Exhausting

 I think I've used this post title, or similar, before - couldn't think of anything more original,  soz.

I had lined up someone with a lift to help me do my exhaust but then he pulled out, so I reluctantly had to book the car in with a local specialist, who quoted me £530 which might go up if there was too much corrosion. 'If'?! I wasn't happy...

Then, a saviour in the form of a guy on my Porkster group who has never been out with us but has offered his lift and full garage facilities for anyone who wants them. I jumped at the chance and went over on the weekend. Damn, he has an amazing setup - 2 double garages, one with a full height lift, a ton of tools including a compressor for air tools - I was well jel.

With his help (in fact, he did most of the work), he air-chiseled 4 of the 6 studs straight out in minutes. The last 2 were utter bustards, however, and with a combination of dremel, hammer, chisel and hacksaw, it took us another 2 hours to finally get the flanges apart:

There were still a couple of tricky bolts and clamps holding the silencer on but an angle grinder and hammer made short work of those:

The old exhaust weighed a ton and had a couple of big holes, which is where they were blowing from:

Putting the new one in took around 30 minutes going slow - great piece of kit:

Surprisingly, the exhaust isn't hugely louder than stock; much bassier but not loud. There is also a strange whistle as you coast, which someone had mentioned in a FB post. It's not great but I'll just have to suffer it - this is the cheapest way to fix a blowing exhaust, I was never aiming for the best-sounding one.

As it is, Cearth (the guys name, not Irish or Welsh, just weird parents) has saved me well over £500, which is awesome and he is my new best friend. He's also got a 911 and a Boxster and was impressed by Barry; no leaks, not too much corrosion and even the cat is in good nick (he has an endoscope).

The exhaust sound may change a little after it beds in but it's pretty good and, most importantly, should get me through my MOT in a week or 2.