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A New Way To Gut Your 6th Gen Exhaust


JTG

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Well, I decided to perform this mod tonight! I've got the exhaust off, the holes drilled around the tips, and the tips cut pretty close to the cans -- but cutting inside the pipes is a complete paint in the ass. Is there a "trick" to it?

Because:

1) I cant see inside the pipe where Im cutting,

2) I have to grind the wheels down to fit inside the pipe, which takes a while, and

3) Once have it ground to the right size, I get about 10 seconds of cutting before its worn down to the nubs and I need to start over, and usually I've started in a place where I didnt cut the previous time.

Any pointers, here?

EDIT: I don't have to work tomorrow so I just decided to pull a quasi-all nighter and go out in the garage and wrench. I dont really know if there is a secret after all this, but I know that I burned through approx. 30 "heavy duty" Dremel cutting wheels. I used both the brown and the grey ones, and it seemed like the grey ones lasted a couple seconds longer before inevitably ending up as dust or breaking. I found that the original exhaust tips, after being cut off and held with a needle-nose plier, make pretty good pieces of scrap for wearing down new wheels so they fit inside the inner pipe.

Also, you don't need a Dremel extension for this, the standard Dremel head works just fine. Just make sure you keep track of how far you're inserting it into the pipe when you start cutting -- I found that inserting it so that the inner pipe was even with the "back side" of the locking nut on the Dremel head worked pretty good, and served to give me a rough idea of where my cut line was. I would work in one direction -- first the top until I felt the wheel break through, then the sides, then the bottom. By the time I felt them all break through, another couple circular motions seemed to free the pipe enough to allow you to use a pair of pliers and some elbow grease and yank it out.

After all this and getting my bike put back together -- I have to say I agree with everyone else in the thread who has done this modification. The results for about ~$30 in parts are great! I haven't had a chance to ride it yet, but a cursory 4AM neighbor-waking crank sounded awesome!

EDIT 2: I have pictures if anybody is interested, but they're basically what's already been posted. If you're on the fence about this one, and you have an afternoon/evening to kill -- go for it.

EDIT 3: I've put about 40 miles on the bike with this exhaust mod completed -- sounds great! Just loud enough to be noticeable but not annoying, definitely throatier, a little punchier, and with a nice growl. The videos you see/hear don't really do it justice.

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Like how you did the mod, was wondering if your bike is now running lean/rich? Do you think you will need a power comander? I have the same bike (25thA) and am tired of the "sewing mach" sound but like the way the OEM exhaust looks so this mod is something I am looking forward to do. Having said that I am a little worried how the bike will run afterward, that is why I asked about the power comander.

Great looking bike BTW wink.gif

SoCal :biggrin:

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To answer your question, no, it will not need a Power Commander and will run just as smooth as it always has (at least, mine has -- YMMV). I can't tell that it pulls any stronger or weaker than it did before, nor that it's affected how smoothly the VTEC transition occurs, only that it sounds a lot better.

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Hey Jon

Did the mod yesterday, was very happy with the sound. It doesn't sound stock but it is not real loud either. :biggrin: I noticed my bike did not start up quick like normal the first time, wonder if the computer had to reset???? I did notice what seemed to be a small increase in power. After the ride and this morning the bike started up just fine.

Ok here was the downside, my hole saw could not cut thru so I sort of cut the end of the can off. I have two welders and thought I could use my wire fed to weld it back together.......forget it you need a tig........even my crappy low volt wire=fed burned thru. I wanted to put this in so others would not make the same mistake I did. I am not a pro welder but have built trailers and welded friends stuff back together anyway ended up "spot" welding and putting "steel puddy" ( not jb weld the stuff you kneed) except for the smell (which I hope will go away after a few rides) the job came out great.

Thanks for the email Jon, I was really debating on if I should do the mod. I am happy I did! :blink:

Don

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  • 4 months later...
  • Member Contributer

I'm glad all those that have tried this are enjoying it :goofy:

As a follow up now that I've lived with this for about a year, I'm still quite happy with the results and I've never had any problem with water in the exhaust having ridden in the rain several times over the winter. Also the end caps never did blue but they have a very subtle bronze patina to them which doesn't offend me. If it did bother you I'm sure a little buffing and polishing would take the color out.

Despite really liking this mod, it was sort of a pacifier until I got a TIG welder so I could perform my complete exhaust overhaul :cool: Having just acquired a Miller Syncrowave 250 TIG today I'm going to start working on my new exhaust and once that's done I will post this exhaust up for sale if anyone wants it.

