I am having a problem refitting my OEM muffler to the OEM downpipe on my 2004 S40 (imported from US to UK many years ago).

When I took the exhaust off for a good clean & polish the bolt on the clamp sheared. Given it'd been soaked in PlusGas, I'm afraid years of heat had welded it up. So I got a new clamp and bolt & refitting it is giving me a very hard time.

According to the illustration in the manual, the clamp goes on with the head of the bolt upwards (items 10 & 12):


So I went ahead and fitted it like that, but when I do so the head of the bolt is uncomfortably close to the side of the engine, as you can see here:


So I thought I would rotate the clamp 90o. Doing that, the back of the clamp prevents the heat shield from going into place, so it's clearly wrong. There's a tang on the clamp that anchors it into the splits on the muffler - I don't recall the old clamp having that, however I can't check as it got thrown out

General advice or tips on re-fitting the OEM exhaust can & downpipe would be appreciated.

Note that this bike will not be getting a different muffler, downpipe or any other non-Suzuki exhaust parts.

mylovelyhorse, Welcome to the world of repair and fabrication. What you did as solution is probably not a problem. I am often of the type who wants to use OEM parts and due things as shown in the book, often it just doesn't work out. If you follow the threads you will read all kinds of things about stuff that is wrong in the Clymer manual, which if you don't have you should get.

I have both Clymer and the OEM Suzuki manual just so the anal in me can cross check everything twice. That said one of the great things about the Savage is the fun you can have modifying it. One of the first upgrades folks do is to get rid of the stock muffler and replace it. The forum recommend is to find a cheap used muffler from a Harley Dyna and bolt it up. It requires dipping your toes in the world of mods and figuring out what works and doesn't. You need get it attached and a new shield but figuring it all out is half the fun.

You got questions keep asking, but also think it through, that's how you learn like you did today. Don't worry so much about the thing being exact or perfect, in fab it rarely is. Good luck.

SoC wrote on 02/21/21 at 13:01:08:

I don't see it as a problem, just an annoyance. When I was refurbing my Norge, for example, I have always found that putting back as per manual works best. In this case that didn't happen - no biggee but annoying.

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That is where the illustration in the original post come from

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I'd like to keep this as close to standard as possible, including the exhaust can, especially if a different can would be louder.

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Thanks. It's all back together now, polished bits on & looking OK. Needs a shake-down run but that won't happen until lock down is lifted. Still, I can wait