Ebay Headers: An expanation.

[a3on75]

So here is my experience with ebay headers and some information about them. First of all the price was about $70 bucks total all the way to the catalyitic converter including all the gaskets. My first mistake was getting the black painted headers. Do not get them because the paint just burned off taking my ceramic header paint with it. Get the natural or unpainted ones and use ceramic header paint so that the headers do not rust out. Make sure you follow all of the directions on the can of the paint for curing of the paint. Now installation was pretty much a breeze. Note that there is a hidden bolt underneath the stock manifold near the oil filter that holds the it to the block as well. The only issue i had was the old rusty flange at the cat. basically to get it off you grind off the heads of the old bolts then beat it with a hammer to separate the flanges. Next heat up the flange with the studs sticking out. Just heat the edges of the flange near the studs not the studs themselves. Now take a vice grips and clamp on to the stud as hard as you can and work them out. Watch out falling chunks of rust are HOT. Now find any high grade bolt that will fit through the holes. the bolts i used were about an inch and a half long and them i used a washer on the one side by the head and another washer and lock washer and a nut on the other side. This will fasten the flanges back together. Now since you pulled the flange apart you need a new donut(gasket). make sure to get the right one as the front and rear donuts on the catalytic converter are DIFFERENT. the one issue with the donut is that its inside diameter is to small for the header down pipe. just cut out a couple inside layers of the donut till it fits snugly on the downpipe. Now you are all good to go with everything bolted together. On to performance.
With a short ram intake there is a noticable difference esspecially in torque and i get through gears quicker as well. (Note that i have a 94 DX 1.8l with a 3 speed w/ overdrive automatic transmission) One thing that surprised me was the few extra miles per gallon i gained. For $70 bucks this is a good bolt on i would say especially the little extra growl i get with a stock muffler, the power, and gas milage.

**Torque Specs**
Header to block nuts: 25ft/lbs
Header to down pipe nuts: 25ft/lbs
O2 Sensor bung nuts:15ft/lbs
Downpipe to Catalytic Converter nuts:32ft/lbs

I will try to post some pictures when i can.
A3on75

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Nice post, should come in handy for some people. I decided to go down the custom route for my exhaust manifold as it was cheaper to get it fabricated here than to get one already made from overseas. A very worthwhile mod considering the unreliability of the stock manifold that usually cracks through the middle. I noticed a gain in power in mine too. Looking forward to seeing the photos of yours.

[Bitter]

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Nice! That's basically the exact same design as mine (except mine is HPC coated instead of heat-wrapped).

[gold94corolla]

Uh, it's not supposed to be rusting like that? I guess the coating didn't work?

Well I've just got the basic OBX ones (most expensive) and they are holding up fine...

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Originally Posted by gold94corolla

Uh, it's not supposed to be rusting like that? I guess the coating didn't work?

That's not rust man...Just needs another coat of HPC as it was done a number of years ago. Doesn't last forever, especially when dumbass mechanics drop tools on it and chip it.

[gold94corolla]

Ah,, good.... just LOOKS as bad as rust

[RinconRolla98]

My e-bay headers I paid $40 ceramic coated are fine no rust

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Haha, it's honestly NOT rust. It's the thermal undercoat that they used at HPC. Like all things, it doesn't last forever. I will eventually get it resprayed, but it's not at the top of my priorities list right now as it's purely cosmetic .

[gold94corolla]

sounds good man

[RinconRolla98]

Originally Posted by Kiwi-Corolla

Haha, it's honestly NOT rust. It's the thermal undercoat that they used at HPC. Like all things, it doesn't last forever. I will eventually get it resprayed, but it's not at the top of my priorities list right now as it's purely cosmetic .

Oh i thought you were complaining about that ...Sorry LMAO

[Bitter]

in my sig is a link to a clip on youtube of the header on stock exhaust without a muffler. just cat and resonator following stock bends.

[topnotch]

Originally Posted by a3on75

So here is my experience with ebay headers and some information about them. First of all the price was about $70 bucks total all the way to the catalyitic converter including all the gaskets. My first mistake was getting the black painted headers. Do not get them because the paint just burned off taking my ceramic header paint with it. Get the natural or unpainted ones and use ceramic header paint so that the headers do not rust out. Make sure you follow all of the directions on the can of the paint for curing of the paint. Now installation was pretty much a breeze. Note that there is a hidden bolt underneath the stock manifold near the oil filter that holds the it to the block as well. The only issue i had was the old rusty flange at the cat. basically to get it off you grind off the heads of the old bolts then beat it with a hammer to separate the flanges. Next heat up the flange with the studs sticking out. Just heat the edges of the flange near the studs not the studs themselves. Now take a vice grips and clamp on to the stud as hard as you can and work them out. Watch out falling chunks of rust are HOT. Now find any high grade bolt that will fit through the holes. the bolts i used were about an inch and a half long and them i used a washer on the one side by the head and another washer and lock washer and a nut on the other side. This will fasten the flanges back together. Now since you pulled the flange apart you need a new donut(gasket). make sure to get the right one as the front and rear donuts on the catalytic converter are DIFFERENT. the one issue with the donut is that its inside diameter is to small for the header down pipe. just cut out a couple inside layers of the donut till it fits snugly on the downpipe. Now you are all good to go with everything bolted together. On to performance.
With a short ram intake there is a noticable difference esspecially in torque and i get through gears quicker as well. (Note that i have a 94 DX 1.8l with a 3 speed w/ overdrive automatic transmission) One thing that surprised me was the few extra miles per gallon i gained. For $70 bucks this is a good bolt on i would say especially the little extra growl i get with a stock muffler, the power, and gas milage.

**Torque Specs**
Header to block nuts: 25ft/lbs
Header to down pipe nuts: 25ft/lbs
O2 Sensor bung nuts:15ft/lbs
Downpipe to Catalytic Converter nuts:32ft/lbs

I will try to post some pictures when i can.
A3on75

hey thanks for the info man really appreciate it, have a list of mods for my 1994 gli and the ebay headers are one of them also planned to have them heat wrap as well so at least i know from my fellow 7th gen rolla guys that the headers are a good buy

[spystyle]

Hey I bought the same one, it was only $55 shipped

Sadly the paint is bubbling and cracking LOL



I should wrap mine too!

But I found an article that claims wrapping can damage the header :

"Cool air needs to be around the header, and insulating it with a wrap to hold exhaust heat in makes the header material temperatures near molten. When you wrap the header you trap the heat in the header, but also in the material that needs to breathe to dissipate heat for it's own survival."

[BoyYota]

It's settled then, I will just get a straight stainless steel header. And heat-wrap it.