Cheers,

Jon

PS; Don (Ctdrac) if you'd like me to TIG your end caps in place I have about 18 years of welding experience

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  • 4 weeks later...

I just completed my 2008. I took it out for 150 miles today. WOW!!! what a difference.. The people on the 60 FWY can hear me know.. Thanks Jon for the great idea!!

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Im going to try my hand at it today I think......a little more sound is what i'm after not performance at this point. Great job! Thanks!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have to say that I did this over the weekend and it is so Worth It! It has a great sound and really make that shit eating grin come to your face. It is a good sound and it turns heads. It really has a good growl to it. Thanks alot for the step by step on this. :dry:

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  • 2 weeks later...

THX for the info on how to do this! WOW!!! the sound is just incredible! and now people turn the heads when i pass...loll

ived put 3 videos on youtube for those who are interrested under the user name of VFRinterceptor

the only thing i have notice since the mod is that the bike as a little more shakes...has anyone noticed that?

i have more ideas on how to do it and keep a full OEM look...ill have some pictures soon, cause ill do it on my friends VFR flatback and it will be my winter project on mine

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  • 2 months later...
Here's the bike that will receive the exhaust I have modified. I bought a spare exhaust off of VFRD member "jabandsnort" from further north in California in case I didn't like the modifications so it could be returned to stock. I believe the exhaust came off an 02 and it's going on an 07 RWB.

A HUGE thanks to JTG for these instructions and advice!!

I started the procedure yesterday afternoon on my 2006 VFR and finished it off this morning. At around midday I had everything back together, wheeled the bike out of the garage and tentatively hit the ignition wondering what I was in for.... OH MY GOD! I spent the whole afternoon on a ride with a grin on my face the entire time. The symphony of sound that is released now that the pipes are opened up is quite a transformation.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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After reading through the whole thread, I am wondering if anyone has done a Db check on the mod compared to stock? Say from next to the pipes, 25 feet away and then maybe 100 feet away? Some places have Db legislation or proposed legislation and it would be helpful for those folks to know what the results might be. If I can find a cheap extra set of stock cans I may do this, but I don't like making permanent mods without a back up to replace it with when it comes to items necessary to pass safety inspection here.

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After reading through the whole thread, I am wondering if anyone has done a Db check on the mod compared to stock? Say from next to the pipes, 25 feet away and then maybe 100 feet away? Some places have Db legislation or proposed legislation and it would be helpful for those folks to know what the results might be. If I can find a cheap extra set of stock cans I may do this, but I don't like making permanent mods without a back up to replace it with when it comes to items necessary to pass safety inspection here.

I have a db meter, and I've put this exhaust back on the bike so if I can find a minute this week I will post up the numbers for you.

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Here's the bike that will receive the exhaust I have modified. I bought a spare exhaust off of VFRD member "jabandsnort" from further north in California in case I didn't like the modifications so it could be returned to stock. I believe the exhaust came off an 02 and it's going on an 07 RWB.

A HUGE thanks to JTG for these instructions and advice!!

I started the procedure yesterday afternoon on my 2006 VFR and finished it off this morning. At around midday I had everything back together, wheeled the bike out of the garage and tentatively hit the ignition wondering what I was in for.... OH MY GOD! I spent the whole afternoon on a ride with a grin on my face the entire time. The symphony of sound that is released now that the pipes are opened up is quite a transformation.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

So glad you like the change :goofy: It's hard to argue with the results for so little effort and so little money, happy riding :goofy:

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After reading through the whole thread, I am wondering if anyone has done a Db check on the mod compared to stock? Say from next to the pipes, 25 feet away and then maybe 100 feet away? Some places have Db legislation or proposed legislation and it would be helpful for those folks to know what the results might be. If I can find a cheap extra set of stock cans I may do this, but I don't like making permanent mods without a back up to replace it with when it comes to items necessary to pass safety inspection here.

I don't have a DB meter and I did wonder how loud it would turn out to be since as you say the procedure is not reversible. In New Zealand there are restrictions on how audible the exhaust can be that is legal for the road.

It is definitely louder (of course) however I don't think it is to the point of being obnoxious/not legal. I will find out eventually though when the bike is due for the next warrant of fitness. The video posted by JTG and the other videos that another post mentions being on YouTube VFR Exhaust Video Comparisons are a great indicator of the deeper rumble sound that emits from the pipes.

Can't say I really liked the sound of video #2 with no pipes at all!

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  • 2 months later...

