Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust bafflectomy mess

First off, people on the forum have been very helpful, but I have gotten myself in a situation I need some advice on. I'll be as bried as I can. I wanted to remove the first two exhaust baffles .. piece of cake,right? I decided to go the route of knocking them loose with a piece of rebar chiseled on one end. I didn't accomplish anything doing that except get real frustrated (I think I was using too light of a hammer). In my frustration, I removed the center pipe coming out of the rear baffle plate, and then banged on it some more. That just kind of tore the plate up and collapsed it in the middle, but it is still being held in by the tack welds. Last night I got a bigger hammer, used a Dremel tool to grind down the welds, but I still couldn't get the plate loose, it is still intact around the inside of the pipe, but it is all ripped up in the middle. So I am afraid I am making a big mess out of something that should be fairly simple. I haven't done anything on the other side. Any advice from the more experienced out there? Thanks in advance.
Wayne

I have the eccentric habit of buying stock pipes when they go for very cheap, and modifying them to different tunings & tasks. (Why be normal?) Quiet for long trips, loud for performance, and another set dialed in for MPGs.

Anyway - It's my belief that the later stock mufflers have much heavier spot welds on the baffles than the earlier ones did. I too had a helluva time trying to bash the baffles out of some late model stock pipes, whereas my 05 pipes gave up the welds very easily.

A few holes drilled into a baffle via a 3/4" hole saw fixed to a length or two of 1/4" drive socket wrench extension* can readily weaken a baffle to the point of collapsing it, then one can often do the bash procedure & pull the deformed baffle out with a length of coat hanger. Some tape on the extension joints takes enough wobble out of this contraption to make it user friendly. A Sears tool store has everything you need, or I can loan you the extension set up. My 3/4" hole saw is now toofless, so that would be up to you.

Not to bail on you, but if all else fails, consider a set of after market Bubs. They can be had for around $350, and may (or may not?) increase HP. I've yet to buy any after market pipes, for the babies seem to always need a new pair of shoes.

*There is a little drive piece that makes this work - It's about an inch long, and one square end of it fits into the 1/4" socket extension hole, and the other end is a hex shape that fits into the drill chuck. I don't know what it's called though.

I had the same problem.(thick welds) I ended up drilling a bunch of 3/8 holes all around the baffle pipes, knocking them loose, pulling out, and what i could'nt drill out i knocked down as best i could(folded back). It's not pretty up inside but not many will be looking. got 2 out on both sides and she sounds great (for me)

the first baffle (looking from the rear) was a bit of work for me too. I did the same thing as sully2311 did, drilled a bunch of holes as close to each other as I could, then usen a philips screwdriver to connect the holes. Then I just pulled the baffle out and used a metalgrinder (don't know the english word for it, but it's a bit that can grind down metal... :P) and cleaned down the jagged metal that was left. It came out real good and now you can't really tell that there been a baffle there (unless you look real good)

the other baffles came more easy than the first, but it was a struggle to pull them out. 6 baffles took me and a friend about 5 hours. not constant work tough

They've probably made them stronger so that we can't drill them out as we do!!!
The 06's baffles were harder to get out than those on the 03, but we were the orginal ones to drill them out using a normal drill not a hole saw. And get a little stone and smoothe the hole.

The first baffle is welded to the chrome pipe, and right behind it is the perforated liner. It is a mess if you try to remove the whole thing. Easiest way I've found is to first wiggle the little pipe around til it breaks its welds off, then get a hole saw (or series of small holes) and cut out baffle leaving 1/4 inch or so remaining around perimeter. Next 2 baffles are tack welded to perforated liner and pop right out. Last baffle is welded to chrome pipe like the first. Heard of some pipes with only 3 baffles, but most have 4.

