Hey guys, my chassis is a 95 ej1 2 door coupe and I just bought a 97 B16B CTR engine and transmission entire swap over from hmotors, and looks like if I want to add an aftermarket header, there may be issues because type R transmissions have that transmission stiffener that may get in the way. Out of all you type r swappers, do you have an issue with fitment when installing an aftermarket header, like persay, the alpha skunk2 one? It says right on the sales page that it the header will not work with type r transmission stiffener. So If I want a header, what do I do?

2nd question, so if I decide to just keep the regular oem CTR header, the changeover from hmotors doesn't include a cat or anything, the header just ends and thats it. I am going to buy an apexi ws2 exhaust, what test pipe do you guys recommend that will be able to link the exhaust and the CTR oem header together correctly? or does any test pipe work? what do you guys think?

 

My PLM RMF narrow header fit great on my 01 ITR. The Skunk2 has tubes stacked on top of one another...so it likely wont clear. If you're bent on getting a skunk2 header, you can use a normal B series stiffener.

I would not use a test pipe as it will sound like a wet fart all the time. And it will smell awful. And you're not gaining much (if any) power over a high flow cat (HFC).

I would suggest a high flow cat. A USDM cat won't fit the header. And a JDM cat may not fit the exhaust. You can ask HMO to include the JDM cat, however, to try it out.

I used a 2.5" HFC on my ITR. The header had a slip fitting (clock able) flange.

The header came with a test pipe. So I cut the flanges off the test pipe and they were welded to a universal HFC in the approximate locations from memory and eyeballing. Bolted it in. It sounded great and worked very well.

 

Also...spend a couple hundred dollars more and buy an ITR swap instead. The 1.6 is nice for enduro racing or to stay within a class for racing while still making good power.

But the B18CR is much more driveable and much faster in the same chassis. Plus more potential, etc.

 

I too have the "Narrow" style header on my B18CR. Fit's the block fine, but you must trim the fan shroud and possibly even the fan tips (depending on your radiator). You will also need to trim the lower splash guard if you run that. It also runs extremely close to the clutch slave cylinder, and it's rubber nipple must be removed (also makes bleed the clutch with a hose difficult & messy).

I would recommend a Toda style header. They make comprable power to the narrow style, but have better fan & ground clerance (not that the narrow has bad ground clearance tho). Only downside IMO is it doesn't look nearly as good.

The thing I really like about the Toda style header (aside from it's better fit) is it has a rear bracket which should make it stiffer & more durable. Though for some dumb reason it looks like they copied the 98-spec Toda instead of the 96-spec, which means you will need the 98-spec JDM header bracket and some bolts & nuts to make it work. If they had simply copied the 96-spec one, it would be bolt-on for WAY more people (US-R & 96-spec JDM-R that most people have).

As for the JDM cat, it's a good option. It's half length and larger diameter inlet (outlet is smaller than inlet). I have one on my motor. Modding the exhaust is easy. Just drive it to an exhaust shop with the cat bolted to the header and the shop will extend your existing B-pipe to meet it. The 3-bolt pattern on the back of the cat is different than US cats & exhausts so they will need to notch the bolt holes your exhaust flange to make it work. I think it cost me like $20 on the guys lunch break (bring cash).

Here is how to cut the exhaust flange & gasket to match the JDM cat:


Narrow Header clearance photos:

 

^yep. The "rmf narrow" does require fan shroud/blade trimming and it does run close to the bleeder. In fact...my clutch fluid over heated a bit during a very hot track day.

I will also agree that the "toda" header isn't as nice looking.

Comparitively, the narrow rep seemed to make more midrange power than the toda rep. They both felt like they made comparable top end.

 

yeah I could have went for the b18c, but I like the b16b, its a lot more rare. I'm not really going for speed, just like to have a little fun since I have a really clean 95 civic coupe chassis in my hands. I already have an evo x if I wanted fast.

 

Hey guys, I got my problem solved, HMOtors basically said they would give me a mugen header for 650 more to the package. which will clear the stiffener and solve the problem.