[Chouch]

I've been reading about how awesome this Jim from 2bular is and would like to get in touch with him to see what he can do for me.
Everybody seems to get in touch directly with him, but I cant seem to find his email. 2bular.com looks down and 2bular.co.uk (if related) looks very uncomplete...

I've set my mind on a euro style exhaust with euro grille and a de-cat.
But will most likely also add a BOE Rev300 in a soon future. From what I'm reading the Euro Style Larini is not really recommended for SC (why ? ), that's why I'd like to get in touch with Jim to see what he has to offer.

So yeah, if you know Jim's email address, let me know
Thanks

 

[Gunpilot]

Dood, I had his info and spent an hour looking for it but no dice.

Im sorry......

Keep bumping this thread, somebody is bound to have it.

Remember also Jim is hit and miss at times, you may not hear from him in 2 weeks or 2 hours. He is a great guy but requires some patience. Products arrive fast or slow. Be prepared to wait but you wont be disappointed with the result.

His headers are a work of art. I wanted to hang mine on the wall and not wrap it!

 

[dspecgsx]

After Jim's last post here:
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/2656737-post33.html

Read last sentence....things do not sound too good.
:shrug:

 

[<@¿@>]

Jim Valentine is his name...it takes him for ever to reply to e-mails... this was about 2 years ago. Still worth the wait...He has written to me from two different accounts. My guess is that [email protected] is his personal and [email protected] his official (work).
He has built me the ceramic coated exhaust...there are photos someplace on here that show a white exhaust system...that was built for me... just a couple of months before he dropped out :shrug: here is a link to my post with photos of that exhaust...

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f336/welcome-2bular-95703/#post2460394

 

[JWA]

I assume that he's still in business, just not a sponsor here on LT due to that disagreement. I've contacted him from both of those email addresses as well. As noted, he takes forever to get back to you between emails, and even longer to ship - but the wait is most definitely worth it.

 

[sprocket3]

I assume that he's still in business, just not a sponsor here on LT due to that disagreement. I've contacted him from both of those email addresses as well. As noted, he takes forever to get back to you between emails, and even longer to ship - but the wait is most definitely worth it.

Meaning no disrespect to Mr Jim!

He should just build stuff and stay off the computer. He needs to hire a sticky sweet front end/marketing person. In order to run a business you must know your own skills and weaknesses. PR is not his strength. I found another board where he got into conflicts with other members and got pretty hot about stuff. Very sad to build up a huge following and then decide to not embrace your customers. I think it's a classic example of a great mind and builder with limited people and sales skills.

Just my $.02 on the subject after reading the melt-down thread before it got totally cleaned up.

 

[luxige]

I agree with what sprocket is saying ^^^, except that I do mean disrespect to Jim. IMO the complete lack of respect he shows negates the benefit of the doubt I initially extend to anyone.

Frankly, I don't get the praise his craftsmanship draws. I have two 2bular products. The silenced decat is perfectly acceptable, certainly not outstanding though. The header is pretty crappy. I had to get the flange decked to fix a localized warp which is clearly due to a bad welding job. The machinist offered some friendly advice, not to buy fabrications from hacks who only do the work on the side. He was stunned to find out who made the header (he had heard of 2bular's reputation) and said that header would have gone straight into the reject pile of any reputable shop. I agree.

One guess as to whether Jim responded to my emails.

 

[Chouch]

Damn, you guys are kinda scaring me !
It makes me want to try to get the euro style Larini and hope for the best the day I put a supercharger in...

 

[andy7777]

I've been on record on the same subject- though I did get a 2bular exhaust and like it quite a bit, it was through an LT member. My attempt at dealing directly with Jim V was a total failure. No communication, no exhaust, no nothing.

I'm pretty sure that most local cities will have a good exhaust shop that can fab up a nice system without the aggro of dealing with vendors like this. As to headers, they look nice but really they are the least bang for buck HP wise, and may even screw up the system unless you have a chip flash. But to each his own.

When my 2bular exhaust burns out I'll just take my own advice and have a nice system fabbed up, no way would I bother trying to source it from this vendor.

 

[Gunpilot]

Wow, y'all are harsh!

 

[andy7777]

Wow, y'all are harsh!

Truth hurts, bro. The guy's a major flake.

 

[<@¿@>]

OK Luxige and andy7777...my question is directed at you guys... Luxige has stated that his mounting flange was warped due to process. By The Way, do you remember how much warpage you had...just a ball park figure would be nice to know. The 2bular exhaust I got, was not warped. Maybe he changed his process. I got my exhaust about a year and half ago. When did you get yours? Andy7777, did you say why you dislike your exhaust? If you did, I missed it. There have been several posts of 2bular exhausts breaking...my guess is that those guys had standard engine mounts and that is what broke those exhausts. I've been in the aerospace industry for 35 years and Jim's welds would qualify...His welding job on my exhaust system was top notch. I would like shoddy workmanship brought out to the front...Jim's was not. I've also stated that, and so have others, that it's a real PITA to get a hold of him...but people that are prepared for that, his systems are worth the wait...IMAO. If exhaust systems are breaking, what engine mounts are used? The guys putting on exhaust systems don't Drive Miss Daisy!

