1/2 hour 'simple' job turns into 4 1/2 hour nightmare

[JX]

hi all!
my 1 has a non standard,custom made exhaust with stubby,carbon end can.
it has allways been quite loud and eventhough it has past MOT's in other countys by PO's NO PROBLEM,before,
when I had the MOT done a month ago, it got an advisory.
i don't like noisy exhausts(eventhough THIS ONE sounds very nice!) and it gets unwanted looks and attention from the COPS!!
i have been meaning to quieten down the 'Silencer' for quite some time now.
2 days ago i decided to get some decent exhaust packing for it,in order to repack/rebuild the can,since it is a much cheaper than getting a db killer(as previously intended).the db killer for MY can is about £25+.thick sheet of packing only £7.68  plus some pop rivets.
Today was the day.since the whole exhaust was(QUITE LITERALY)cobbled together by one of the PO's,i didn't know what was awaiting me.got my drill,sheet,rivets,bits&bobs.thought being:drill out the 4 rivets on endcap,remove the cap,complete with perforated tube,pull old packing out.clean inside,wrap around new packing,reassemble,DONE!
NOT SO!
took cap off,removed some of the old disintegrated packing but couldn't get perf tube out,nor the rest of the leftovers. .BOLLOCKS!it dawned on me.have to remove the whole carbon tube,hence drilling out all the rivets at the bottom.ok!got to it,all out,can't pull tube off.i discover a hidden rivet on inside,wich is not accessible!!BASTARD!I CAN'T GET ENTIRE SILENCER OFF,SINCE BOLTS ARE SEIZED.
am NOT going to remove the entire exhaust,since i had enough trouble getting the gaskets to seal at manifold.right,hacksaw the rivet off.saw away.not a rivet!a STEEL SCREW.
can't saw that,have to force the tube,and rip strough the carbon.after a massive struggle.i finally pull it off!
tube has a damaged hole,no problem!i just get a stainless washer or two and re rivet it.i clean the tube and the perf tube,
rewrap the perf tube with fresh packing,slide carbon tube back on.
now i have to run around trying to find suitable washer,stainless locally.needless to say COULDN'T GET ONE.
had to rivet it all back together as is with damaged hole,etc.
what should have taken 1/2 hour and been simple,ended up taking 4 1/2  hours(well all day really) NIGHTMARE INDEED.
and after all that i'm not even sure if it is all that much quieter
  >
MAJOR PAIN IN THE PROVERBIAL!NEVER AGAIN!

[ptlcb1]

Whoever lives closest to JX, buy him a pint of his favorite beverage...make that 2 pints!

[a_morti]

My tip:
Dump it and get a longer silencer. From my experience, noise goes up by LOTS for every inch you cut off a race exhaust. Repacking is smart but it won't help so much as you'd like, not in a stubby. Baffles will help but they rely on holding gas in the can longer, giving packig more time to absorb noise. No good if no packing and only half as good on a stubby as there isn't much in there anyway. All this born out by my own experience after crash landing on my scorpion can, shortening it an adding a baffle.

[Drewski]

Tha packing on my Kerker pipe makes no difference to the noise whatsoever. I'm not sure why it's there really, it's no more than a redundant spark arrester.

[JX]

first of all,THANKS!FOR THE PINT,OR 2!
you are right about the stubby!amorti.i.e. pipe being louder,for every inch you loose.
i suppose thats why we see all those UGLY,RIDICULOUSLY LONG end cans on most bikes these days.to make them EVER so quiet.
as for dumping the one on there.not much of an option,since the whole lot is custom made and i would never get another one to fit on.
it will just have to stay as it is.i'm thoroughly fed up with it,so i don't care anymore.lol

thanks all!