my exhaust manifold (1995 ex non-vtec accord) is cracked and i am planning on redoing my entire exhaust. what i want to do is get an aftermarket header, then just buy an average 2.25" catback on ebay and sell the muffler and cat that come with it and use a magnaflow cat and muffler instead. i only would buy it for the pipes since they are too bent to build myself. but that's beside the point. i was just wondering how bad it would be on my stock exhaust to have a racing header on my engine, and how long my exhaust would last w/ it on there, because i can't afford to buy it all at once right away.

 

It's probably not going to negatively affect it at all. Your exhaust gases will just get to the stock exhaust faster, and then be slowed down by the stock cat and muffler. You could run that combo until it rusts out, the only real effect it will have is that you probably won't see any power gain until you open the rest of it up.

 

it's going to be tricky to put the header onto the stock cat, because i'm not sure how i'm going to get a 2.25 pipe to fit to the stock cat w/e a leak, because i'm almost posetive it's not that big.

 

ah yes. Well does it have flages or are you planning on welding the exhaust? That's going to be tricky either way because it's not going to bolt up. I guess if you don't want to chop anything up you're just going to have to run your stock exhaust mani. until you get all the stuff bought to do it all at once. If it's that bad you could always get a replacement mani at a junkyard for a few bucks...dunno what else to tell you unless you want to get out the sawzall, which I wouldn't advise.

 

I have a header on stock exhaust. I think it leaks, but I can't prove it. I don't really like it. I need catback

 

Put the car on jackstands, start it up, and then go under it where they meet and move your hand around the spot where they're bolted up. Without touching the pipe of course. That's a pretty easy way to tell if your exhaust leaks.