Hi there, the flexi pipe on my mk2 1.2 Fabia needs replacing, driving around Kent right now sounding like a rocket ship taking off. I've gone to a few garages who have quoted a fair bit with, however one garage a few alternative/cheap options. I've also been told my exhaust is quite rusty and probably the whole thing needs replacing soon. I was thinking of going for the cheapest option which was to have the garage buy the flexi pipe part and weld it on, to avoid having to remove the manifold bolts, which apparently are quite rusty and most likely atleast 2 of them won't come out easily, they said this to avoid paying extra labour charge to remove/cut the bolts + new bolts.

As the garage couldn't fit me in for a few weeks I've decided to look in to this myself as I've done a bit car work before, changed rear silencers, brakes, simple jobs, etc.

 

There seems to be two options that I think I can accomplish:

 

1. purchase a flexi pipe repair kit, which comes with a flexi pipe, and some c clamps, £20.

2. purchase a complete front silencer part, up to the manifold, £60.

 

I was going to attempt 1. but I don't have a angle grinder, plus I'm not sure if this would pass the MOT and I think 2. might be easier. I'm willing to give 2. a go but unsure on the bolt situation, will I get stuck trying to remove the bolts? Would I still have to get hold of an angle grinder to cut the old silencer off beyond the flex pipe or will a fitting/clamp already be there? Is this part normally welded/is using clamps a bad idea?

 

Apologies for the basic questions but just want to get an idea of what I'm looking at here but I decide on what to do as I'm time limited atm.

 

Cheers, Will.

 

 

Have you had a quotation from an exhaust firm like Kwikfit or Farmers?

No Kwikfit are mad expensive around here, I usually go to independant, small garages. I suspect they'll charge something around £350 to replace the silencer. Local garage cut and weld job with replacement split pipe £120. I can get a split pipe kit for £20/30 off of ebay but unsure if these are MOT worth and I don't own an angle grinder (perhaps a cheap puzzle saw will do for one job?), or a front silencer complete kit for £60 ish, but then I'm unsure if the bolts will come out and how it attaches to the rear end of the exhaust system.

Edited 5 April, 20242 yr by willdabeast

Just soak all the fasteners you need to remove in penetrant and leave overnight.

might as well give it a go, cheers.

I had a similar issue with my 1.2 and my local tyre and exhaust place managed to repair it, however the entire exhaust looks like it will need replaced soon. Is it the flexi that's separating from the centre section? If so it should be possible to reweld the end of the flexi where it slides into the centre section.

If the front section includes the cat, we stainless steel weld in a new flexi (known as an iLok) but if it is just a pipe, we fit a standard aftermarket front pipe, unfortunately the choice of quality exhaust parts in the UK is zero.