Well, I feel a little better knowing others have had similar problems. I was feeling pretty inept thinking I was the only one who ever had a problem doing this. So I have done what several have suggested, I drilled some holes and was able to get a good portion of the plate out, but there is some I'll just have to fold and bend in as best as I can. So I'll still be able to get the 2nd and 3rd baffles out with that little lip of the first baffle in place? Thanks for all the input! Wayne

I messed up my first ones as well using an air chisel. Then I bought a 2 1/8" hole saw. I drilled a series of 1/4" holes around the rear tube and wiggled it until it came out. Then I used the hole saw and cut the plate out. The 2 1/8" hole saw fit perfectly inside the outer flange of the plate. It leaves no rough edges to grind or anything. The next one in can be knoecked loose with the rebar and removed. Then (of you are going this far) I used a 1" hole saw on a 18" hole saw extension and cut one hole in the third one. If I had it to do over I would have used a smaller bit on that third baffle. It's a touch loud. Not too bad though. But it sure sounds good.

I took the first baffle out (back of the bike) and then just chiseled a good few holes in the second baffle.
I then took off the pipes and chiseled a few holes in the baffle nearest the engine.
just keep trying until you get the sound you want love mine even though they are really ugly to look at.
Long cannons look the goods to me

Greetings AEIOU5,
I also worried about removing the baffles. I have ZERO mechanical skills. I posted here awhile back and listen to everyone's advice. THANKS AGAIN !!!!

I did remove the first set by drilling 3/8 inch holes and then connecting them . I put a 1/4 inch hole in the second baffle and TA DA Done.

The only other thing i did was to get some High Heat black paint and spray some inside to mask the not so pretty inside.

I took a different aproach and used a 2.5" Hole Saw to take my back baffle out. I then used the hammer and rod method to punch out the second baffle. I used a more blunt end though which seamed to help push the entire baffle back instead of putting a hole into it. Here's a pretty good pic, and as you can see the first hole looks pretty clean. Who cares really what it looks like, all this is for is sound.

Picture

It does sound to me like the later models must have tougher welds. I have done quite a few so far and have never had any problems breaking them loose.(air chisel)Only issue I ever had was I just barely caught the wire mesh on the first pipe I did. Not enough to cause a problem all I did was bend that 1 spot back. I know most I have done were 03 and 04 pipes. If I get any newer ones I'll let everyone know what my impressions are about the differences in the welds if any.

Cochran, I looked at your pic.

That sure is a small pipe for the exhaust to come through.

I didn't realize the passage was so small all the way through.

Exactly the reason why these things are soo quite. I left the 3rd baffle in just because I really like the sound the way it is. It echoes and resonates in the larger barrel.

Aaron,

So the plate I am seeing in your picture is the 3rd plate in from the back? And once you punched in the 2nd plate you were able to get it out without too much difficulty?
Wayne

If I may.....the second one crumples up pretty easy when you hammer on it with a rod or bar. After it is broke loose just hold the pipe up and tap alittle with your hand or on a padded surface and it should slide down to the end. Then just grab it with a vice grips and pull it out.

NoLogic, of course you may chime in. The second baffle must be made of thinner material than the first one is if it crumples up easily. I was surprised at how heavy the metal was on the first baffle. Nonetheless, you and everyone else have convinced me to go for it, so tomorrow I'll tackle knocking out the second baffles. I'll post an update when I'm through.

I am pleased to report that the second set of baffles came out with little trouble. I used bbq tongs to grab the pipe coming out of the baffle plate and pulled them right out. I think I'm going to stop there for now on the pipes. Many thanks to everyone who helped me out. (Next comes the air filter mods and rejetting (I'm sure I'll have questions when I get around to that project).

In my scenario, I have started to peel away the screen (perforated) and now i have the whole screen collapsed in the middle of the pipe but I can't get it out..seems to be stuck on something...HHEELLPP!!!

Thats a bad one , that mesh runs the whole length on the pipe on the inside. Thats why I always tell anyone asking to be very careful not to catch that when removing the first baffle. If I remember right Nologic had the same problem and had to gut the pipes completely to get it out.

Anyone looking to sell some pipes, preferably with 2 baffles removed...

Why not just gut the rest and get a set of aftermarket baffles?

Tinman I think has your best way out if you can get them gutted without hurting the outside. Put one of the small 1 3/4" baffles in the end of the header pipe right before it meets the muffler. To put a larger baffle in the muffler you have to get rid of the lip at the end.

Another possibility would be to cut the mesh where it is still against the outside of the pipe. Maybe a little silicone there to prevent the loose end from rattling. Don't know if you can just a thought.