so let me get this straight...i'll be honest, I'm a bit slow. So you bought the OBX headers from ebay... and they looked good... but you already knew there was gonna be fitament issues... so with this in mind you wanted to go ahead and hack them up... and customize the pipe from the headers down??? You where in some way gonna fabricate a y-pipe onto the headers.....correct? Whats the main issue your having... clearance??? And its only with the rear headers??? is there anyway to bend to give you some clearance????? and is the that the only issue? When I read your post I was like HELL YEA, it looked promising... some $300 headers with some minor welding job... = affordable mod. But now I guess it wasnt possible.

Only if we didn't have the crossmember, we could install these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OBX-9...spagenameZWDVW

How did the neighbors take the sound?

OK - that's a good question - or several of them. Here's my logic. (I do stuff like this because it's fun - my car has several unconventional mods)

1. It's winter - buy stuff for next season.
2. Goal - 12 second ETs. Headers. Cattman - too expensive, limited availability. Hotshot - even available?
3. OBX on Ebay. Hummm. Good headers, teeny Y-pipe. Cheesey Y-pipe.
4. I can use the headers and have local shop make the rest! I want to keep my Warpspeed 3-inch exhaust system, now a cat-back system. I had a couple of talks with the shop owner. No problem. Race shop, remember?
5. When I started installation, the front header went in OK. (I used OEM gaskets).
6. The rear header could not go in with the front pipe connected. No wiggle-room, and you can't just lift it straight up into position.
7. Since the Y-pipe was already doomed, and the rear won't install, I cut off both extra pipes from the rear header.
8. Rear header installed easily. I plugged the EGR outlet first.
9. Car now runs again, so next step is to coordinate with racer's exhaust shop to finish the whole thing.

The headers look pretty darn good. Welds are ground, ports are polished, the header flange is thick stuff, downtubes are long and merge well into a 3-tube collector, so I think I'm ready for the shop.

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PS. This thread is kinda payback for all the neat stuff I get from the ORG. Plus people here need to know the truth about these headers. I wonder if I should contact eBay and hint that there is some false advertising going on here.

Funny you should ask that - the neighbors back of us were doing work out back, and when I started up, revved up a bit, and shut down, I heard some "what the heck was that?" comments coming over the fence.... I haven't been on the street, and now I won't go out until shop time. It's really LOUD - the video does not do it justice...

Wife's back so it's a lawn-maintenance day anyway. Man, the engine revs easily now. Maybe I should leave it that way and just trailer to places ???

Yeah, def tell OBX with the pics, maybe when they make a new batch they will fix it with a 2.5in ypipe

Ok cool.... so the rear heads did fit... its just gonna be major fabrication correct??? I saw your thread... and I wanted to know the turnaround... if you where able to get anything out of the car.... so heads fit, its just the collecting pipe/y-pipe that needs to be modified//hacked to fit correct??? sorry for the questions... but I want to make sure... I might try this later on this month. would a 2.5 pipe be a issue? I plan to run both N/A for a while and then some nitrous later on....

Raul

This picture shows where I am now:
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1945.jpg

Yes, both headers are installed. The two stubs in the picture show what I had to do to the rear manifold plumbing to get the rear header up in there and installed. The front one goes in easily - but the lower end connector is too close to the oil pan, and angled too far up for the extension pipe to fit on.

Cliff notes: cut all the extra stuff off the rear header, installed both front and rear headers, need to have rest of Y-pipe constructed and O2 bungs put in the right places. With extending the wires, the rear O2 sensor will fit in one of the holes.


Once you get to this point, your fabricator should be able to make whatever Y-pipe you need.
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Raul, go for the nitrous when your exhaust is finished. It's a blast !!
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w000h00!

I definatly agree tho, send these pictures to OBX with a cliffnote of what you had to do to get them to work, cus that is ridiculous... Of course mentioning the false advertisement going on at eBay for these should be noted .

I checked with the muffler shop this afternoon, and Thursday morning the car goes in the shop for the 3" Y-pipe. Yeah.

I spent the evening building extensions for the two front O2 sensors.

I got the car down off the jackstands and Rhino stands tonight. It reminded me again how low it sits in the front end. The most fun was starting it up. Scared my wife, neighborhood birds went quiet, and dogs went hysterical after a little revving in the driveway. Heh. Then I backed it up and put it to bed.

