine - this is much longer and has 4 holes in it - this ISNT the one you want, make sure you get the right one! The correct one was about £3.75 and the other was 4.50 - so make sure its the cheaper one and you should be right. Oh and you need 2 of them - the BMW parts man will say you only need 1 - but you need 2 - this is because the standard exhaust system is in 1 piece, the Milltek is in 2 pieces, hence requiring 2 gaskets.

The bolts were also completely standard, dont know what size they were unfortunately but they weren't exhaust specific ones or anything, the mechanic just opened a box full of bolts and picked 4 of the same size.

Its pretty easy to yourself, as I said before I wish I had saved the money and done it by myself too!
The sound it gives off is just superb - had a great drive to work this morning!!!

Good to hear yours went on Nick. Told you it wasn't too difficult, good to see you passing on the knowledge

Search for a thread started by Futureal33 and you'll see a post by me with a PDF on it that I made yesterday...it might give you some sort of idea of what you want.

R

[bengascoyne]

cheers guys, so got the gasket part ( and I like the idiot proof explanantions too, I usually need them!)

and just to clear up, I need 4 new nuts n bolts, or can you not re-use the standard ones off the original.......

[bengascoyne]

ooh, hang on think thats the sound of a penny dropping there, do I need extra bolts sos the milltek is in more parts than the standard exhaust??

ben

[bengascoyne]

guys, just re-reading the post and from what others have told me, i need some sort of exhaust paste stuff to help the seal when am fitting the milltek, its just I need to know what to buy as am picking it up tomorrow!! also am a bit think with some stuff, by thread lock, is that something along the lines of copper slip type stuff to stop the bolts seizing....??? cheers folks....

[Bhozar]

Current issue of Moderm Min mag has a colour guide ot changing an exhaust. Might be worth checking it out.

[Mathmos_Man]

Quote: Originally Posted by bengascoyne (original)

guys, just re-reading the post and from what others have told me, i need some sort of exhaust paste stuff to help the seal when am fitting the milltek, its just I need to know what to buy as am picking it up tomorrow!! also am a bit think with some stuff, by thread lock, is that something along the lines of copper slip type stuff to stop the bolts seizing....??? cheers folks....

Exhaust paste is used to seal the joint when u insert the parts of the exhaust together - as basically you are just sticking a pipe into a pipe and trying to get it sealed - as the last thing you want is nasty exhaust gases leaking through them.... the paste then dries and forms a permanent bonded seal...

any car shops which sell aftermarket bits should have it... halfords is as good as any..

[Alex5]

In my experience, silicone sealant works a bit better than exhaust paste for getting good gas tight seals in exhausts.

[Richard Crofts]

I was told that silicone was good too...came from millteks own folk did that advice. I used exhaust paste from halfrauds Working OK at moment but there was a loyt on there and much running to heat it slow etc to get the right seal as I've had clasics with blowy exhausts.

R