shortening the stock mufflers
 

I used the search function and couldnt find anything on the subject. I have a 2003 super hawk that a previous owner has drilled holes in the baffles. Still not very loud and i cant afford an aftermarket exaust right now. What i do have is access to metal fab tools and welders. I am thinking of shortening the stock cans by a few inches I assume it would be a little louder and i think it would look better. Are there any guides out there that have pictures of the finished project? What is the inner packing on the stock mufflers I was thinking about cutting them down with a plasma cutter but if it has fiberglass packing i guess it could possibly catch fire?

No packing I am fairly sure, but keep a bucket of water on hand just in case.

And it has been done before (a search might bring it up) so you won't be the first.

Use a dremel or cut off tool.. You'll get a cleaner cut.

it can be done cut it with a thin disc. If you are looking to copy an aftermarket exhaust design you can copy what I did. I cut the end of the can off and I cut the lower end off too. Then I hammered everything that lived inside out, this left just the outer tube. I then made a perforated core tube I ben by hand surrounded it tightly with exhaust packing ($15) or so from the parts store. Then welded in two pieces of tubing slightly larger then the perf tube on each of the ends and welded it back together. Now it is just like an aftermarket exhaust but for less then $25 sounds the same as aftermarket and weighs the same as well. Just my 2 cents, also I posted a thread on is somewhere, I will look.

here it is

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...ad.php?t=19116

above is an excellent example of how this forums members rock!

thanks for the post that was exactly what i am looking for. Where did you find the exhaust tubing to make them high mounts? What size tubing is it?
Did you use a mig or a stick welder to weld the endcaps back on?

If you read his post #9, "Custom made mid pipes from a wrecked audi exhaust"

I used the two outlet tips as in and out, I have cut it with a cutting disk, the inside will slide out, there is a packing glass between the perforated 3 chamber chicane and the stainless shell, the insides are very heavy.
I have cut the first chamber and screwed it at the very back using the screen to damp the pulses and have drilled holes around for flow. The cops here measure the depth of the inside tube so it saves me tickets as well.
Unfortunately it's still too loud for me so I will get a perforated tube, weld it on the center axis and pack the outside, this will lower the frequency.
Note that the turbo is quieting the tone a bit too, but to my surprise, not by much.
On the pics you see the muffler with the first section installed and the two remaining chamber cut between section one and two.
The exhaust trough the center cone that you see at the exit of my exhaust and then travel to the chamber 2 trough an offset tube, then tumble in the second chamber to go trough another offset tube... heck of a maze.



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If you have the skills and the tools then I'd say go for it. But if the end result is more sound I'd say to at least first do more than just drill a few holes in the stock pipes. If you drill all around and remove the first baffle, then get a long drill bit and drill some holes into the next baffle, you'll get basically the same sound as a set of aftermarket pipes for free and for a lot less effort.

Being new to the VTR and all, what is in those cans that makes them SO heavy? Simply drilling holes will only change the sound and wont provide the benefit of aftermarket slip ons, right?