Ferret Exhaust System

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Chris Preston

In the meanteim, when reassembling everthing, the question came up regarding the two small "floating?" pipes that connect the two elbows from the exhaust manifold to the combined elbow that is bolted to the hull opening for the exhaust (on the inside of the engine compartment). Is there any packing at either end of these two pipes or do they just "float" loosely in the elbows? If there is packing - what is it and where is it available?

Hi Chris,
There is no packing on those tubes. The reason for them is that the engine is not rigidly mounted, so there has to be slight movement. When all parts are new, elbows and tubes it is OK, but the tubes scale and flake on the swaged ends due to the heat and also the elbows suffer wear from tubes jigging around. I worked in army workshops in UK for 22 years and would have worked on Ferrets regularly in that time span and later on privately owned ones. I have built up the flaked ends on tubes with bronze welding and finished to fit the elbows snugly, not tight, so this is an easy option. That is how they were in service, always a bit of black soot around that area.

regards, Richard