Exhaust and silencer

And while I was in the mood for gently persuading seized things to come apart (see previous post about piston rings), I thought I'd have a go at the exhaust and silencer assembly - As I get closer to getting my engine together I am thinking about trying to start it on the bench, and so I will need the exhaust pipe soon.

I understand that Manurhin exhausts are quite rare to find, so I count myself lucky that although most essential parts seem to be missing from my scooter, I do at least have an exhaust system.  It seems to be all there, but it it rattles terribly with what i guessed to be rust.  The Manurhin parts catalogue shows that there is a removable/serviceable muffler assembly inside the outer casing and this is accessed by removing a nut and end-cap.  It was clear that these parts were well rusted together, so once again I've been soaking the thread and joint in WD40 for a week or two.

Today I applied some heat with a blow-torch, and amazingly the nut released (I was preparing to sheer it off and weld a new thread in).  A little more heat, some tapping the joint with a hammer, and sure enough the cap came free.

I was delighted to find that despite a little pile of rust, the muffler is in remarkable shape.

I think a quick wire brush and a spray of exhaust paint, and this bit at least should be good-to-go