Janspeed Intermediate (Mid) Pipe upgrade

After quite some time of wanting one, I've finally took the plunge and bought a Janspeed Intermediate (Mid) Pipe. For those not in the know, the exhaust system is made of 4 sections in the following order; Manifold, Catalytic Converter (cat), Intermediate Pipe, Backbox.

Got it for £70 posted, was in fair condition, apparently having covered around 8k miles. It's also the stainless steel version so should last quite a while. Bit of a good deal considering they are £130ish new.

Unwrapped it and immediately set about it with the cleaning equipment, got it shining up fairly well, although not as well as I did with my Longlife backbox. You can see in the images below the before (left) and after (right) shots of the clean-up.

Janspeed Intermediate Mid PipeJanspeed Intermediate Mid Pipe Clean

Janspeed Intermediate Mid Pipe Close UpJanspeed Intermediate Mid Pipe Close Up Clean

After a good scrub it was time to fit the thing. First was the job of getting the car high enough to actually get at the fixings. This took three planks of wood and a helpful gradient. Not even on Rover springs was the car ever this high up. Took the opportunity to have a butchers at the underneath of the car too, doesn't look too bad for a 9 year old.

Rover 25 Jacked UpMG Rover 25 ZR underbody underneath

With a little penetrating oil the bolts came off and with them the existing mid pipe. Took another opportunity, this time to compare old with new. Pretty much identical length and pipe shaping, but a considerably smaller box and a noticeable weight difference (the new Janspeed being lighter).



Next job was to make up some gaskets. Pretty much just traced the outline and cut a 2" hole in the middle.

Janspeed Intermediate Pipe Exhaust Gasket

Offered up the midpipe and tried to fit it, but realised the holes in the flange on the backbox were about 6mm out from the new pipe. So back to the lab to file the holes in a bit so they were slots.

Janspeed Intermediate Pipe Flange

After the slight modification it fitted a treat. Upon first firing up the car it wasn't really that clear that it had made any difference at all really. But after driving it a few times you can hear it bedding in, there are a few more pops and a slightly different exhaust note. Sounds a bit more race like too, which was exactly what I was after.

After it's bedded in for a good while I will take a video for you all to compare. As for performance, the car seems to rev much more freely, and possibly pick up better. This could be a combination of the K and N panel filter, and the Longlife backbox coming into effect.

Exhaust Manifold Heatshield Refurbished

Was a nice day today so decided to get some spraying done. Went to halfords and picked up some Halfords Very High Temperature Paint - Aluminium and set about removing the exhaust manifold heatshield.

The heatshield was fairly rusty and looked very scruffy in the engine bay. So it was about time it had a bit of a freshen up.

Removing it was simple enough once I figured out the best way to get at the bolts, of which there were two bolts and one nut. Then it just came away.

To get some of the surface rust off I used a wire brush, I didn't go at it too hard as the thing isn't all that strong. Not to mention the bottom fixing looked dubiously weak. So after a quick scrub up I sprayed it, gave it two coats just to make sure.

Rover 25 Exhaust Manifold Heatshield


I will be adding a guide on how to remove this part and what tools you will need, for my service guide.

In the mean time check out the photos below of the outcome.

Before (left) and After (right)

Rover 25 Engine BayRover 25 Engine Bay

Rover 25 Exhaust Manifold Heatshield





Site Updates

Well I would just like to say thank you to all the people that contributed to the detailing guide it has now been updated with even more pictures, more sections and more accurate information.

Product suggestions have been changed for better solutions, with the help of a professional detailer, and various forum members who are keen detailers too.

The guide will be updated periodically as I want it to be as comprehensive as possible, and as useful as possible. So please do check back regularly.

Click the following link to visit the detailing guide.


Quite a few visitors to the site have been asking for a guide on how to fit an MG ZR front splitter, but as I already had a post on fitting mine I chose to update that instead of create a new one. So instead of just pictures showing how I did it, there is now text to support the pictures and hopefully give a full picture of how to do it.

How to fit an MG ZR front splitter


Finally, I have started work on a servicing guide which I am quite excited about due to the success of the detailing guide. It should be launched soon so check back for that.


How To Detail - A Beginners Guide

I'm pleased to announce the new Detailing Guide.

It is a pretty comprehensive guide to detailing your car, from washing to clay baring to tyre dressing.

It's not aimed at the very experienced detailer, but you never know, you might still learn a trick or two. Beginners and moderately experienced detailiers will certainly learn something, so its worth a read and maybe a bookmark if you think you will forget.

I've also provided links to all the products I use, so you can go right ahead and buy them for yourself.

Go to the page by using the following link - Detailing Guide or click the page link at the top or side of this blog.

If you're not convinced here are some tastey snap shots of the results I get from using the techniques described (not bad for a 9 year old car).

M.O.T Passed

Today was M.O.T day, usual checks were carried out yesterday; light's, handbrake, wipers and jets. Handbrake needed nipping up, was at the higher end of the scale at 14/15 clicks. So was adjusted down to 9 clicks. Brakes had just been replaced so they would hopefully be fine. Drive shaft gators did look a little suspect however, was just a waiting game to see if they pulled it up for them.

Pleased to say the car passed with no advisories, 3rd time on the trot since I've owned the car. Can't ask for more than that, being a 9 year old car. They didn't pull up the gators either, so all is good.

It also means that work can go ahead on the wheels, which I held off on starting in case any expensive repairs were needed.