Thursday.

Sounds good. Looks like you and I both are making progress for this season. I can't wait to see what this exhaust setup does for your times, let alone the new electronics and the third stage of nitrous

Wow. Thrusday is a big day for both of us. My car returns from the Surgeon (auto body) on Thursday with a new front end. Needless to say I'm excited as I'm sure you will be as well. We will have to meet up again soon. I still owe you lunch!

You doctors - always looking for an excuse to cut... J/K.... Nice to hear your car is getting new body parts. No more rusty stuff ?? Now, if you just had traction bars - no more torque steer!

We'll connect at one of the Mon-Kan Nissan events, I'm sure. Once I get all this new stuff working right, I shall become unsufferable in public.

Making things better, one step at a time - I like it!

Did you get your wiring things figured out?? That TCU is too hard to access for me...

Yeah. The TCU is really easy to work with once you have it unbolted, and I zip-tied it to the dash frame where I could sit and work with it, and there was TONS of length in the wiring. Very, very easy to work with. Unfortunately, trips for supplies and constant interruptions meant all I got done was setting up the wiring for the torque converter. Didn't try it out, as I ran out of daylight and the energy to work on it. Wiring for the shift solenoids, overrun clutch, and fans should be easy to get through tomorrow. Then all I have to do is finish making a new panel (a perfected one) and install it.

Big day for me as well, I will be installing SFC's or a 3rd pedal

I shall have a nice vid of the shift fast and TC and lauching and eu revlimit and all that good stuff soon too

How you going to show us the shift_fast with a 3rd pedal, silly?

That's the beauty of it. N00bs will go crazy...

3rd pedal with auto tranny...all of us had it at one point or another.

Be sure to take a picture that shows said 3rd pedal in the same frame as the auto shifter

WOW - you've been busy! Can't wait to see what you've done with the new options for the automatic tranny...

Maybe you can figure out the best way to use the TC clutch for me. I'm still working on the car, not racing it..

The shop had finished with my OBX headers + Y-pipe today, so I picked it up and drove home. Wet streets and DRs don't mix well..

After I got home, the skies opened, so I put it back in the garage. Taking pictures will have to wait for dry sky.

There are 2" pipes coming off each header, back into a 3" collector and shorty turbo flex joint. The O2 sensors now have homes to screw into. I think there is now a place for a cutout, since there is space between the 2-to-1 collector and the rear flex joint. Time will tell.

Once we get sunshine back, I'll get the car back up and get some pictures.
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sweet! Cant wait to see the pictures

well obviously you couldnt floor it, but for the normal driving that you did, did you notice a change in the sound of the exhaust? (for what you were able to drive)

I didn't hear anything different for those four blocks of driving, but the 3" exhaust system has always had a deep rumble sound - and that didn't change. I revved it out in second gear once, but ran out of room and traction. Residental streets are bad for that.

It looks like rain for the next 3-4 days, too. I need dry highways so I can push this car. Once we get some sun, I can raise it up in the garage and maybe get some photos. I laid on the wet garage floor and shone a floodlight under it, but I can't tell much that way. Later, I guess. Darn rain.
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I took several photos of the new OBX header Y-pipe, that adapts into my existing Warpspeed catback..

The two front O2 sensors' wires have been extended for now.

Views from front to back, from both sides.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1949.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1950.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1951.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1952.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1953.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1954.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1955.jpg

Notice the space for a cutout just ahead of the shorty 3" turbo flex?? Heh..
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1956.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1957.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s/Dscn1958.jpg

There is an All Motor thread showing a 3.5 in a 4th gen maxima, showing very familiar headers on the front bank.


http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=520738

Here is a comment from that thread: (great looking car, by the way)

"Headers (hehe, I get to use an 'S'....sorry, I'm usually a 4-cyl guy), I found them on ebay, they were labeled for an Altima 3.5. Just some cheap shiny headers that fit my budget. I don't even know what brand they are but they are brand new and look well built. Nice thick flanges and clean welds, can't ask for anything better."


Here is the eBay photo of this header:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...timaHeader.jpg
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These look good, but the headers are short tubes compared to the ones I used - a replacement for the stock manifolds - and after the headers join for the Y-pipe, that Y-pipe looks as small as my original OBX did - right at 2". To be a performance set of headers, at least the rest of the header after the 2-1 collector needs to be rebuilt - IMHO.. Anyway, it's an interesting comparison between two sets of OBX headers.

Here is a photo of the long-tube headers set I modified:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ximaHeader.jpg
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That's some Nice work by the muff shop! You should mass produce this y pipe for ppl wanting to run obx headers..

Yeah, these guys do great work. They build exhaust systems for all sorts of racers and restored cars. After I had the headers installed and we set a date for the Y-pipe build, the owner asked me if I was going to cancel if it rained, like the weather forecast said.

"Huh?" was my response - and he said he's had three cancellations within a week, due to rain. Seems that a lot of his customers don't like to get their customs or restorations wet! This ain't Midas!

I assured him that I'd be there rain or shine - and I was. Being a racer himself, he got the flow smooth all the way back, with pipes opening into slightly larger pipes all the way back to the 3" cat. It's even quieter that the original Warpspeed Y-pipe!

Making them - no - That's too much pain and suffering for me. Maybe a pro like Cattman could do it - if he wanted to.

But wait, he does...

Just busting your *****, grey

You're a hard man..... to put up with


Seriously, if Cattman could take the already-built headers and build the rest of the Y-pipe to a 2 1/2" or 3" cat connection - he could create header sets with a faster turnaround time than he has today. Of course, they wouldn't be his famous equal-length headers, but not everyone wants those, or wants to wait months for a set. These would be a different market, with quicker delivery times and a smaller price.

OK, I'm dreaming here...
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Yeah your exhaust guy does awesome work, I don't think mine could make a ypipe that nice.

Harold that setup looks amazing. Hope you enjoy it

Let's hope the headers help. It sure hits fuel-cut quickly while running N/A.

I know you probably dont like saying it but...

How much was the custom fab... ???? with parts and all... again I've been looking at all the work you've done... and I'm seriously thinking about going this route...

looks hella nice..

raul

The OBX headers were about $330 delivered from eBay. I changed out the original manifolds and installed the OBX headers onto the engine. The exhaust shop charged me $200.75 for all the rest of the work.

The OBX header sets are always on eBay - they're the 95-99 Maxima set with all the photos. I remain impressed with the long-tube header part. The rest is obviously for another car.

Changing out the manifolds and getting both front and rear headers installed was a 3-day job for me. The rear heat shields from he11 were the worse, and I did port out my MEVI for a Pathy TB on the third day, since I had to take it off anyway. If you do this, go to Sears and buy the 3/8" flex ratchet with the long handle, the one with a rubber grip molded to the handle. This is my newest best friend. Long and short 6-point 14mm sockets are next, a couple of 3/8" extensions and flex joints, and a 8" pipe wrench for Harbor Freight were all new tools for me. Also got a $14.99 4" cutoff/grinder to slice off the extra pipes from the OBX rear header. Removing the manifolds was a real lesson in humility. I could have paid some shop to do it, but I wanted the wrench-time for my own education. Kind of a warm-up for a 3.5 transplant.

The exhaust shop guy did a bang-up job in completing the header package. Notice how he used a piece of 3" stainless to make a collector for the two 2" manifold pipes and brought it back to the 3" turbo flex? Nice. And a good place for a cutout.

If you know a competent exhaust shop (look for one that caters to racers and car collectors) you can do this.
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i wonder if you could of gotten him to make your complete header and y-pipe setup.

No way - those headers were done with a CNC machine. I've built long-tube headers, and that is a lot of work to get everything to fit exactly right. I used the good parts of the OBX, and the exhaust guy finished the rest.

Now if you had an engine sitting in the car with nothing else attached, then yes, if you had pre-cut flanges, the rest of the system could be built in place, in the car. But - our cars are much too tight around the engine for that to be possible. IMHO.

Please excuse my ignorance.

Never apologize for asking a good question. Yours was a fair question.

If I answer someone's question, I try to give all the details I am personally familiar with. This way, if someone else here knows more about the subject, they may speak up and correct both of us.

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Wat iz dis 3.5 transplant j00 spek ov????? BRILLIANT!!!