I read somewhere that removing the resonator increases the intake sound and also affects power slightly? Either way I'm tempted to remove it but apparently you really need to take the bumper off to do that, which there is no way in hell my bumper is coming off. I had a look at where it all bolts up and there is a hole where I can get my arm through and touch the bolts although it is abit tight. How exactly do you get it off?

[EDIT: Just looking at this the next day, I realised you were asking how to get the resonator off, not the bumper But as far as I know, taking the bumper off first is the best/only way to do that. Guide as below ... and it's worth it anyway, to get a good look at the condition of the front of the car ]

It will come off quite easily, but it takes a bit of work, especially the first time - all jobs take longer the first time!

First you need to take off the undertray, headlights, and the indicators/sidelights, and unclip any other electrical cables which thread through the bumper. Basically anything that goes through the bumper or is attached to it. Look carefully, don't miss any smaller cables or wires that might be taped to the inside of the bumper, as these will break if you rip off the bumper before unplugging them.

Then there are 3 sets of screws / bolts on the bumper.

1) First there are two screws at the rear of the bumper (the pointed top rear corner), one on each side. They are on the top edge, and hold the top of the bumper to the bottom of the wing, just inside the wheel arch. You will need to undo the edge of the arch liner, and you can feel them with your fingers. You'll need a short screwdriver, and the screw comes out in an upward direction. The screws are difficult to see unless the light is very good, and you'll probably have to do this by touch only. WARNING: they are very fiddly, and if you haven't taken off the bumper before, they may be stiff/corroded. Basically this is the worst part of getting the bumper off. Try not to damage the bumper here, or break the hole in the plastic, or it will become difficult to out the screw in again.

Not a brilliant photo, but you can see the screw in the bottom middle of the picture. The screw is small, don't lose it.



2) Second, there's a bolt at the front of each wing, fastening it to the bumper, just where the headlights normally are:



Below, here's the inside of the bumper: the screw fits into a metal bracket fixed to the inside of the bumper. As you can see, this might be very corroded, if so then get your rust treatment on there (those chalk marks were there when I took the bumper off, presumably they were made by some Japanese worker when the car was assembled late in 1996!)



3) When the lights are out, look down on either side where the bumper meets the front of the car, and you will see the bumper is secured by two more bolts on either side (from memory I think there's just two each side, and the photos seem to confirm that - these photos were taken 4 years ago!)

The bolts are fixed to the bumper, they go through the holes in the body (circled red):



The bumper is then secured by large nuts on the bolts (photo below, looking straight down). These take a while to undo. You will also need to line up that bullet-shaped plastic thing, also attached to the bumper, which goes through another hole alongside the bolts.



Once these 4 bolts are off, grab the top of the bumper on either side - get a good grip, as you'll need to take the weight - and slowly walk backwards so the bolts come out of the holes in the front of the car body, checking for any cables you missed. Once the bolts are clear of the holes, the bumper should be free. It's not very heavy, but don't drop it on your toes. The front of the car will now look like the photo above.

Be careful of the radiator when you're taking the bumper off, and until you put the bumper back on. If you drop any tools on the fins, or bump something into the radiator while the bumper is off, you could damage it. The fins are very fragile aluminium.

The whole job to take the bumper off doesn't take too long, but there's a lot of prep work, e.g. taking the lights out and undoing the cables etc. Also, the first time it might take a few hours while you find everything, and you might have problems with those tiny screws on either side. Make the most of your time, and while the bumper is off then clean up the front of the car, and do any anti-rust work that's necessary. You could also use tweezers to remove any big bugs out of the radiator but be careful not to damage the fins.

While the bumper is off, I recommend adding some protective heavy duty wire mesh to the back of the bumper intake, to prevent large-bodied insects, leaves, twigs, and other debris flying into the radiator fins, clogging them up or even damaging them:



This mesh has stopped some really big debris flying through the bumper intake towards my radiator - bees, wasps, huge flies, even the odd stone - I'd rather pull it out of the mesh than pull it out of the rad! As a result, Sundance's new rad is pretty clean, which should help it last longer.

If you want to put fogs on the car, now is also the best opportunity, as that also requires you to remove the bumper

S

Perfect guide of how to do it right there

It'll increase the intake noise when you step on the loud pedal but does absolutely nothing for performance

I personally removed my resonator just removing the front left wheel and the (protective plastic in the fender) forgot it's name.. so i removed it troughout the front wheel arch.
It was tricky but managable.I didn't want to remove the whole bumper just for that.I got it out in one piece, as i know a person here that cutted it in half to get it out the same way as i did.He said that he will never use it again on the car so he didn't need it and destroy it.
You could do it like that.Cheers!