RE: [T2] 75-79 exhaust WHATS THE BEST?

["The Bus Depot, Inc." <type2@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Hey guys the original exhaust on my 77 just gave up..
> which is the best style exhaust available...?



All in the archives.  But to recap...

'75-78 is the only year range where the complete OEM exhaust setup is no
longer available (although some pieces of it are, if your entire system is
not bad). Furthermore, most of the pipes attached to your heat exchangers
are no longer available, and there is no aftermarket replacement for them,
leaving you screwed if you need one (since a junkyard would be your only
option, and most there are likely to be as bad as yours).

So, sooner or later, you are likely to have no choice but to do away with
this setup and replace it with one for which stock replacement parts can be
found. And since you already need a new exhaust, this is an opportune time
to do so, and be done with it.  The good news is, such a setup is readily
available, having been used thru '74 in the US (and thru '79 elsewhere in
the world).

Replace your heat exchangers with '72-74 heat exchangers. (I have one side
in NOS German for about 40% off right now, so this will cost you about
$330/pair, taking advantage of that special.)  These single-piece stock heat
exchanges do away with ALL of the no-longer-available parts on your present
system, solving the problem for once and for all.  Then you can simply bolt
on a stock '72-74 exhaust system and you're done.  I offer such a system,
with a stainless steel muffler, for $189 complete. Believe me, this will
easily outlast anything else you can put on your bus by a huge margin, so it
will pay for itself (plus the cost of the heat exchangers) many times over.

The only thing you will not be able to connect using this setup is the EGR
filter, since the '72-74 muffler doesn't have a port for it.  You are,
however, likely to find that it is either nonexistent or nonfunctional
already, as many/most busses I've seen have long since had it disabled.
(Technically it is required but this seems to be very rarely enforced, or
even noticed, in most places outside of California; of course YMMV. I know
that when I had my '77 Westy, it passed Pa. emissions every year without a
functional EGR.)

If you happen to live in California, your exhaust options may be different
because there you are required to have a catalytic converter.  You could
still use the '72-74 heat exchangers, and mate them to my $285 '79 49-state
exhaust, which accepts both the cat and EGR.  Not sure how smog officials
would like this (perhaps someone in California could comment) but since the
California-only parts for the stock setup are no longer available, I can't
see that you'd have any other choice anyway.  This setup would retain all of
the emissions control stuff that your stock setup had, just in a slightly
different configuration (and, again, doing away with all of the
no-longer-available parts).

If you want to go on the cheap, I do sell a single-piece extractor setup for
'75-78 which will bolt right up to your existing heat exchangers, for about
$75, that is marginally acceptable.  By this I mean that it is certainly not
comparable to OEM (by a long shot),  but is half decent, cheap, and better
than most of the aftermarket setups out there.

Part numbers:
'72-74 heat exchangers  021 256 091M (left), 021 256 092M (right)
'72-74 stainless exhaust system (complete), 071 251 053EKS
'75-78 extractor exhaust system, 352000
'79-83 exhaust system (excluding CAT), 071 251 053CK
CAT for above, 22916
All mentioned prices include listmember discount, which you must request.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  (215) 234-VWVW
  www.busdepot.com

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