 

[andy7777]

Read my post, I like the exhaust, it looks good and sounds great.

What I don't like is trying to actually buy one in the first place, be told it would take a week and then never hear from the vendor again. I try not to waste people's time and expect that others don't as well. There are probably a dozen threads on LT where people complain about the exact same issue, so it's not unreasonable to conclude this vendor just has a habit of not coming through. Since making an exhaust is not exactly rocket science, I can't see waiting in line hoping I might be lucky enough to merit a response if I get to get one. YMMV.

 

[+TSRAGR]

From what I'm reading the Euro Style Larini is not really recommended for SC (why ? )

It can be done as in this post and here, but the reason they're not recommended for SC cars is because you're pushing more exhaust pressure than these cans were designed to tolerate. This WILL blow out the exhaust sooner and even worse, these euro exhausts aren't re-packable.

If you want the dual exhaust solely for aesthetics, then no prob. I actually prefer the looks of it myself, but opted against it. If you plan to add power like you say, then I'd consider a better flowing exhaust designed for SC applications.

 

[MotoGeek]

Damn, you guys are kinda scaring me !
It makes me want to try to get the euro style Larini and hope for the best the day I put a supercharger in...

I ran one with a VF system for about 2 years on the street without issues. Only when I finally took it to the track, did it develope a rattle. I ended up cutting open the front of it, removing the burned packing gravel, and welding it back up. It lasted until I took it to the track again, where it again developed a rattle.

I'm going to have a local shop copy the system using a magnaflow, and see if it lasts any longer.

 

[spectre]

Look, I have had a bunch of exhausts on my loti. The stock, stage 2, larini clubsport and 8" above diffuser. Plus, different cats. They all sucked, droned at 70mph or specific rpm, killed low rpm power, na exhausts lasted a bit longer 2.5 years and supercharged about a year before sounding like a 1000 beebees were in it, blah blah blah.

Jim, is just the guy that goes to his schedule, not yours, he can be brass, non responsive, frankly runs his business communication very poorly. Would I run a business like that? No.

He has made a ton of systems and the quality looks to be impressive on his latest setup which I have. What I liked was the vbands to hold it together (stock and larini exhausts would separate constantly from the cat so I would weld the clamp and add screws) A repack exhaust is key on a supercharged car and he has that. I have his header, flex-decat, 7"GT3 exhaust. I had some initial exhaust hanger fitment issues but he was ironically responsive and concluded the hanger/clamps were flopped when shipped. I do have motor mount sport inserts to help the motor from slopping around, actually makes everything better.

The system is quieter then anything else I have had and you can talk to your passenger at highway speeds with zero drone. When on throttle it sounds amazing, loud, meatier, pops, gurgles and will shoot a little fire.

Time will tell how it holds up but so far it has gotten better with miles.

Would I go through the hassle of working with him...yes, if I had the time but persistence and patience is needed.

If I didn't want to deal with that, I would buy a DRS header/decat and go with a BOE repack exhaust. I feel that those don't look as finished but you can get them now and they perform extremely well.

 

[Bruce]

Would I go through the hassle of working with him...yes, if I had the time but persistence and patience is needed.

Yup, that about says it all. I waited 11 weeks for my 8" x 24" GT3 but now I'm happy I did.

 

[luxige]

Luxige has stated that his mounting flange was warped due to process. By The Way, do you remember how much warpage you had...just a ball park figure would be nice to know. The 2bular exhaust I got, was not warped. Maybe he changed his process...

The problem was with the head flange of header. The #3 port leaked at the lower edge (6 to 7 o'clock as seen from rear) quite a bit; also leaked a little at the 12 o'clock position. I wanted to buy a flange from Jim and have it re-fabricated, but got no response. Having it milled was a reasonable fix. We had to take off a significant amount, either .070" or .080" if memory serves.

Other than the obvious flaw, the header is well made.

 

[<@¿@>]

The problem was with the head flange of header. The #3 port leaked at the lower edge (6 to 7 o'clock as seen from rear) quite a bit; also leaked a little at the 12 o'clock position. I wanted to buy a flange from Jim and have it re-fabricated, but got no response. Having it milled was a reasonable fix. We had to take off a significant amount, either .070" or .080" if memory serves.

Other than the obvious flaw, the header is well made.

Did you get your header long time ago? With so many satisfied customers, it seems like some terrible fluke happened to you... Sorry to hear that...but it sounds like you got it resolved yourself. Agreed it would have been much better had Jim replied to your emails...but that is a problem of his. :shrug:

 

[turbophil]

I've had 2 of those headers new with warped flanges and I know of another shop with similar experience. Pretty sure there are more out there and they just leak without customers knowing it. I personally have a 2bular 6" above diffuser muffler from years back and the mount broke with street usage.

The primaries on those headers are way too big to keep exhaust speed up, IMO. I did a complete back to back header test on most of the headers made for this motor a few months back and posted it here.

I HATE that goofy flange. The v-band is the right way to go. Just have to build movement into some place. I prefer to build it into the muffler mount, which is exactly what we did with our muffler design.

The welds and finish are very pleasing to the eye, however.

Run about any SS header long enough (especially on the track) and it's bound to crack. Headers are consumable items, plain and simple. Although it sounds like West's header had very short usage.

-Phil