Hey I bought this header off ebay for less than 50$. I was actually suprised by the quality i was expecting worse. The only thing that was screwy was the mate flange to the cat was welded crooked. I didnt plan on using it anyhow so i was in luck. Also, i have never seen the 4-1 style like this before- does anyone know why they but the 4-1 collector so soon? My guess was material cost? Any how...
1. I sawed off the flange as close as i could to keep the o2 bung and still have some room for welding.

2. I took a grinding stone and cleaned the collector where the welder burned through


3. Mocked up the 3" reducer and welded it on


4. Installed header and exhaust then measured to see my test pipe length. Then I cut the testpipe.

The 3 inch reducer was a slip on style fit. So i could have slipped the test pipe in but then I would of had a knarly lip and lord knows thats no good

5. I grinded the two 3' flanges to open up the holes a lil more- 1, so it would fit the bigger slip on reducer, and 2 so i could weld the inside and outside of the flange to the test pipe side (youll see why in pix)


6. Went under car, slipped on flanges and bolted them together. Then i put the test pipe in position to mate to rest of exhaust. Next i tacked both flanges on each pipe.
7. weldinggg

here is the test pipe.


8.grindinggg
Now the (larger than 3") reducer to the 3" test pipe wont have any lip i opened up the hole

9.Fittinggg! I put the header back on, bolted up the test pipe than tacked it to the rest of the exhaust. Finished welding and wamo- a nice all motor upgrade for lil $

 

You need a flex pipe or something is going to break.

 

son of a gun- well looks like its bak to the drawing table. Where do u think i should put it?

 

just after the collector.

 

holly nasty welds

/cookie for effort

 

where did u get that reducer?

 

I was thinking 'hey, this should turn out grea-HOLY SHITTY WELD BATMAN'. I seriously hope you didn't weld the inside with that flux core.

Anyways, I'd suggest just getting a 3" flex off of ebay (they usually work great), make a jig out of some 2x4's to keep it all straight, then 'insert' it after the flange on the b-pipe, before the 2nd bung. As for suggestions for welding, erm, have you driven a MIG lately?

 

Hey guys thanks for the cookie ebydc yes it was a flux core welder. Not even a good one at that. It has a "high" and "low" for the heat settings . I love mig welders but i dont love their price maybe some day later this winter Ill try and buy one when the money is there. Actually I was a mig welder/fabricator (some TIG) for a food/market conveyor company for just about 2 years. It was based out of trevose PA. We built conveyor systems from scratch, a nice small family owned shop. I left last spring but wish i haden't. You know one of those decisions that later bites you in life.
As for now the flux is great convienience but it takes alot of heat to get a nice weld. I ground down the inside of the collector so the and filled where the collector met the pipe about a 1/4" down the pipe. I filled the side that mated to the exhaust and the outside. Then i ground down the pipe so it was flush w/ the collector then ground the pipe and weld on the inside, the weld was there to grind so i wasnt grinding down the pipe. This was so i had a "true" mate cause like i said earlier the reducer 3" OD was slightly larger than 3" cause it was a slip-fit style.
Thanks for the tip on finding them on ebay. I guess i should go for the smallest one??? And by the way PA MATT the reducer is made by flowmaster and you can find it at JEGS # 389-R3025 for 22$ you get two of them.



Modified by XLR8 GS-R at 5:40 PM 12/24/2006