Mikethe1st

I found an awesome deal on a MPHUnlimited (aka Xerd's way to scam money to start Xerd) header for a sc300 on ebay for $175 shipped. Even better than the price, these were ceramic coated and I received them the day after the auction ended. I immediately rushed to Napa autoparts to get the necessary gaskets ordered and they arrived 2 hours later. I received 2 metal exhaust manifold gaskets made by STONE pn #JB-12479, $18.00 a piece, and one metal 2.5" two hole exhaust gasket, $2.00.


I got home, parked it for a few hours to let it cool, and got some lunch. After, I came back out, got all the tools I would need: a jack, jackstand, PB Blaster, 14mm sockets, 14mm wrench, 10mm socket, 12mm socket, 22mm wrench, small flathead screwdriver.

1. Start with removing the negative terminal from the battery. 10mm socket
2. Next remove the air intake snorkel including the intake box 10mm, (easy since I have a BFI).
3. Remove the heat shield for the exhaust manifold, 4-12mm nuts
4. Remove the o2 sensors by using 12mm deep socket.


5. Spray all the header nuts with penetrating lube ( I use PB Blaster) and let it soak in. Also,
reach down and spray the 2 bolts/nuts attaching the header to the downpipe.
6. I used this time to check out the o2 sensors and immediately noticed something was wrong.
(Im almost positive nobody else will run into this problem since this is the older style I guess) but this header had a screw in type o2 sensor and the stockers have a two hole flange



So I ran back down to Napa to see what they had for me. It turns out I was in luck. I found two, generic, 1-wire, screw in type o2 sensors from Bosch for $27 a piece. These will work with the stock ecu!! Since they are generic I had to cut off the wire from the stock o2's and crimp them into the new ones.


7. Now that the lube has had time to soak in, bust out the 14mm sockets and start loosening the header nuts. Mine all cracked free pretty easily after proper soaking.

8. Jack up the car and use the stands to safely keep it up.
9. Now hopefully you have already sprayed the two bolts/nuts on the downpipe to make this next part easier. (it wasn't for me). You must break loose the two bolts/nuts that are probably very rusty and seized. I stripped the nuts immediately and ended up just breaking the bolts. (which is why you already bought two new grade-8 ones right???!!)
10. There is a bracket that attaches the header to the transmission you must either remove, or just bend out of the way.
11. Everything is now free, pull that old sucker outta there from the top. Its heavy!!

With the header out I could immediately tell the difference in weight.
OLD=about 35-40lbs, NEW=16 lbs.

With mandrel bent piping, larger diameter tubing, long tubes, going into fat collectors, I could tell that this new header was going to flow considerably better.

12. Put the new gaskets on the engine side and drop the new header down into the engine bay. Do your best to get it over the studs. I've heard some people complain how hard it was to get both cylinder banks on, but since mine was used it probably already bent itself to the proper position.


13. Loosley tighten the nuts up top, then go down below and put the new gasket on the downpipe and start the bolts on it.
14. Hop back up and tighten the header nuts to 20-25ft/lbs, Im not sure if there's a certain sequence but I tightened them from the middle out on each bank. Go back below and tighten the nuts on the downpipe.

15. Drop the car back down.

15. Put some anti-seize on the o2 sensor's threads and start hand tightening them, then tightening with the 22mm wrench. Hook them up making sure they dont touch the header.

16. Put the intake snorkel and box back on, DO NOT forget the mass air sensor connector!!. Check to make sure you didnt forget anything, and hook the battery back up.


17. Cross your fingers, start your car, and listen to her Roar to life. Let it idle for a few minutes, it will burn off all the crap your greasy hands got on it. NOW go drive and enjoy your new header.

All in all it took about an hour to install, not including the run back to the store.
Here is all the parts necessary for the job:

2- exhaust manifold gaskets, from Napa, made by Stone, stock replacement pn#JB-12479, $18 each
1- 2.5" exhaust gasket, 2 hole type, $2.00
2- Grade-8 bolts, 1.5 long & nuts
Something you might need if your header's o2 sensor bung is like mine, 2 o2's Bosch pn 11027

Now all my baby needs is some wheels and.............

laxdude362

iTrader: (1)

Very Very nice job. How does your car feel now and sound?

Mikethe1st

Personally, with stock exhaust otherwise, under 3k and normal driving it sounds like Poo. When you get under WOT, its very loud, but there is definately more power there.

DryBlaze

sound clip please.

pilip99

cool, first time ive seen someone with headers on their SC_300, personally i would not rock them, i have heard nothing but bad reviews with this product(in terms of quality and power gain per dollar), let alone their customer service, but congrats on the install as long as you enjoy them thats what counts

SUPRMSC

iTrader: (7)

Ehh what? Bad power gain per dollar?

I heard the xerd headers give up up to 22 whp on the 2jz, and thats a $250 dollar item, in his case $200. Thats nearly 1 whp for $10. How much cheaper can you get, except for BFI of course.

The only thing I heard thats not good about the headers is the rattle sound it comes with.

pilip99

well yeah you get the 22 whp prolly but also you're eliminating the cats which a person cant really do in california but in other states perhaps, but i hear that it gives off a ricy raspy sound in higher rpms and that sometimes there are leaks in the material that they use

Mikethe1st

Its stainless steel, its kind of hard seeing it be a porous metal that leaks. The only thing that would leak is a crack or bad weld. It eliminates the first cat-convertor but I think I may be able to pass the sniffer without it. I'll probably take it to my friends shop and have him test it. This is a used header, there are no rattles, but I agree with with the ricey sound it gives off. Its definately not sexy with the stock exhaust. For an N/A sc300 the only hp per dollar mod better than this header is probably nitrous. The BFI did almost nothing but make more noise.

SUPRMSC

iTrader: (7)

I heard about that raspy noise, but there was a guy I met that had xerd headers with borla exhausts and a high flow cat. The car sounded like a c5 vette.

But I highly dought that the headers are leaking, unless there are welds areas that are rusting.

SupraSpd4u

Hey everyone !

Mikethe1st

ok, i messed up. I had a pretty good size exhaust leak from the downpipe due to the gasket not sitting right. I redid it and its MUCH MUCH MUCH better. No more honda nastyness. It is still raspy, but sounds more like a g35, but louder.
Click here to listen car start
Click here to listen driving 1
Click here to listen driving 2

DryBlaze

is this with the stock exhaust?

southernsc

it wont work for me

pilip99

wont work either for me

Mikethe1st

I clicked on it, it went to putfile.com and worked. Its just audio.