Just wanted to say a big "thank you" to JTG for this write-up :laugh:

I carried out the mod a few days back on my UK 2002 Vtec and managed to actually get on the bike today - what a difference! The noise is just lovely and the mod lets that fantastic V4 thump out without deafening you or annoying the neighbours too much wink.gif

I'd been looking for a decent mod that didn't involve completely gutting the rear cans as I use my bike daily (80 miles / 2 hours travelling) and really didn't want to compromise comfort too much. This route has totally delivered the noise I was looking for :laugh:

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Just completed this mod, absolutly love it. I found diamond cutting wheels that worked great and fit in the exhaust without having to grind them down first. I notice they stop cutting well after a few minutes but managed to complete the task with only 6 of them. Just be patient, cut through one side, then work your way round. please note they are 15,000 rpm max, some rotary tools are capable of 30,000+ rpms.

link to wheels w/ mandrel

http://aztoolguy.com/fo6dicuwhkit.html

extra wheels

http://aztoolguy.com/fo6dicuwh4pi.html

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, I'm really excited about this mod (as I'm not a welder), but a buddy of mine said that he thought this procedure would cause the exhaust to vibrate then possibly break. Have any of you guys had any problems ? Does anybody think that it could cause any problems ? Course if it did, then it would give me an excuse to buy some Leo Vince carbon fiber cans. But a little short on cash right now.

Oh yeah, "Hi". New kid on the block. Got about 2000 miles on my 06 VFR and absolutely loving it. :fing02:

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  • 2 months later...
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Just completed this mod. It took me about an hour start to finish and I used a 1-1/2" hole saw for a nice big hole and ended up using 16 cutoff disks including the ones I broke before they went in the hole. It took 3 disks per hole to cut it enough to twist it and pull it out. The sound is wonderful in my garage, however it is -3F outside and half a foot of fresh snow so all I can do is ride circles in the shop for now, but it sounds good doing that. I can't wait for a thaw to get out and try it on actual streets.

Thanks for the idea.

George

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  • 2 weeks later...

After lurking the forum for a number of months, I thought I'd better sign up and say a big thanks to JTG for his great post. I did the mod on my 6 gen today in about 3 or so hours, and am absolutely in love with the end result. Couple of things I'd like to add that I think may make it easier....

- If you can't find any posts on how to remove your heat shields (like I couldn't) that thing at the back on the top with a bit of rubber in it is actually an allen bolt. Remove the rubber bit and unscrew.

- The hole saw size to fit over the outside of the pipes was 32mm in metric speak. I think this equates to 1 1/4". Be careful how big the internal diameter of the hole saw bit is though, as the better brands tend to have thicker wall diameter which makes it a little squeezy on the pipe.

- I angled grinded down the welds on the pipes before I took to it with the hole saw.

- If you are using the el-cheapo dremel cut off discs, putting two on at a time seemed to cut a lot better and got more use before swpping over to new ones. I seemed to be breaking ingle discs before I had used it all, and two side by side gave a bit more rigidity. I used about 8 or 10 per pipe of the el-cheapos.

I noted a lot of posters mentioned getting water in the pipes with this mod. I'm no engineer, but I'm pretty sure if you're riding at the time, there is sufficient heat in the exhaust system to burn off the water before it becomes an issue.

I rate this mod as two thumbs up. :fing02: :fing02:

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After lurking the forum for a number of months, I thought I'd better sign up and say a big thanks to JTG for his great post.

Welcome to VFRD Brissy, was that you on OzVFR asking about this? (user id "Whitie" I'm "v4racer" there - 'The Phantom' is actually my bike).

Good tip regarding doubling up the cutting wheels, might use that for some work I'm doing tonight :fing02:

PS - go have a look at what JTG has since done to his mufflers!

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Phantom, that wasn't me but just replied in that same thread. Yeah, I saw the "new" ones and would love to have the meachanical apptitude he has. And maybe a few of the tools too.

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  • Member Contributer

Welcome BrissyVFR from another VFRD bloke from Brisneyland - cheers!

Think I need to have a look at the OzVFR site you guys are talking about!

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I Did the non weld mod about a year ago, like it but wanted it a little louder. So about 6 months ago I took a 24 inch 3/8" drill bit and drilled 4 holes in the backside of the canister. In other words where you have already removed the exhaust exit tips, take a long drill bit and drilled one hole per exit port(4) into the back of the canister. About 15 decibels louder but not as loud as a fully gutted exhaust.

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A friend and I did the same 6th gen full gut. I made larger outlets. He kept his stock. There is a diffirence in sound from just a little bit larger hole, it sounds deeper to me but also maybe a bit louder.

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