Scirocco Register

Hi everyone

Time to replace the exhaust on my 1.8 8v GTS. The hanger holding the mid section snapped and caused too much strain at the end of the down pipe which has resulted in it splitting. For now I'm just going to bandage it and replace the hanger until I get all of the exhaust bits.

It all looks pretty simple but I thought it's worth asking how easy it is to get the down pipe off. Is it possible from having the car jacked up/on stands? I can see that the anti-roll bar is pretty close to the down pipe and it does look a bit fiddly space wise, so any advice would be appreciated to make things easier. The manifold end on mine is the bowl type which has the two steel clips so I've ordered a tool so I'm not hacking them with a screwdriver and taking an eye out

Other than that I'm sure the rest will come off easy peasy.

I've not attempted this job, but for reference, this is the official VW special tool set for the job, according to VW's service manual:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185989552795

Just simple wedges to drive into the clamps. Apparently, some sideways force on the downpipe may be needed to bash the wedge in. If sideways force is needed to drive them in, I'm not sure how smoothly the process to re-install the clamps would work

Looks like a fun job at least the rest of the exhaust looks easy enough to replace. The down pipe just looks like a complete pain from start to finish.

I received the rubber hanger to replace the snapped one today, I can't believe how much the original had stretched over the years. The new one is almost square and the original much more rectangular, had to double check that they were actually the same part! Just hoping the old exhaust can take the flex when fitting the new hanger or I'll be putting the new one on much sooner than I planned

ive never seen the wedge tool before but i have seen exhaust claps used to bend them out
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=e ... sid=mosaic
but the other "correct " tool ive got and used is this one and goes into the holes predrilled in the clamps
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=e ... sid=mosaic

Well I got the downpipe done by a garage because I just didn't like the idea of messing with those clips, so I gave the headache for someone else to do.

Got the car back, they did the downpipe but now, somehow, it's blowing from the centre box. Looks like they've probably tried pulling it downwards when fitting the downpipe and this has caused it to split somewhere along the top. I've already got a centre section to hand so I'm going to fit this myself as the back box is a bit ropey and I don't want that to be overly forced and damaged if I can help it.

Just wondering if it's likely I'll need to remove/unclip the downpipe for replacing the centre section? I was planning on jacking it up high at the back, taking the back box off and then working all the centre section out. I don't know how far back the centre pipe can travel whilst still hooked over the axle in order to pull it away from the downpipe as I presume this joint will need separating first so I can angle it down enough to feed the rear part out from above the axle.

Going to attempt it tomorrow as the weather is dry. Hopefully it'll go as smooth as separating a 40 year old exhaust can.

Hopefully the hard work in separating the downpipe and centre sections has already heen done. If the downpipe has only just been fitted, hopefully the centre section will ease out quite easily. The overlap is probably around 40 mm, so you should be able to manoeuvre the centre section back far enough to disconnect. You may have to cut through the centre exhaust rubber hanger, as unhooking it might be a challenge

Ah nice one, yeah they did the hard work with the centre join but they've used some sealant so I just hope it splits easily again. The rear box is my biggest worry, it is a bit flaky but is doing the job ok, I'd like to salvage it if possible so I need to be gentle. Yesterday I managed to loosen off the seized ancient clamp that holds the back box to the pipe, the centre one for the downpipe join I had to cut off when I fitted a sleeve as a temporary bodge as that had faired much worse.

I'm sure I read that back boxes are NLA but a Klarius VW180W is supposedly for a Mk2 Scirocco. I'm hoping I don't need to order one as I need this back on the road asap but if I do then it looks like there are still some hanging around.

A sleeve can be a permanent solution - all genuine VW exhaust sections for more modern VW Group cars use them.

If you do need a new rear box, Klarius is one of the best aftermarket brands available in the UK. In my experience, it's best to check stock with suppliers before ordering, as most rely on 3rd party distributors, and listed stock may no longer be correct. Foreign sellers with listings on ebay will invariably cancel if you place an order, as the cost of shipping exhaust parts to UK is prohibitive