'77 Beetle Rusty, Scabby Exhaust System

[ScottK66]

For my next project, I hope to do something with my nasty looking exhaust system. Surprisingly, everything feels solid, but it hurts my eyes to look at it. My initial intention was to replace the muffler, but it's apparent that it all needs help, as do the valve covers. I'm wondering if I can get away with cleaning everything up and painting it with some sort of high temp paint (I think POR 15 makes something for exhaust). If I did that, replaced the hardware and gaskets and got a new muffler, I think I'd be in good shape. I have no problem spending the money on new exhaust parts if they're needed, but if the parts are structurally sound, maybe cleaning them up and reusing them is good enough and I could put the money toward the window rubber that also needs to be replaced. What do you think?

[glutamodo]

I've seen a hell of a lot worse than that! It looks mostly like surface rust to me. You might think about replacing the through bolt/nuts, (one at a time to preserve the seal) but while it might hurt your eyes, you seldom have to look at it. And trying to like sandblast and paint the components may actually decrease the integrity of what you have. It depends on the climate in which this is being used. If you're not constantly blasting those bits with wet road-salt-infested-snow-slush, what looks unsightly may never go further.

I work in the railroad industry and the critical components of rail equipment are left bare metal for that reason. Brand spanking new wheels, and connecting drawbars and knuckles are not painted. They turn bright rust orange when exposed to climate, but that soon turns grey. And they stay that way for decades. Now if something gets damage and cracked, it will show up as a fresh bright orange line.

You might think about scouring and painting the outer shells of the heater boxes but except for maybe the header through-bolts, the rest looks pretty decent to me.
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[busdaddy]

Most of what you see (except the muffler) is heat shields, not many systems have all of them still intact, as mentioned that one doesn't look bad at all.

Some wire brushing and sanding followed with a phosphoric treatment like Ospho, and a top coat of muffler paint will preserve it for years to come (assuming you don't drive in the salty winter). The tough part is finding a match for the blueish grey it once was painted with.
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[baldessariclan]

I’ve done some of this sort of thing in the past (e.g. had heater boxes, intake manifold, etc. sand blasted, and then painted w/ high temp exhaust paint), and been fairly happy w/ the results. I used POR15 exhaust paint, and it has worked well for me. But as noted in the last post above, they don’t have a color to match the original light grey used on a lot of those parts, so I settled for silver. Not too far off and looks acceptable, at least as far as I’m concerned.

Rust will eventually, inevitably start to show through here and there once again on your exhaust components. One nice thing w/ the POR15 exhaust paint is that it’s relatively easy to clean / lightly sand any rusty areas, and then spot brush on a couple coats of fresh paint to touch up - it blends fairly well. Note that you will want to brush or wipe it on in very thin coats, and then dry + heat cure per the manufacturer ‘s instructions. Watch out for spatter if touching up installed parts...
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baldessariclan -- often in error, never in doubt...

[PuddleRainbow]

See if you can find and oem muffler if you replace it. I got an aftermarket and it was a pain to fit. All the fittings were just a bit off and when I replace it again, it will spring off like a jack in the box.

[ScottK66]

As a follow up to my exhaust project, I found an original muffler in the classifieds I wanted to buy. The guy that had it for sale was a very knowledgeable, former Porsche mechanic. He had a lot of NOS exhaust parts and I'd considered replacing everything. The problem I ran into was when I attempted to try to unbolt the exhaust from the engine. Despite soaking the nuts with penetrating fluid, they were not even acting like they were going to break loose. If I want them off, I would have to take it to a shop and have them go at it with an acetylene torch. My plan was to change the parts myself and save the labor. Ultimately, I decided that even though the exhaust is nothing to look at, it's all solid and functional. I'm just going to clean it up and paint it the best that I can and only replace the muffler. Long story short, while I was examining my exhaust and trying to figure out what to do, someone beat me to the muffler. I found another original one in the classifieds and bought that. Then, I got a call today from that guy telling me it had been sold, but he had another one they would send me in place of it. I believe he said it was Italian made. I can't remember the brand name. I think he said the company had been around for a while and made mufflers for Mercedes as well. He said it was every bit as good as the original and was more expensive, but he'd let me have it for the price of what I was going to pay for the original muffler. As long as it fits, works and doesn't wind up covered in rust in a few weeks, I'll be happy. I'm buying a new hardware and gasket kit as well. I was going to replace the tailpipe, but for $50, I'll see if I can salvage my old one. My car is a nice driver, but it isn't a show car. It has the potential to be one, but it'll be up to the next owner to make that decision.

