I'm still thinking of adding headers. As the title says, would you do it again?

 

yes, but I would keep my stock manifolds in the garage.

 

Yes.

 

Hell Yes.... Even though it was a pain in the *** because of the Canadian winters and all the salt they throw around. I would still do it all over again with every bolt needing to be cut off

 

without a question, yes! Now what are you waiting for! Just do it!

 

HELL YES!

But I would try to do it right after the inspections for new plates. Even with an O2 sim, it was hard to pass the visual test.

 

ghetto rigged heat shields (just wired up to cover the headers) and a shop that doesnt use a lift to look under the car worked for me.

 

I want headers :@@@@

 

I would do it again. Are they expensive? Yes. Are they a pain to install? Yes. Are they worth it? Oh, heck yeah! They gave my car the most gain after a tune.

 

I agree: I would definitely do it again. I might suggest avoiding a Megan catback with headers, as it makes the car imo obscenely loud (at least the drone), but headers and perhaps Cattman 3" or other reasonable exhaust is well worth the cost. Especially when paired with intake breathing mods.

 

Yes. But I would buy additional quality straps to secure my header wrap. Used generic ones from Harbor Freight once I got to my y-pipe and the wrap just won't stay in place. Good thing the Y is easy to get to! Id also have a shop install holes for my secondary O2 sensors and use antifoulers to avoid the SES light. That's the only things I'd do different.

 

^
You did the header install by yourself?

 

Sure. I do 90% of my own work. Tranny work (other than clutch stuff) is absolutely part of that remaining 10%. I just wish I had greater access here for custom fab stuff. But, I did my grill and put together my 3" magnaflow resonator for my Cattman system.

I also did the majority of work on my '89 turbo.

Course, now my son is a teen, I've started making him help. Mostly gofer stuff, learn the tools and parts of the car kind of stuff.

 

unless you get the obx headers which already has the secondary holes. Messing with you Chris!

 

You're so mean!

 

At least your headers weren't made in China with paper thin thick sub par metal.

If I ever get another 5.5 Maxima, the first thing I will do is headers. It is great performance and could even be considered proactive maintenance (with the bad cat and oil burning issues).

 

my OBX were great, no holes, cracks, etc for more than 3 years and 40k miles before I sold them

 

Same here, gone over 20,000 miles no problems

 

How did the install go? My biggest worry is getting out the old stuff.

 

Biggest issue WILL BE getting out the old stuff!

 

Lol... ^^^ + 1million. Once the old rusted junk is out, the install is the easiest part!!!

 

x10e^10

I've got 90k and 9 years on mine. And they were used when I bought them. If you have to ask this question, maybe they're not for you.

 

blah I might go impulse buy OBX before end of 2013

 

Not bad. Took one day to do it and I did not use a lift. The hardest part is removing the old stuff. I had one heatshield bolt that had to be cut. Took almost an hour but besides that, it went surprisingly well. My car is a Florida car so rust was not an issue. You must take your time! Especially if you try to use extend the oem wiring harness with out adding wire for the o2 sensor to reach.

 

Totally would do it again if I had another FWD VQ. I got help on the install, but when I swapped back to stock I did it alone. Just be patient and make sure you have everything you need (including doing the research on how you're going to do it) BEFORE you start. An impact wrench, breaker bar, and lots of Liquid Wrench will help considering these cars are over 10 years old now.

 

I'm getting quoted 15-20 hours labor at roughly $80 a hour....

Haven't even looked into the EU aspect yet

 

 

You think that isn't fair?

 

I can do it by myself without a lift in less than 4. Factor in maybe an extra hour if you are from a rusty area for PB blaster and soak time. Call it 6 hours for their first time at the shop. If a shop takes over 2 days of labor to do this I wouldnt trust them to rotate my tires, let alone a header install

 

Interesting.

 

its pretty common for a driveway mechanic to budget 8 hours their first time. Obviously, a driveway mechanic might run into issues that push it back HOURS because they dont have the right tools to deal with an issue. With the use of a lift and a proper set of tools I wouldnt allow myself to go anywhere that quotes more than 8 hours, and I would expect it to take less

 

that quote is ridiculous. As I said before. Did it in my garage in about 6-8 hours with breaks.

 

Wow only 6-8 hours ?

 

Honestly, check the infamous header thread, it shouldn't take that long. Set aside a couple of days and work 3-4 hours per day.

Never rush, and be smart not to strip anything.

 

Look at my thread, has all the part numbers and notes you need to install obx or any headers from start to finish. All concerns are covered in this thread

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...-comments.html

 

thanks I stickied

 

That 15 hours is crap; even over 8 hrs is stealership/ garage BS.

Find a small shop and offer them $250-$400

 

Sorry for thread hijackage OP

 

I have cattman. Probably 100k on them. So would do it again.

However, I installed with the help of a friend. It took us most of a day but we were newbies without sufficient air tools.

I could probably do the swap now in 4 hours since I have the right tools and know what I'm doing.

The hardest thing for us was figuring out that you had to loosely assemble everything then tighten down.

I wouldn't do them if I had to pay the labor quoted on this thread.

 

I will be doing this.

If that fails I will do it myself.

I do not have air tools but I have a friend that has them. Lack of proper tools always seem to be one of my major problems. Say I was going to Sears today; what should I buy (assuming I am not using air tools)?

Thanks