so i had thease 4-2-1 headers on my da (90) and the downpipe fit like crap and one pipe hung lower than the other and ended up getting smashed! ive heard of people running on smashed headers and running the same hp and tq after they dyno but i think this is super bad! i have yet to see a header that fits without being smashed up. i know there is a difference between the obd1 da integra headers and the obd0 integra headers. i think the 92-93 integra headers would fit more tucked from getting smashed but they look a little too short to hook up with the catback. anyways, ill post up some pics to show you my down pipe. mabe its still safe to drive on. im hoping it wont effect anything.

 

your cars to low?

 

my car is lowered but its not even that low. you can stick 2 fingers inbetween the fenders and the tire

 

Put them back on and see if you can notice any choking/hesitation. You have to see if it flows ok for now, you can probably still use it for the time being.

 

its not going to effect performance noticeably at all... 90% of people with lowered cars have the same problem, nothing you can do about it except raise your car or buy/make a skid plate.

 

Thats a pretty good hit. Probably will not be a noticable difference, but if you re-install it and the car is choking/struggling/not performing as it should, then you need to replace the headers.

As its been said, most of us are running dented headers because of ride height. My dented mugen 4-1 feels like it makes more power than the hytech replica I had on my gsr previously. I have heard similar claims to mine as well. Providing the dent is not outrageous, the flow doesnt seem to be interrupted to much;or at least its not interrupted enough to produce a noticeable difference.

In most cases it appears that the pipes get flattened outward, not concaved inward. The first header I had on my gsr was a $40 badly dented dc sports 4-1 off of craigslist. As badly as it was dented(both bottom pipes were mildly concaved) it still produced a noticeable power difference over the stock gsr header. Again it felt like the car was producing more power, probably because it leaned the slightly rich factory afr mixture out a bit. None the less I dont even claim to have dyno results to back any of the above statements up, I am just going by what the car felt like before and after.

To sum up three paragraphs of writing, you will probably be fine because you only have one pipe dented. If both pipes were dented as badly as the one is then I would say you might want to monitor it closely. I think you will be fine though. The moral of this is that you need to hit speed bumps sidewayz. Lol. I hope I was able to help you out a bit.

 

My car is lower than yours (I can barely get a finger under the wheel/ fender and in the back I am almost tucking tire) and I have never had any major issues. What spring/ strut combination are you using? Im guessing stock struts with lowering springs?

 

You bring up a good point. I cant fit a finger between my front fender and tire and I have yet to have scraping issues. My mugen is very mildly dented, but I do hit everything sidewayz. Lol so I'm sure that helps.

 

But I am sure you own a set of decent coilovers and not some hacked setup, correct?

 

http://passwordjdm.com/PasswordJDM-A...P2196C325.aspx

 

thats a good idea, but anyforce going up against the down pipe is still going to effect it. by the way, i found some aftermarket performance headers that use a similar design to stock so that the downpipe fits perfectly through the oil pan and not hanging as low. they are about 270 though, but its http://www.kamikazeperformance.com/

im thinking about getting one once i get the money. thats the issue with all the 4-2-1 is that there isnt that much room for 2 pipes to fit under the oil pan so one hangs lower, with thease, its just one pipe. i think its 2inches in diameter.

thanks for the help guys!

 

look into a pacesetter header also

 

If the shocks are set too soft, there might be a bigger rebound when hitting a pothole. That might be the reason why you still hit even though you are not low. I think this might be the reason because usually a 4-2-1 header has much more clearance than a 4-1. This said, there have been tons of people not having any issues with scrapping and denting 4-1 headers, so you should definitely not have any issues, especially with that ride height.

My last integra was, as we car people would say, dumped...lol

I had no problem with denting anything because my Tein Flex were set on the hardest setting. There was hardly any suspension travel

 

which is why I asked what his suspension setup was. Ill put money on it that its stock struts on coils/ lowering springs

 

^^And that would be the answer to all his problems. If youre gonna be extremely low on the street, you better have a decently stiff suspension to help you fight off those potholes waiting to get you

 

you have the right idea. hopefully everyone learns from this. I am not saying an Ebay or cheap suspension is bad... just don't bitch when you fly over a bump and bottom your car out

 

How's your back.

 

haha. I was in a DC2 with a set of Tein flex's. I wouldn't be able to daily that car it makes me want to throw up everytime I hit a bump

 

I dont know if you would consider h&r springs, and gr2's a hacked up setup, but I like them. When they blow I am going with a koni/gc setup. It rides pretty good/stiff.

 

25 years old and not one single complaint

 

for a cheap fix..a good welder can cut that out and fix it..i have done it a few times.may not be perfect but the reality of it is it will happen again..and any dents will affect flow..weather you FEEL it or not.

 

lol you got me! yea i have stock struts on skunk2 lowering springs in the rear and coilovers in the front. my front end seems pretty stiff, but yea the rebound is killer, would you guys recommend aftermarket struts? i plan on getting function form type 1's some time in the future but i know for a fact stiffer struts are a must have. anyone know a good set of struts to go with that wont brake the bank? mabe tokico blues or somthing?

 

as long as they dn leak ur all good!

 

I would say it's probably fine to run, but just know that exhaust flow is going to be restricted and will see a difference in hp.

Considered raising the car? replacing the beat exhaust manifold?

 

would extended top hats help?