[baldessariclan]

To get rusty/frozen exhaust hardware off, recommend repeated applications of heat (e.g. via torch), in addition to soaking in penetrating oil (but not both at the same time, or course). Repeated expansion and contraction from the heat cycles can help break up the rust adhesion points. And if ultimately no luck with that approach, then you can always consider use of a nut splitter, or similar tool.

In my experience, the best quality and fitting mufflers are the Leistritz ones, if you can find an older NOS or lightly used example. Ernst brand comes in second -- still a generally ok fit, although some details were a bit off here and there. My try with a Jopex / Dansk aftermarket muffler did not fit up well for me -- a lot of connections/detail were far enough off where would have been a major modification effort to make it fit -- I ended up sending it back for a refund.

Of course, you'll also need to decide what cost vs. quality balance is acceptable for your particular car -- those really good quality mufflers generally aren't all that cheap and/or readily available nowadays...
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1971 Standard Beetle — fairly stock / driver

baldessariclan -- often in error, never in doubt...

[ScottK66]

I got my new muffler today. There is a part number label covering up the name, but I can see a "k", so I would say it's a Dansk. I don't know how much a good quality muffler should cost, but this one was not cheap in my opinion. It retailed for $195. However, since I was originally supposed to get an Ernst for $150 and it turned out to have been sold, I was sent the Dansk in its place for $150. I was charged $9.90 for two gaskets which I didn't get, so I'll have to call back about that. The new muffler has several dings in it and I'm wondering if I should even accept it. If I'd have paid the full retail price for it, I'd have been pretty upset. If I were building a show car, I'd have been pissed! I thought I was supposed to get new hardware and didn't, but I wasn't charged for it. I will definitely need it as what is there is rusty and will likely either break when I try to undo it or will have to be cut off. I didn't know if there is any particular type of hardware that is supposed to be used or if the general metric assortment pack from the local auto parts store would suffice. Any opinions/recommendations at this point will be helpful. I'm inclined to just send the muffler back, get a refund and start over.

[67rustavenger]

Is your car intended to be a show car?
A few minor dings, wouldn't bother me.
I paid nearly $2K for a CSP EVO SS exhaust system.
When it arrived, I inspected the polished mufflers. Only to find a dent in the bottom of the left muffler. Did I sent the entire system back to CSP? No!
The mufflers were gonna get dinged and scratched over time.

On your order. yeah, I'd reach out and ask them to send the gaskets along, at they're cost.
Remember, the cheaper the exhaust. The harder it will be to fit it to the engine.
I have a 1600 SP in my 67. I paid close to $400 for a Leiritz muffler. It fit like it was off the factory supply line.

Bottom line. You get what you pay for. Send it back if you feel you have been treated poorly. Or deal with the installation.

Gene Berg once said, "Buy once. Cry once!" Sound advice!
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[ScottK66]

Sent the muffler back today and paid dearly for the shipping to do that. I'm just not going to worry about the exhaust at the moment. I will have one of my other cars on Bring a Trailer soon. Whether it sells there or I sell it through some other venue, once it's gone, I'll move the Beetle into the garage and deal with it then. In the meantime, I'm just going to drive it when I can and enjoy it.

[Rome]

Your original muffler and heater boxes seem to not have any rot holes, which is good. After carefully removing/breaking thru the original fasteners to get the system off per above recommendations, the really only best way to have a decent surface for the high heat paint is sandblasting. Thoroughly.

I've had good results with the POR15 manifold grey high heat paint in a can, and using foam brushes to apply it. Use long strokes along the entire length.

The fasteners- yes, HW store-quality metric is sufficient. But make sure to use wavy lock washers at each connection, a flat washer under the bolt head, and apply anti-seize grease to the threads so that the fasteners come off easily in the future.

The valve covers can also benefit from a cleanup after degreasing. Sandblasting is good but on that part, a wire wheel brush, 220 grit sandpaper, and 500F satin black engine paint in a spray can will be sufficient. Even a standard spray paint that is not high-heat should be OK.

I also have a '77 (standard) Beetle since 30 years; color is lime green metallic. The PO removed the fuel injection and installed a large-displacement dual-carb'ed engine. I have experimented with various engines and exhausts over the years, mostly with carb-engine heat exchangers and a header with various types of mufflers.