Megaphone Exhausts on the SPF

[Kim Petersen]

While the OEM exhaust is quite adequate, I had always intended to install strait pipe megaphone exhaust tips on P/2192. My hope was that they would make the car sound great, but not so obnoxious that I'd wake the neighbors or agitate law enforcement. I also like the look of large, agressive exhaust openings.

Well, my brother has had the car for several weeks performing various tweaks and improvements, and one of them was the installation of some custom built, nickel plated megaphones! They sound awesome, throaty and quite outrageous, and he dyno-tuned the engine after they were installed.

They're not as loud as one might have guessed, although we have installed sound/heat insulation and a more substantial replacement rear window from Olthoff. (On the other hand, the neighbor says that their door knocker starts to vibrate wildly whenever the car goes by, making it seem like there's an approaching earthquake. On another occasion, Alan says that a woman was nearly pulled out of her shoes as the two greyhounds she was walking wigged out at the approach of the car's motor and leaped over a four-foot picket fence.) Oh well, it does sound very cool though.

Anyway, we'll see whether they'll ultimately be useable on a regular basis. In the meantime, there's no better sounding car for many miles. And they look great as they sound, as you can see from the photos below.

Kim

[Tim Kay]

.....even with Borla mufflers I thought mine to be loud.

Don't you just love leaving a trail of car alarms in you wake. Great on an early saturday morning putt

[Rich E.]

Kim,

Is your brother willing to duplicate the megaphones? Yours are VERY cool and I am officially jealous.

Rich.

[EGLITOM]

Soundfile !!!!?????

Tom

[Jack Houpe]

Thats why they make ear plugs and a wife to translate. huh?? what?

[David Briggs]

Hi Tim, your car looks quite different from the last time I saw it, awesome!
And Kim, I might be interested in a pair of those megaphones as well.
Dave

[Mike Drew]

That's the first good look I've taken at the rear of the SPF Mk 1 body. One question--where did the number plate opening go???

[EGLITOM]

Mike

Thats the way they come. Onby a pic from their website. I mentioned this earlier in another thread, the SPF body´s are not so close to the original as most of us think.


Another example is the contour of the whell well (to symetric)


Kim sorry for the thread drift.

Your car looks awsome, i just love the black wheels, makes it look so racy.

TOM

[Jac Mac]

Actually that is closer to the original style- later cars had the no plate area added, check out the back ends of 101 thru 105 plus rears of the first two roadsters, 108/109 as well as the first cars to arrive at Shelby.

[EGLITOM]

That makes app 10 out of how many ? But you are right it is original .
TOM

[Rich E.]

Kim,

Any new info on when your car's test article will appear?

Also would you be able to provide measurements on the megaphones you installed. I'd like to have a set built aswell.

TIA
Rich.

[Kim Petersen]

Originally Posted by Bigblockquad

Any new info on when your car's test article will appear?

Also would you be able to provide measurements on the megaphones you installed. I'd like to have a set built aswell.

TIA
Rich.

Rumor has it that it's going to be in the November issue of Car & Driver, which means that it should be on the newstands this month. I'll believe it when I see it.

The megaphones are stainless steel and flare to 5"; not sure about the other dimensions – they were custom fitted to the stock manifold. I'll try to get some more information for you.

Kim

[Kim Petersen]

Looks like the article may be in December's issue of Car and Driver – but I'm not going to bet on it.

Also, in response to a couple of requests, here are some additional photos of the exhausts on P/2192. You'll also note that we've made functional some of the air inlets going into the engine compartment. As the car comes from the factory, most air inlets simply vent air into the engine bay. My brother has channeled one inlet directly onto the oil cooler (which has now been placed towards the rear of the engine) and the other onto the top of manifold in an effort to direct some of the heat out from under the rear engine deck.

[Rich E.]

Kim,

Thank you for the pics. One question: Are the megaphones one entire piece from the header on or are the a small straight pipe which is welded to a coned pipe?

BTW, you might want keep an eye on your oil temps. I'm aware your in S. Florida so it might not apply but on my MkII, in the winter, my oil cooler actually worked too well. I wasn't able to get any heat in the motor (sub 150 F) in normal driving and actually plumbed in a bypass thermostat. This was due to the size of the stock cooler and the direct fresh air from the duct pointed straight at it. Just food for thought.

Rich.

[Kim Petersen]

Originally Posted by Bigblockquad

Kim,

Thank you for the pics. One question: Are the megaphones one entire piece from the header on or are the a small straight pipe which is welded to a coned pipe?

BTW, you might want keep an eye on your oil temps. I'm aware your in S. Florida so it might not apply but on my MkII, in the winter, my oil cooler actually worked too well. I wasn't able to get any heat in the motor (sub 150 F) in normal driving and actually plumbed in a bypass thermostat. This was due to the size of the stock cooler and the direct fresh air from the duct pointed straight at it. Just food for thought.

Rich.

Rich:

They're two piece: a coned pipe with a small straight pipe welded to fit – length and diameter. As to the oil temps, you're fortunate that the Mk II has really effective oil cooler towers. The much smaller oil cooler on the Mk I has to work much harder (and in my case, I have a 427w in an all-aluminum block). The original oil cooler allowed oil temps to redline at VIR, and Olthoff determined that it was both too small and poorly located. We've since moved it from low and directly behind the cockpit bulkhead, to raised and aft of the rear wheel.

As you mention, it's pretty common for us to be driving in 90 degree plus temps, and this weekend I'm headed to Sebring. I'll be very interested to see how the oil – and the rest of the car – performs. It's the perfect track for the GT40: two long straights and several wide sweeping corners. I've driven a Formula 2000 there, but this ought to be really fun! I plan to video some of the driving sessions and will post it for those that are interested.

Kim

[Rich E.]

Count me as interested. Make sure to keep the sound mike on..........