Stainless exhausts seem to be a subject of great discussion in motoring gatherigs. Most people rate them very highly (probably because they cost a lot of money) and others don't.  I am somewhere in-between and think that it depends on the quality of the steel used and the quality of the work in making it. I don't have a car with a full stainless system but I do have two cars both with part-stainless systems. Incidentally, my 131 is fitted with  a Janspeed 4-2-1 manifold/downpipes up to the first silencer (middle box) and then it's a bog-standard middle and back box (with a reducer to get the pipe diameter of the standard system to fit the wider bore of the  Janspeed). But I digress, back to stainless systems. My personal view of stainless systems is that the majority of them sound very "tinny" and they crack! I've heard this from a lot of people. Mild steel is a lot more flexible than stainless so it will flex quite happily while a stainless system, especially if it's made of thin metal to save some money, doesn't flex and it cracks. That has been my personal experience with my Gamma that has a stainless front end (four 'down' pipes into central 4-1 connection). It's always sounded very "tinny" and it keeps cracking in different places and I keep having to get it welded. Recently, the complete 2.5" pipe just after the 4-1 union has snapped! I am sure the fact that the car was running on 3 cylinders for a while has not helped but I am also sure a mild steel system in good condition would have survived the shaking and flexing of an engine running on 3 cylinders.   

My other car with a part-stainless system is my Maserati on which I fitted a stainless back box. And I did that because I got fed up of having to replace the mild steel standard system so often and at great expense. The back box on Maserati Biturbos is fitted at a slight upward angle which means any condensation collects at the back of the box and stays there 'eating' the soft mild-steel metal from the inside.  So after having to replace the back box several times, all with a hole at the same place, I decided to fit a stainless back box which I must admit has lasted a very long time.

So, Simon, coming back to your broken bracket problem, I think it's one of those things that you are likely to get often with a stainless steel exhaust. You should ask the garage doing the repair to look into fitting more flexible 'hangers' for your exhaust and hope that will stop it from cracking.

Hello Stiggy and welcome to our forum. 
I am somewhat confused with the 031 though! Is that meant to be 130 backwards or have you got an 031? 

Hello Stiggy,

Welcome to our forum.? Great to have you along for the ride!

You're on the wrong forum to sing the praises of the Fiat 130 matey We are all dedicated 131 nutters on here - but we do very much welcome 'nutters'?

Simon

A further update on the status of my Abarth.

Good news at last The car has now passed it's MoT after a little more fettling.? I have no idea how much it will finally cost me but I should find out when I collect the car Sunday lunchtime, from Basildon.

So, Cinderella will go the Ball!.......erm, I mean "my Abarth will go to Ireland"!

The only slight problem that I now have centres (not for the first time) on the regulator on the alternator. During my drive to Italian Race Services a few weeks ago I noticed that the volt meter was reading lower than usual, right up until I was a few miles from my destination, at which point it went back to showing the 14V or so I have become used to.

So, to be on the safe side I will have to remove the alternator again and get it bench tested again. Could be though that there is something else causing the current/volt drain Let's hope that it's only the regulator!

Collected the car from Basildon yesterday afternoon at 2pm and drove it the 131.3km home!!? Without mishap I might add!?

The car is now fully road legal again and was a joy to drive. I had just driven in excess of 100 miles from Grantham, Lincs., in my modern six cylinder BMW and the Abarth was slightly more noisy in the cabin than the BM!

The volt meter read a steady 14V virtually all the way home, so Theo, I shall not be taking the alternator off the car for a bench test - unless anything untoward happens during the trip to and from Brooklands on Saturday.

It now only remains for me to polish up the paintwork and sort out a few trim bits and pieces before the 'epic' trip to Ireland!

This is what I call forward planning: Having proven his Abarth is ready for the 3MA by driving it  to Brooklands today for the Auto Italia Spring Italian Car Day, Simon (wearing the latest in fashion, a 3MA T-Shirt) is studying the 3MA Routebook.     I think I'll follow him during the 3MA... 

You obviously like living very dangerously Kevin!