Wrapping Vintage Speed Exhaust ?

[richparker]

I just put speakers in the front of my Westy because I didn’t want to make holes in the OG cabinetry. At first I put a 4” round in each door. I am using the OG door cards and my drivers one is pretty wavy so I didn’t feel bad about making holes in them. That sounded ok, but then I put a 5x7 in the center dash location. That made a huge difference, the sound bounces off the windshield and directs it right to you. Many guys squeeze a 6x9 in there.

I installed a head unit that doesn’t have a CD player in it, so it isn’t really deep. I either use my SiriusXM pod or Bluetooth instead of CDs, less to carry around too.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[Daddio]

Those are new windows but they still rattle especially the screens.
I think I'm going to try my old headers with my new Tri-Mill single quiet pack, just for comparisons. Tunes are coming soon, I hope but I can't decide where to put the speakers.
If I do decide to sell the VS you'll be the first to know. Thanks for your input.

[richparker]

Sounds great to me! I hear some rattling but I’m guessing that’s your louvered windows and/or your slider. I notice no radio. I would think that allows you to concentrate on sounds I don’t hear, or get hung up on. If you had some Dead playing you probably wouldn’t notice what you notice at all.

Anyway, I think it sounds good and healthy. If you decide to get a new exhaust and want to sell that one, keep me in mind. I’m sure I’d be interested.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[Daddio]

Okay,
Lets try this.
https://youtu.be/pmLB3mXQUjQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN8-LuNgh2o

This is the first time I've tried this

[k@rlos]

Wrapping it won’t solve the noise, you’re not the first to complain. VS exhausts are known for this. I removed 4 of them for customers because they couldn’t stand the droning noise.

I don’t rate them. the build quality isn’t that great considering the price, they drone and are very restrictive. Much better options out there, I’ve got a A1 sidewinder with a ‘twin tube’ muffler on my bus. Beautifully made, great for performance and sound amazing. It’s not quiet but certainly doesn’t drone.

https://youtu.be/0vKhsVEyVEY

[richparker]

You can pull the exhaust, then pull that exchanger off and shake it around to see if it makes noise.

I’d post some videos first tho. At this point we are just stabbing in the dark.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[Daddio]

I had a thought wile lying under the bus this evening.
When fitting the exhaust to this engine, one of the heater flaps
came loose and fell into the heat exchanger. I did a primitive dissection of the top part of the exchanger to get the flap out, then had it welded back together.
I wonder if I could have damaged it internally (I wasn't very gentle) and thats whats vibrating and causing my noise?

[Daddio]

I'm working on a fence this weekend, I'll work on a video this week.
The valves don't seam loud, I set my valves at .006 although my engine builder just checked out the engine and I'm not sure what he set them at.

[richparker]

Interesting. What’s your valves set at? I use to run my tires with that much psi, the ride was stiff and they just wore out faster. Try 35 all the way around. Some guys say 40 in the rear and 35 in the front, but the think 35 all the way around gives a good ride. I love my Grabbers, they give a great feeling ride. Can you post some videos of your bus in action, kinda like I did. Maybe we’ll be able to head something you don’t.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[Daddio]

Your bus is so quiet compared to mine.
I bought the bus from a guy in Lafayette Co. in 2007
It was stated by the PO that it was totally restored, well not quiet.
Newly rebuilt engine and transmission 1993.
I had to redo the front brakes and front wheel bearings before the drive back to Texas. I replaced the tires with new Kumo 185 R 14 and also installed an electronic ignition.
Made it back to N.Texas

Correct tires 50 psi they are old but only have about 12000 miles on them, my tire shop said they should be good till winter. I'm planning to put General Grabbers on next.
Transmission is smooth and does not whine, but does leak a little.
Door seals are fair and I have new ones waiting
Pop top needs new seal also waiting in line.
The rear wheel bearings have been checked by my local shop and they said i didn't need to service them yet, I also had the rear splines adjusted up a bit and that mechanic didn't say any thing about them.
I did a rolling test when I was checking the db levels, took it out of gear and let it coast from around 55 no noise engine or transmission and it rolled freely.

