ZRX 1200 Can Mod

[kenh]

Well, I finally finished the mod on my 1200 can. Basically, I took all the factory guts out and preserved the outside for a stock look. Is it any lighter? Well somewhat, maybe about 4 pounds. Did I gain any performance? I doubt it as I only have a butt dyno and it feels the same. It runs the same as before with no jetting changes. It seems to be as quiet as stock at idle and hiway cruse speed with just a slightly deeper tone. It is louder on heavy throttle usage though. I think overall the sound is much better than stock. It cost me about $5 for the parts and pieces I needed and could be less or depending on what “junk” you have laying around. The packing is courtesy of Johns Mansville (yup, the house insulation guy). Some of the tools needed will be some kind of grinder to grind the weld off the inlet end of the can, drill and tap for 3mm X .05 cap screws, the usual hand tools and a welder preferably tig or mig.


I didn’t do this before I took the can apart but I would at least drill all the holes for the cap screws before I grind the weld off the inlet end of the can. The weld I’m talking about holds the center of the can (the part that bolts to the mid pipe) to the outside of the can. The weld on mine was so good that I thought it was not a weld. You will have to drive the guts out of the can from the back to the front. In retrospect, I would get myself a piece of PVC pipe that would fit over the exhaust outlet. The weld pictured gave me fits as it protruded into the can enough that it didn’t want to let the end cap out. I ground it down before reassembly and everything went back together easily.

[kenh]

I got a donor glass pack from the local muffler shop for free. I just had to do a little dumpster diving! I cut it apart for the perf pipe inside.

[kenh]

I had the same shop take a peice of 1 3/4 inch pipe and strech one end to 2 inch diameter for the perf pipe to slip into. I didn't get a photo, but I cut it and rewelded it to match the angle of the exhaust tip and then welded it into the end cap. This holds the outlend of the perf pipe.

[kenh]

Here is the other end of the adapter I made. 1 3/4 inch outlet as compaired to the 1 1/4 of the stock can.

[kenh]

I spot welded a piece of leftover from the donor muffler to the perf pipe. This slips int the mid pipe. By the way the perf pipe is 2 inch OD.

[kenh]

Here is another photo of the perf and mid pipe.

[TGHW]

Zrx's are lean in stock form. By opening that can up you're going to be even more lean. You're probably going to need to shim your needles and for sure adjust your mixture screws out a turn or two.



TG

[kenh]

I cut off the front portion of the stock internal perferated that hold the stock packing material in place. I made a new baffle and tack welded it to the old perferated part. It is solid with only one hole in it for the perf pipe to pass through. I reused the the old packing material as the front portion of the can will remain as stock with just a open chanber. This is all that goes back in the can along with some fiberglass from John Mansville. The new glass packing is only installed in the back half of the can.

[kenh]

I thought about pop rivits to hold the botten end of the can in, but realized that for the trim piece to fit nothing could project into that part of the can.. I drilled and tapped for 3mm X .05 socket head cap screws. I used eight of them but six might do as well. A little silicone to seal the inner and outer portions to prevent exhaust leaks and you're ready to go. I have a sound clip but I'll be darned if i can figre out how to post it. As far as being lean, I could detect no loss in throttle responce, but I do agree that it does need a bit more fuel even in stock form. If anybody has questions, jus hollor as all this makes perfect sense to me, but may be clear as mud to somebody else.

Ken

[MEAN 1]

thanks for sharing the D.I.Y info , on how to gut the OEM can ..

[beantown]

So how does it sound???

[hijqx]

....If anybody has questions, jus hollor as all this makes perfect sense to me, but may be clear as mud to somebody else.

Ken

Hey Ken,
You still rockin' that gutted stock can? I really want to do this mod, but I do not have a welder. Is this possible with just a few nuts and bolts?

I am a bit confused as to what end of the can you ground down/cut off. I was most likely going to shorten it by about 5 inches while I was at it, but I want to be sure I know everything first.
Do you have anymore photos you can share or a towel to move the mud from eyeballs.

Thanks!

[hijqx]

I have done my own 1200 can mod and it's going to be known as the ghetto version, for those of us without welding tools.

I decided to cut the can open versus grinding down the weld on the inlet end:

From ZRX1200

After the cut, shorting/bulldogging:

From ZRX1200

My perf tube from a Vance & Hines cruiser exhaust:

From ZRX1200

I tried pulling this with a vise, hammers, you name it. In the end I had to cut this end cap from the can:

From ZRX1200

Here's where it really starts to get ghetto:

From ZRX1200

I actually bought a stock can on ebay to mod, since I am very talented a wrecking things. I wanted my old can to fall back on in case the norm struck again. This can was scuffed on the right side, so I had already decided to sand and paint this with high temp paint.

From ZRX1200

It's not finished yet so I'm not sure how it sounds. More to come later.

[hijqx]

I notched the end of the Can since I am using a metal band to hold the end-cap on:

From ZRX1200

From ZRX1200

I put a bead of high-temp silicone along the inside of the can, about 1/8 of an inch from the edge, tapped the end-cap in and clamped it down:

From ZRX1200

I can't wait to hear it.

[hijqx]

Sounds good. It's not too loud to draw attention, but enough to turn a head. I will attempt to get an audio clip in the near future.

I do not have any flat spots, my butt dyno cannot tell a difference however I do have slight popping on a decal (which I think sounds wicked).