[W126 Coupe] Free at last

[richard jaffe]

Hey Jonathan,

I asked the muffler shop about high flow cats but they said they did not carry anything other than standard cats. Since the old cats were shot I figured I'd save the $350.00 for replacement non-high flow cats and go without since the car is exempt from emissions. Ironically, as the 300 SD is now my daily driver, it pollutes more than the SEC does on a monthly basis but with the added benefit of superior MPG over the V8. It is always a trade-off. How much are the high flow cats you are installing on your fleet? 

Speaking of diesels, where do you get the Rotella diesel motor oil? I'm using Castrol 15W40 diesel currently. Is the Rotella better than Castrol?

Also, I'm still searching (in vain) for gen 1 AMG body pieces. Keep me in mind should you come across any of these. I did buy an authentic old school AMG trunk badge from German Ebay - just need the aforementioned pieces to go with it!

Later,

Rich
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jonathan Hodgman<mailto:jhodgman at gmail.com> 
  To: Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists<mailto:mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com> 
  Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 3:23 PM
  Subject: Re: [W126 Coupe] Free at last


  Glad to hear she's working well!  However, as of late I've changed my philosophy in regards to cats, that being it's worth it IMHO to install two high flow cats on these cars, reduction of peak HP is minor (3-5) however the reduction in emissions is not.  

  All of my cars (my AMG included) are undergoing re-working of the exhaust to include to high flow cats..  I've also begun to encourage any of my cat-less customers to do the same.  

  These cars are far from efficient to begin with thus I think it prudent to lessen the overall impact as best we can. 

  Jonathan



  On 5/19/07, richard jaffe <rsjaffe1 at msn.com<mailto:rsjaffe1 at msn.com>> wrote: 
    Guys,

    Finally got around to having the cats cut off and replaced with two sections of straight 2.25 in. aluminized pipe. So now I only have the two OEM resonators under the rear seat pans doing the muffling since I did not replace the old rusted out rear OEM muffler but ran split duals out the back instead. BIG DIFFERENCE! Acceleration definitely improved - now get that pushed back in the seat feeling as opposed to a leisurely gathering of speed.
    Good sound too. Nice rumbly V8 noise - very muscle carlike - but not too loud.

    Internet research led to a company in California called Spin Tech making mufflers for race car applications but now making street applications as well. They make a split case reverse flow muffler (inlet and outlet on same end) which is the same design as the OEM resonators. (C5 Corvette uses this design as well). The dimensions are 4"h x 9"w x 13"l which approximates the size of the resonators. So I'm thinking the next step will be to replace the resonators with the Spin Tech mufflers. The company claims superior flow rates and sound to competing performance mufflers (Magnaflow, Borla, etc..) so I assume superior flow rate and sound over the OEM resonator.

    Anyway, its nice to experience these cars as the engineers intended - cat free!

    Rich Jaffe
    85 500 SEC Euro 260k
    83 300 SD  195k

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