i heard that stock honda headers are pretty good, and that with new headers you may see 1-3 hp increase. so would it be worth it to just port and polish the old header? or would it cost less/be better to just get a new aftermarket header?

and sorry if i didn't search for this in a thread from like four months ago. please god don't kill me for making this thread if it has already been discussed. i know it seems to be one of the most serious offenses you can make around here if you don't use a search.

 

I dont see how the porting oem header helps...
the holes are so small and i bet it will "leak" air after you port it..
but just my idea..give it a try if you have a spare

 

well i'm just thinking if it would help the airflow and cost less than an aftermarket header. i'm not trying to be cheap here, just curious if it would be worth it.

 

oh..i dont mean to be saying you're ghetto(since who's the diy king?me..)
just a second here...you gonna do the porting right?
if you have some moola around just give it a try..and see what's up really
and if you F-ck up the stock one..you always can get aftermarket sh_ts.

 

well i guess i'll need to learn how to port stuff first lol. i was just figuring if the stock header flows well, why not just enlarge the tubes a little and smooth out the runners? thought maybe it would be something interesting to do, see if it would really work. i might try it once i don't need the stock header anymore (read: turbo!) and then let a friend try it out

 

eh, i doubt youll see much of an improvement. The best mod to your exhaust it to add one of those spinny twirly thingies to it.

 

sounds good. got some cash you wanna just hand over to me for one? maybe you have an extra just lying around? lol. all in due time, all in due time.

but i mean hell i don't wanna be driving around with just an intake and exhaust until i get the cash for turbo and tranny conversion, i need something to make me THINK i'm quicker than i used to be . . .

 

It's not just about larger diameter piping. It's more in the equal length piping which allows each cylinder to "take it's turn" down the exhaust piping and minimize interference caused by exhaust pulses hitting each other.

 

There is no stock header that is the best header available for any Honda motor. The only header I can think of thats decent is the JDM ITR header which has a 2.5" collector.

When porting/polishing a head you can get to all the material of the head, do a valve job, intake ports, exhaust ports etc.

With a header you would only be able to port/polish the beginning of the primaries and the collector. You wouldnt be able to do the whole thing its not really feasible without cutting it up and rewelding it. Its not worth it. Its not the inside of an OEM header that is really a problem its the size of piping and the bends so the gas pulses leave like a gattling gun, one after another. An aftermarket header with no other modifications would yield only a couple HP. There are no simple bolt ons for Hondas that make lots and lots of power.

 

unless you bolt you butt on a NOSSSS kit.

nawwsss
best bang for the buck

 

the welds on aftermarket headers all have the welds on the outside of the piping while stock ones have the welds on the inside if i am not mistaken. so gringing those down will increase flow therefore making it perform better.

 

n2o=cheating
but i like to cheat..haha
weld inside? ya..but i bet the whole thing is gonna
leak haha

 

You won't notice a power gain by doing anything to your stock exhaust manifold. Also when purchasing a new aftermarket header do not go cheap. Cheap headers crack and get leaks in no time. Plus i have seen that DC Sports makes a adapter for the wiring harness for the O2 sensor so you do not need to cut the original to make it longer in legnth.

 

Anybody remember SCCs geat Header Test? They ported and polished a oem GSR and dynoed it with the rest of the headers. It made a few hp. IMO, is it worth not really.

 

so any update on it yet?

 

I've seen mixed results with aftermarket headers. Aftermarket doens't always mean better. Caveat emperator.

Portmatching the OEM exhaust manifold is an interesting concept cause its free (doing it yourself). I remember reading a Grassroots article where an early civic (88? 87?) portmatched his intake and exhaust manifolds and actually melted his sparkplugs running it in autox. Of course, there were also modest HP gains. If you've got the tools n' time...i'd do it. Actually, Grassroots just recently (issue before last) had this neat article on DIY head porting...VERY VERY interesting with outstanding results. Um...if you haven't guessed already, I like grassroots mag.

edit: oh, that civic ended up just having to change his plugs to a different heat range and then he was fine.


[Modified by RotaryBzzz, 4:43 PM 11/13/2002]

 

Hey iam7head,

This if off-topic, but can you tell me how much money and how hard it was to paint your engine RED? What kind of paint did you use? Maybe I can do that to some engines I'd like to paint. And yes, they're Honda engines. Thanks!

 

well..depend.
i love to diy my sh_t so i did it myself
mostly same old tricks--> clean sand down and paint..
i didnt primer it since i bet i wont hold up again the heater
the value cover now is as good as the first day i paint them
i put like 7-8 very light coats of high temp. paint with 3-4 layers
of clear coat..which is also heat resistance.
didnt drive it for one day to let it dry up..
em...no more than 15 bucks on paints and sand papers
how hard? is a cake..haha
just take your sweet time covering all the stuffs around it.
and yeah..all my stuff i used can be found in autozone..


[Modified by iam7head, 5:47 AM 11/15/2002]


[Modified by iam7head, 5:50 AM 11/15/2002]