Thats the short version.

[richparker]

I just posted 4 videos on my Cali road trip thread. Two were recorded from the passenger seat and two from the outside. You can watch them and see how my bus sounds from the inside and the outside with the same exhaust, I do have a much larger displacement engine tho. But I’m sure it should be about the same sound.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9755296&highlight=#9755296
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[richparker]

[richparker]

I guess it could be, but it’s not gonna produce the sound you are describing. That would be a ticking sound.

I drove my bus 475 miles today, which gave me a lot of time to listen to it and think about your issue. I really don’t hear my exhaust at all while cruising, only when I’m accelerating and shifting gears. What I hear is wind, my tires and sometimes my transaxle.

Which leads me to ask a bunch of questions about your bus:

How old are your tires, what brand are they, are they correct for a bus or passenger tires, what size are they and what air pressure are you running?

What is the condition of your door seals, rear hatch seal, engine lid seal and pop top seal?

What is the condition of your transaxle? Has it ever been rebuilt? Have you ever changed to gear oil in it and if so, what type and weight did you put in?

Lastly, what is the condition of your wheel bearings? Have you ever rebuilt or replaced them? Rear wheel bearings can be very loud if old and not well greased.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[SGKent]

you need to slow the exhaust gasses and diffuse them to break up the pulse. That will cost HP. Aim the tailpipe so the sound heads somewhere away from the bus and not back to it. If you aim it at the side of the road and some trooper is sitting there with a sound meter you'll find out quickly whether it is too loud. I've been there on two cars, one was a bus. The solution is usually a more restrictive muffler. If it is a baffle as you think, you can thuwump the muffler with your fist when the engine is off and you will hear it rattle. Air cooled engines don't have a water jacket to help deaden sounds so they are worst when it comes to noise. If you want to temp restrict it to see what that does, clamp a small can over the tail pipe with a hose clamp and drill a lot of holes to see how much quieter it gets when restricted. You can use a piece of tailpipe extension from NAPA to do the same kind of thing to temp aim it away and extend it to see if that helps. Not saying don't use cardboard but it gets really hot back there and i have accidentally smouldered cotton rags with exhaust gases out a tailpipe before.

Some shops put something like this in but it will be more restrictive. I don't know if there are different ones. This one is on Summit. I used one of these in a high performance sports car once to comply with a ticket but it did reduce performance.

[Daddio]

I see, but my point was they could be leaking but I haven't seen any indications of a leak. I'll study it more tomorrow.

[richparker]

That’s how they should be. You were supposed to drill out the ones on the Bug Pack headed. So the heat riser wasn’t working at all for you before, now it’s working as it should.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[Daddio]

Could I be getting blow by from the heat risers? This is something those with dual carbs don't have. It appears the VS risers feed directly in to the exhaust gasses flow, my old BugPack header has risers but they are not open to the exhaust gasses.
Just thinking this out.

[richparker]

Like 5-7 years ago there were several people who reported that they had loose baffles and VS came up with some repair for it. I think they sent them a long self tapping screw. I believe VS fixed the issue shortly after those issues. I’m on my second one and haven’t had any problems. I bought my current one in the spring of 2018, it’s been great.

Good luck
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[Daddio]

Rich,
I bought the muffler at the end of last year. I put the new engine in last November and got the exhaust shortly after that.
The exhaust note is very subdued almost to quiet. I was listening to it yesterday
it almost sounds like something is in the muffler banging around. Its hard to explain but where the exhaust pulse enters the muffler you can hear it banging on the back side of the muffler, kind of like theres a baffle missing inside it.
I need to find a cross section drawing of the muffler, to see how the gasses are routed.
I'll try to get the new motor mounts installed this weekend and check the front bolts to make sure everything is tight. and go from there.
Thanks again

[Daddio]

The mounts on it are at least 14 years old, probably much older. I'll try it and see what happens.
Thanks