OBX header, now what?

[itzdave]

so i get back from deployment, and one of the MANY things i got was this OBX header because my Pacesetter was looking pretty rusty. upon inspection, i noticed a couple things i wasnt too happy about, so i figured id get some opinions.
1. the holes in the flange arent perfect, one is larger than the rest.
so should i hit it with a dremel and make them all the exact same, or just leave it as-is?
2. this super shiny coating is prolly gunna turn to rust asap, so i gotta ceramic coat it... anybody know of any good brands of DIY spray that i can use?
3. since i dont have any EGR stuff, should i just plug the holes like i did on my pacesetter, or should i have them cut off and welded up, so it looks 'cleaner'
4. HERE'S THE BIG QUESTION. im going to install a wideband O2 sensor to aid in the tuning of the DCOE carbs, should i just 'plug up' the O2 bung thats on only ONE of the pipes, and add a bung past the collector? or should i use the bung that comes off the #2 cylinder, and just use that as reference... i just didnt know if the fact that the O2 sensor being so far away from the combustion would make any difference...

should i really put this much effort into it, i know its not really gunna make that much of a difference in performance...



you can see that #2 is larger than the rest...

[MessyHonda]

damn that hole is huge

[itzdave]

That's what she said! Haha, sorry, I had to...

[2oodoor]

what the hell !!!
how did the ports get so off?
I think since you cant see it, it will be ok.. as long as you open up the head ports that is what counts IMO.
The thing is you dont want to work that area on the header any more than necessary since who ever made those obviously had problems getting it sealed up with the welder.

Since the bungs are not too pretty as it is, yep just whack those off and use equivelent metal to patch over. It needs to be done with care to avoid pitting inside and out of that. Pittng invites corrosion. When I did my Hedman for the B20, I whacked off the egr bung and the hole was actually not that big as the dam bung was.

The O2 sensor situtation.. hmmmm
The easy route would be one put in a little past the collector to read total output, but for seperate carb tuning HMMM you would want one for each bank of 2 cyl a carb was filling. Probably just have the sensors installed and wired up to the wideband reader using electronic switching to read them individually. Gettin fancy there though.

Youre gonna need a bracket on that downpipe because of the sound vibrations, it will have some wierd sounds at different rpm as well as shocking the construction of the header itself. Even with whatever mounting you use after the collector, there needs to be some stabilization on the other end in relation to the engine block.

[stat1K]

i think an o2 after the collector is the best idea. granted for an itb setup tuning of the individual carbs and knowing what each port is doing would be nice but overall you can do it other ways.

i've seen some itb setups with an o2 for each cylinder, that was going a bit too far if you ask me but whatever's clever ya know?

you people need to hose with tinypic so i can see pictures at work, i think i've already mentioned this :|

[2drSE-i]

So when will you be in oklahoma dave?

On the number 2, the hole looks larger (that's what she said) but inside the pipe looks to be the same. I wouldn't worry about it too much honestly. Worry when you get your head ported.

As for ceramic coating, my vote goes to JetHot. Professional coating ftw!

[89T]

My vote will be cut the bastard off and re-weld a new weir on there. I can hand cut better holes with a torch. LOL! The collector will not help any either. I like what they were trying to accomplish but I think you will spend more money fixing it than what it is truly worth.

[lostforawhile]

if you look at my thread I solved the air fitting problem already, I'm sorry to see they have some quality issues, it looks like it's a copy of the S&S, they did a really good job on the quality on it, does it say if it's USA made or Chinese made? that hole being way off, WTF? before I did a thing to it, I would call them. I would be making them swap it out. your only other solution to fixing that hole is to have someone put some weld on it and grind it like the others. on a 4-1 long tube header, you will see a difference, most Honda headers are 4-2 with short tubes, the 4 long tubes will help build torque, most of the 4-2 or short headers are a compromise between making power and engine room, does your header split in the middle? mine does, but I'm going to weld the tabs and make it a one piece, I think your one is supposed to be stainless steel, if it is it won't rust, depends on he kind of stainless they used. I'm also going to Jet hot coat mine, I was quoted at 120

the collector doesn't look too good either, it looks almost like it's smashed, this is the one on mine after I got rid of the ball socket






