Why does my sc have thermal reactors?
 

As the title says... I thought these were only pre-78.

More in depth, what's the best way to remove them? I put on a Dansk exhaust this evening and was having a look. Am I pretty much limited to the sawzall collector method or is there another way?

The bits are extremely hard to get at. Note: they are not barrel nuts on there currently, so they must have been off at some point?

Also, I have all the oil lines required for the SSI install, can I install these while the thermal reactors are still on the car?

Was going to do an oil change soon and figured that would be a good time.

Thanks in advance.
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Picture please......
 

Do you have some pictures (top and bottom) of the engine? Are you sure you have a 3.0 SC motor? Thanks.

Tony

Yes, I'm sure.

No SC engines with thermal reactors to my knowledge.......can you post your engine number an pix of the reactors/underside of the engine?

regards,
al
PS: excellent grille dude!

Al:

Weird thing is, it looks like I have the proper oil lines for the normal exhaust system.

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Makes no sense, pics??

That was weird our posts where seconds apart. I would remove and get some proper heat exchangers. Looks like somebody ran out of cash or was too cheap to buy new ones and had those laying around.

That looks like a poor man's SSI solution.

That sure looks like a 75-77 2.7 exhaust to me. I'll bet your car SSI on it, owner wanted to keep the SSI, and had this available to put on the SC.

According to the Red Book, that engine number is a US '82

I never thought of that... however SSI don't fit with regular oil lines , correct?

Then he would have had to change all the oil lines back too.

Will I be able to fit my new SSI oil lines when the thermal reactors are still installed? (Was going to do it in stages)

Yep, it's an '82

previous owner pulled a fast one, put on some free garbage exhaust he had laying around, took the nice SSI for himself or another car. What a crime. Get those things off of there asap.

Anyone have any tricks for removal? It's quite hard to get st the nuts.

Ryan

Hello fellow Edmontonian!

There's really no 'trick' to it, you need heat, all the tools, lots of patience, lots of height, room etc etc. When you have it all set up it can come off and when you start taking it apart it goes a slight bit easier... OR.. I chose to take them off the hard way on the bench :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1504280869.jpg

..worst case you can take it to Porsche Center in the west end, they have a few good techs. Will cost you $$ but probably cheaper than the damage those heat sinks will do to your heads in the long run.

Maybe your car was a 77 forward dated to a SC some time in the past & thats where the TRs came from ?? I had a car where this 'update was' done.

There is a slight possibility that those may be "gutted" shells and are only there for appearances, though there would be no need for that on an '82. Maybe it was a swap as others have mentioned but the OP did a favor and took out the high-heat catalyst inside. Get an infrared thermometer and see if there is a significant difference between the heated exhaust manifolds and the reactors. If so, they've got to go.

The oil scavenge line isn't correct for thermal exhaust. The thermal engine used the forward oil scavenge like the SSI s require.
For some reason, they were on the cheap for the exhaust. Thermals are thick flange off the head.
Bruce

I looked inside and they are empty. Is there normally mesh honeycomb or something of the sort?

Ryan

I've never personally seen the inside, but I believe they may look to be empty as their function is to retain the exhaust gases and cause them to super-heat to 600-700C for a period of time. That is the heat that kills the head studs on the engine. It is the design of the chamber, along with its size, that determines how hot and for how long.

Here is a diagram I found showing the inside:
http://petrolsmell.com/wp-content/up...rol_engine.jpg

Here is a link to an explanation of how they work. Emissions Control: After Treatment Systems - Petrol SmellÂ*|Â*Petrol Smell

Bottom line, removing them is probably the best solution. The likelihood they are gutted is small, and even if they are, the additional heat generated in their location will do your head studs no good.

Hi Everyone,

I'm thinking about starting the removal, but I'm going to do it in stages.

I'd like to do all my SSI oil lines prior to removing the thermal reactors.

My question is: Will I be able to fit the new oil lines that work with my new SSI and still retaining use of my thermal reactor setup? I want to keep the car mobile in case of an exhuast stud issue.

Thanks in advance.

That looks like brand new hardware. How do the exhaust stud nuts look? If the exhaust was just changed over, chances are the exhaust nuts will back right off.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1505873483.jpg

There's always a chance an exhaust stud could break. You should have a backup ride so you can perform more services procedures that require more than a day or weekend.

And I agree, lose the thermal reactor exhaust system. Given enough time, it will kill your engine. A factory stock SC heat exchanger system would qualify as an upgrade. Exhaust system fasteners are always a hassle to R&R, especially if they've been untouched for 30 years. Swivel wrenches are available to make access easier. Do a search - many threads on the subject of removing factory heat exchangers.

Sherwood

Thanks for the replies.

I think I'll have a shop torch the nuts and break them loose for me. Hopefully the exhaust studs on my SC are strong than the old 2.7 ones.

Thanks.

The studs on the thermal reactors were 8mm necked down in the center so removal od the reactors was easier because there was some twist needed when pulling down the thermal.
Bruce

I've got a set of thermol reactor replacement manifolds if you would like to swap them out for your reactors. Cheap, quick, easy, solves the problem. Shoot me an email or PM if interested.

Thanks, but I have a set of SSI ready.