Breathless CES Exhaust Install (lots of pics)

[bluedeuce]

Today being a holiday, I had the day off to finally install the Breathless exhaust. Job #1: remove the valence.

two T25 screws, 2 clips toward the ends, 2 push pins in the corners

Use a small flat-blade screwdriver to pull out the center pin, then yank that puppy out. Hopefully, the rest of the pin will come out on its own, otherwise work it out a bit with the screwdriver and pull it out the rest of the way with a pair of needlenose pliers.

2 more clips on the underside, six tabs that hook under the rear bumper cover, undo all that and lift out and upward and the valence comes off

Anyone know what those tabs with holes on the bottom are for? Mudflaps?

Job #2: remove the stock putt-putt exhaust.


E12 female Torx socket with a 3/8 breaker bar to get the bolt loose


10mm box wrench to take the bolt out


the bolt on the far side didn't have enough clearance to use the bar, so I used a 3/8 T-bar handle as a sort of extension on the 10mm wrench


with the bolts out, here comes the gasket. Metal center ring, and lots of flakey glitter from the edges


Don't forget to take out the little bolt above the flex pipe holding the heat shield. Little 8mm wrench works here. Even after vigorously applying WD40 to the rubber hangers, they were still tight, so I wriggled them off with a pair of channel lock pliers. No pics here, sorry.

out with the old, in with the new

Stocker weighs 15 pounds, BPP is about 7.5.

put the new one on the hangers and wriggle the flanges, bolts, and gasket into position. It can be done with two hands, but three or four would be easier.


At this point, things got icky. With a very tight area to work in and the rubber hangers shifting things out of alignment a bit, I kept crossthreading the near bolt. At this time the first of a series of thunderstorms also made its presence known. After prodigious use of curse words and dodging intermittent rain for a few hours, I finally decided to pull off the rear panels and bumper so I could see what I was doing. Having chewed up the threads on the supplied hex-head bolts I reused the originals, and pulled the left rubber hanger back off so I could line things up more easily.

finally, the exhaust is bolted up tight


I put the rear panels, bumper, and body sills back on, and fired it up about a quarter after six.

So, was it worth the aggravation and two band-aids? Heck yes. Nice deep tone, no drone, perhaps a bit on the loud side for some people (there is a quieter Touring version). Pretty quiet on light throttle, good sound on tip-in, and a nice series of brupp-brupp-brupps when the auto is downshifting.

[Broken Kid]

Wow, blue...that's fantastic detail. I may be getting mine put on tomorrow (or helping a friend who's a mechanic put it on, I should say), and this is great. I'll bring my computer and call up this page for really detailed directions.

[Kermit]

Nice pics and a very good "How-to".

[soareyes]

Yes, nice write-up, thanks!

I wondering if your weights are off though, as my stock unit was 22 pounds and the Breathless unit was 14 pounds.

Stan

[Fowvay]

Love it... got vid?

[jwight]

First, great photos and walk through of the muffler install - thanks!

Is it just me, or is anyone else concerned about the two US-made smart mufflers lacking the flexible coupling the stock muffler has? It's really obvious in the photos above; maybe I'm just too cautious but there must be a reason the smart design has that flex portion. Thoughts?

[GoMXracing]

was wondering the same (on flex tube) when i installed my DTH.... reason for flex tube may be the extra weight on the stock unit(and being rubber mounted)..and wanting it to go the life of the car

so far my DTH has been fine no issues......no flex tube and stock hangers.... cant help you on the unit in photo`s(looks nice i did not want center exit though)

chris

[BreathlessPerformance]

That was a nice install.

Can we upload the pics and info on our site?

Ernie

[WhiteNBlack08]

Originally Posted by jwight

First, great photos and walk through of the muffler install - thanks!

Is it just me, or is anyone else concerned about the two US-made smart mufflers lacking the flexible coupling the stock muffler has? It's really obvious in the photos above; maybe I'm just too cautious but there must be a reason the smart design has that flex portion. Thoughts?

Like the others, great pictures, maybe Ernie can answer the flex coupling question? Afterall, BPP designed this new exhaust, they must have a good reason not to put the flex pipe in? Ernie?

[MPrice2984]

The flex coupler in most exhausts acts as a vibration damper between the engine and exhaust and allows the engine to go through it's normal (minute) rocking / twist motions on transverse mounted engines. I'm not sure of the logic of having it on the smart due to the engine and exhaust being parallel. Owners who have installed exhausts without the flex pipe will find out when their exhaust manifolds start cracking if it was really needed.