I sure would be calling them, I was hoping the quality on those would be better, maby you got one made on Monday or right before quitting time Friday, I hope it's just a bad one, because others on here were wanting them

what I did was cut and grind off the two bungs, this left two ragged looking holes in the tube, I took a piece of 2 inch T-302 stainless tube, split the tube in half, and it snapped right over the holes and pretty tight to the tube, the corners need to be rounded first though, if you want continued corrosion protection with your header, you'll have to TIG weld it with stainless filler, If you need me to i'll send you a split piece of that tube for the patch, you work around aircraft so maby you have someone at work who can TIG weld really good, mine is mig welded, but it's steel tube, I'll be jet hot coating it anyway. It looks ugly as crap to have those unused fittings sticking out.

[2ndGenGuy]

O2 after the collector. Won't matter hardly at all. Closer is better, because you can see the response of the gasses sooner on the WBO2 gauge. But I've seen tuners just use sniffers up the tailpipe. So I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference, unless you're going for that 0.000001% difference in the tune.

[-DWM-]

Oh wow that doesn't even look like the picture on eBay I saw. And I almost bought one just before looking at this thread. There's a Pacesetter on eBay too but I've never liked their quality.

[itzdave]

sweet. dropped it off at the shop to get the egt stuff taken off and plugged up. then im gunna weld in a different o2 bung for my wideband!

[gp02a0083]

what I did was cut and grind off the two bungs, this left two ragged looking holes in the tube, I took a piece of 2 inch T-302 stainless tube, split the tube in half, and it snapped right over the holes and pretty tight to the tube, the corners need to be rounded first though, if you want continued corrosion protection with your header, you'll have to TIG weld it with stainless filler, If you need me to i'll send you a split piece of that tube for the patch, you work around aircraft so maby you have someone at work who can TIG weld really good, mine is mig welded, but it's steel tube, I'll be jet hot coating it anyway. It looks ugly as crap to have those unused fittings sticking out.

very good idea.. something like a sleeve or collar. either way yah do it a good jet/powder coat will keep it tidy for a while. I don't think that the collector is smashed, ive seen many pro-stock drag cars have a tight fitting collector like that. At least it doesn't seem that way from the pict. as for the O2 sensor it can really go anywhere at least if it is before the Cat converter. Our cars do not have a secondary O2 behind the cat, these only measure the raw exhaust , not the converted exhaust from the cat.

[lostforawhile]

if you look on ebay you can find stainless steel O2 sensor plugs, don't weld those up, you might find a use for them eventually

I believe ours our 18MM, most O2 sensors are the same thread, these should work http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VANCE...Q5fAccessories

[itzdave]

ok, installed!
i had both EGT thingys taken off and welded up, and had a O2 bung added after the collector and put a wideband o2 in it. cant wait to finish hooking up the wideband!

[ShyBoyCA6]

Can't wait to see some pics

[lostforawhile]

did you have any issues with your cross member? they are just like my S&S and they wanted to hit at the edge near the back of it. I had to do a bunch of metal work to the cross member. I hope you got rid of the ball joint and put in a flex coupling, or you may have weld cracking problems later, the flex coupling will absorb engine vibration,

[lostforawhile]

mine were hitting right here

[itzdave]

nope. mine fit just fine. only issue was getting the tubes to slide back together after they'd been welded on, thrown around, etc. but they are all good...

[lostforawhile]

nope. mine fit just fine. only issue was getting the tubes to slide back together after they'd been welded on, thrown around, etc. but they are all good...

yea I won't separate mine, I'm going to weld the tabs together, they will get jet hot coated as one piece, they will go in from the bottom, you just have to take the nut off of the front motor mount, have the car way up in the air, and jack the engine off of the front mount. once you do this with the cross member out, they go in at an angle with a lot of cussing

[MessyHonda]

any update of these?

[gfrg88]

bump.. updates???

[itzdave]

no...

[RAZR]

no...

lol
having problems with them?!?!

[lostforawhile]

if you are having issues remember I have a good thread up, they have the same dimensions as the S&S so i've probably solved any fitment issues you may have run into

[itzdave]

no its not that... like i said, i installed them, they fit fine, look great after the high temp paint. but ive only really driven my honda about 3 times since i installed the header. just been WAY too busy with other stuff goin on...