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Post by Jimmy D on Aug 25, 2011 20:40:18 GMT
I received a Repro ETS Banana exhaust today, and went to fit it onto my Polini 130 barrel. First of all, the holes for the manifold bolts were too far apart by nearly 1cm, so I had to dremel around 5mm from each side just to get it to fit on the Polini barrel. Finally I got the manifold to fit and torqued it down. Then I moved on to fitting the exhaust to the manifold. LTH did not send any bolts in the package so I used standard M8 bolts to connect the exhaust to the manifold. As I did, I noticed that the surface of the join on the exhaust was warped/bent slightly - so the two halves did not mate properly (about a 1mm gap). I began to do up the bolts, but before I could even begin to torque the bolts down, there was a snap and one side of the manifold just snapped off! I had not even begun to torque the bolts down! I am really disappointed in the build quality of this exhaust I was looking forward to getting my scooter running properly. Any idea what I can do about this?
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Post by 225worb on Aug 25, 2011 20:58:32 GMT
Oooooh Jimm that exhaust flange is cast mate !!! very brital it shouldnt have been made like that they tend to be punched from steel plate that can move/bend slightly when tightened....Cast items dont tend to have any give or tolerance to flexing.....Id send it back my friend and tell'em how dissapointed you are and get a refund .....Doh!
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Post by bluebadge on Aug 25, 2011 21:44:05 GMT
I believe i have an extra one of those is ya want it. Free, but I don't know what the post would be as I live across the pond...
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Post by amazombi on Aug 26, 2011 5:27:32 GMT
I think you should contact LTH and tell them what happened. I'm quite sure they are willing to find a solution.
If you look on the body of the pipe you will find, hidden under the paint, the stamping to proof that this actually is the original ETS pipe made by the original company with the original tools. So quality in general should be OK.
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Post by Jimmy D on Aug 26, 2011 6:19:55 GMT
Yeah, I have done. They're a good company that I've been very pleased with in the past and spent quite a bit with them on new cranks etc so fingers crossed they'll be good about it and not start pointing fingers. On the listing on LTH it says "Manufacturer: Repro"... but maybe it is original? Pipe was a little rusty when i got it. Just weird I had to dremel open the manifold holes at the barrel end flange to get it anywhere near right for a Polini barrel...
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Post by amazombi on Aug 26, 2011 7:47:49 GMT
That's because the distance of present Polini barrels' exhaust studs is different to that on an ETS barrel.
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Post by Jimmy D on Aug 26, 2011 8:18:35 GMT
That's because the distance of present Polini barrels' exhaust studs is different to that on an ETS barrel. God damnit Vespa, why did they need to change that ;D Anyway, I'm not too bothered about that, only took a few mins to dremel... just worried they'll say i 'modified' the part even though it wasn't the exhaust itself I was dremeling.
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Post by Perkin on Aug 27, 2011 14:01:17 GMT
I was considering buying one of these and running the ETS bog-standard while I build my spare engine. Not so sure, now.
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Post by Jimmy D on Aug 27, 2011 15:00:07 GMT
I was considering buying one of these and running the ETS bog-standard while I build my spare engine. Not so sure, now. My mistake was noticing the flange was warped but not just putting it back in the bag and returning it then and there... I thought by doing up the bolts it'd bend together. Apart from this it feels like a solid exhaust, just a shame they chose to make the flange from cast iron.
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Post by amazombi on Aug 27, 2011 17:40:39 GMT
It looks like cast iron on yours, but it definitely isn't on any of the others I've seen. I mean cutting on from sheet metal is cheaper anyway.
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Post by Jimmy D on Aug 30, 2011 9:09:28 GMT
It looks like cast iron on yours, but it definitely isn't on any of the others I've seen. I mean cutting on from sheet metal is cheaper anyway. Yep, just talked to Marco at LTH - he's as surprised as we are that they'd cast an exhaust flange. Going to refund me the exhaust and return postage
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