Turning wrenches

For years, I've had passing thoughts about removing the secondary muffler on the 911.  The primary muffler I replaced over twenty years ago with a pipe fabricated by Midwest Eurosport.  They basically cut the ends off the primary muffler and welded a pipe in the middle.

When the engine was resealed in 2024, my brother generously replaced the corroding part with a beautiful stainless steel piece from Fabspeed.  It felt great to have the new pipe in place and the car back on the road!

As 2024 faded, I continued to think about replacing the secondary muffler.  As I tend to do, I spent time reading and researching and pondering.  I happened across this video, and was captivated:

I really liked the sound, and after much hemming and hawing, decided to do it.  Installing this pipe wasn't about improving performance or losing weight, it was all about changing the sound.

My brother once again exhibited his limitless generosity by shipping a the appropriate part from Fabspeed to my door.  It arrived looking magnificent in fresh stainless steel:

After receiving the part, I promptly weighed it out of curiosity.

Weighing in at 2 pounds 5.6 ounces, the pipe itself is light and beautifully fabricated.

Then it was a matter of turning some wrenches to drop the old muffler and get the new pipe in place.  I get a little thrill every time I use the toolkit that came with the 911 to work on the car.

I knew I needed a 13mm wrench to loosen the clamps holding the secondary muffler in place, and I also knew that's one of the wrenches in the tool kit.  So, I got the wrench and my socket set, then got down and unfastened the clamps holding the exhaust tip to the secondary muffler and the secondary muffler to the primary bypass pipe.

The guy in the YouTube video had his bumper off which made the wrenching pretty easy.  I didn't want to do that.  At first, I thought I could get the secondary muffler off with the car resting on its four wheels.  After crawling under the car, it became immediately clear that I didn't have the angle on the screws that hold the secondary muffler to the frame.  So, I got the car up in the air and took the right rear tire off.  That made it much more accessible.

Here are the bolts I couldn't quite get to with the wheel on the car and the car on the ground:

After taking out those two bolts, the muffler was free.  I was careful to place a box under the muffler so it didn't fall to the ground.  Ah, so much more space:

Here's a different angle on it, where you can see the exit of the primary bypass pipe:

With the secondary muffler off the car, it was time for it to weigh in.  It tips the scales at slightly over 20 pounds.  Visually, there's a massive difference:

Clearly, the new pipe is significantly smaller and lighter.  OK, the next step was to connect the new part to the primary bypass.  This was pretty easy.  I just had to pry the clamp apart, fit the pipes together, and tighten the bolt:

OK, looking good here, just missing the tip!

One fun part of this project was that I was able to do it with my brother on FaceTime.  It was cool, I have a kickstand case for my phone, so I could just set him on the ground so he could see the progress I was making.  He also took a couple of FaceTime videos that captured me trying to get the exhaust tip attached to the secondary bypass:

He also caught this picture, which looks like it could be an ad for Fabspeed.

After more time than I thought it would take, I finished up.  It took a little longer than I thought since I was working alone, getting the exhaust tip lined up:

With the exhaust buttoned up, it was time to give it a go.

Here's what the car sounded like for the past 20 years or so.  I think it sounds great.

Here's the first cold start without the secondary muffler:

I immediately giggled.  I think it sounds like a cup car.  I took my daughters for a quick spin, and completely approved.  With the oil nice and warm, here's a start and some revs:

As you can hear by my daughter's commentary at the end, the sound is a winner.

I've been enjoying driving it around, it sounds great:

After driving it for a couple of weeks, the exhaust tip worked itself loose.  I clearly didn't tighten the clamp tightly enough.  So, one evening my daughter gave me a hand.  She held the exhaust tip while I tightened up the clamp and applied a little locktite to the bolt.  Everything looks great: