My buddy who builds turbo kits for a living put a set of ebay headers on a VQ35 a couple months ago and he said they were just fine aside from the fact that he had to do a little work to the Y-pipe to make it mate up with the exhaust. I figured you can't really go wrong. Can't be worse than stock.

So I went on ebay and looked em up, there seem to be about 5 different manufacturers making them. Not sure who actually builds them, but they are just being sold by normal rice distributors but none of them look bad. I chose these because I liked the look of the collectors the most from the ebay pics, and this auction actually had pics showing piping diameters and what not, whereas some of the other header auctions had fewer pics, or crappier pics, etc. These just seemed the most "legit" and thoroughly thought out to me. I received them yesterday and took these pics.

Some of them I think have EGR pipes and what not, I don't run an EGR so I didn't bother looking for ones that had EGR pipe. Some are stainless others are mild, some claim to be ceramic coated while others do not. I wasn't terribly concerned with any of that just the look of the craftsmanship from the ebay pictures, and I'm happy with what I received for the price. The thing I really like, and was actually surprised to find, was that there is an extra pipe that completes the "y-pipe" portion of the header that actually transitions up to 3" which is perfect for me since I have a custom 3" exhaust with custom 3 bolt flanges on it so we were gonna have to mate the header to my 3" exhaust anyways, but the fact that the header itself transitions to 3" makes things much easier for me. Just add a little length of pipe to make it the proper length and then throw the 3 bolt flange on there.

BTW you have to search Altima headers to find them, they don't seem to pop up when you search maxima headers.

 

 

 

The Altima VQs have the full subframe (as with the A34) though, don't they?

One would think it would be designed to fit around that, and would possibly interfere with the A32 center crossmember.

Ex:
http://forums.maxima.org/3575692-post4.html
http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...rs-maxima.html

etc.

Though if you plan on modifying the Y for clearance, then not a bad price for a set of headers.

 

hmm interesting. well I guess I'll find out when we try put them on. if there is interference then i guess it depends on how much modification will be needed to fit them on there. if it ends up being a ton of work then I probably won't bother.

 

Arent these the same headers Aaron92se put on his car?

 

they kinda look like hot shots...

 

You should have tried looking for the header that has 3 peices instead of 4 peices, but then again since your fab the y pipe to an A32 this wouldnt apply.

I recommend dont using the gasket that came with them, They arent worth a shat ..

If your not planning to run a EGR ( 2004s and up ) then your good, I belive the A32 has a bit more room behind the firewall for you to pull the rear header out than a A34.

They are not bad but I would also recommned you running dual resonators if your worry about it being quiet.

Adding the headers to my Greddy SP made it fine the first month , then it got really loud and I went with a Tru Dual setup with resonators and quiet it down.

 

No idea, I'll have to take a look at his thread.

I hope it doesn't take too much fabrication to make these work. I'm looking to get under the car on thurs or friday so I'll keep you guys updated.

I don't have an EGR to worry about, got rid of that crap years ago. Yeah I won't be using those gaskets, I;ll be using the MLS gaskets for header to head connection, and then a different gasket for the flange connections + copper RTV. My exhaust is 100% custom 3" from the y-pipe all the way back so changing resonators and what not is not a problem if it comes to that.

This is all assuming I can even get them to fit with a moderate or less amount of fab work. I'm not gonna spend 2 days hacking these things to pieces and rebuilding them if it takes that much work. I'll just sell em instead and buy ones that actually fit or forget headers entirely.

 

does anybody see these not working on a 3.0? (i dont know difference between running 3.5 headers on a 3.0, let alone altima ones) i know itll bolt up, but as far as length, hitting anything, etc....

 

Well, the new OBX's are made for the 3.5 and they work on the 3.0 in an A32. I wouldn't be surprised to see these fit...

 

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Very intrested to see if these will fit with little modification.

 

same here. for that price you cant beat that

 

The headers fit with the exception of the rear one hitting the crossmember. The y pipe actually ends up sitting where the crossmember is. If you're not low, you can get away with extending the y pipe to sit under the crossmember.

 

Do you know if any modification was required to make these fit?? IIRC didnt the crossmember have to be modified??

Those are dirt cheap, I cant even find a y-pipe for that cheap

 

i have the new OBX's on my 3.5 swap....

the only thing i had to do to get them to fit was grind down a little lip on the cross member and it all went together very nicely.


good luck Neal!

EDIT: after looking at those pictures again i don't see how in the world those are going to fit....its going to be VERY close to the cross member...

 

Tilly tried these and they hit the crossmember

 

I'm going to take a look at them tonight and see how much modification would be necessary. If it's too much I'm not going to attempt to get them on tonight.

 

I don't remember the exact details,but the rear header hits the crossmember, so that entire bottom of the header and connection to the Y would have to be modified

 

hmm, doesn't sound very promising. guess I should have posted before I bought, I was hoping to present the .org with a nice surprise lol.

 

With the OBXs, for the 5th gens, you have to grind the cross member, but I read somewhere that (I think it was maxima92se or someone) you can install them in a 4th gen without modification. Its a tight squeeze, but it does clear the cross member.

 

95blkmax had these installed a couple years back. Required relocation of the rear header flange and a completely custom "y"-pipe.

 

I dont want to hear that. Damn it!!!! This setup would be perfect for the price. Ive seen 6th gen header package for the same prices. but it looks about the same as these

 

Indeed, the A34/L32(/L31?) header packages are all but identical, IIRC. They all have the same subframe setup.

 

If that's all that's required then I'll probably get it done. Custom Ypipe is a piece of cake and relocating a flange is too. I just didn't want to have to mess with any of the primaries or the 3-1 collectors.

I didn't get to check them out tonight unfortunately. Hopefully some time soon.

 

this is not always the case....we installed a set on a 5.5 gen 3 weeks ago without a single modification to the cross member. we did however have to cut out a tiny piece of the rear motor mount. pretty smooth install actually.

 

Sorry, I should've clarified, I was referring to the installs on the DEK 5th gens and the 4th gens. Oops.

 

Updates??????

 

I didn't get a chance to try them out. Will have to wait a few weeks I've got a race this weekend and then moving the next weekend. Perhaps the week after that because I'm hoping to hit the track on the 6th or 7th.

 

I'm interested in this as well. I am willing to do SOME minor fabrication to make them fit but I would like to see pictures before I dive in. Same scenario though, I want the equal length Y pipe and 3 inch exhaust. Dont have a couple grand to blow on a brand name exhaust.

 

Year and a half bump. Any update Neal? Im looking into the alti headers as well and wanted to pick your brain.

 

EXACTLY, i was wondering the same thing. Had an eye on those.

 

for my 5.5th gen, I forgot to mention...

 

If i'm not mistaken, schmellyfart used these in his custom header setup, he only used the manifolds because the Y-pipe literally runs into the crossmember.

 

Yeah he did but I was hoping for a second opinion. Its too late for me now since I picked up some OBX 3.5's. But the wisdom can prove useful to others! Even thoug, I still wouldnt mind being enlightened.

 

I asked Neal about these a few months ago and he said he never had a chance to put them on. I waiting for 2 sets of these right now. One for my max and a set for my girls car. We're going to have a custom y-pipe made for them.

 

Nice. If you can, some detailed pics would be great. The more important ones being space around the primaries/collectors, how low they hang, and how close to the xmember they are.

Going with an = custom Ypipe?

 

i had these same headers on my car when i was 3.0 and also on my 3.5 swap, great headers other than the fact that i had to get a y pipe made, other than that the car was running hard.

 

kool. sounds like you have "noregrets" installing those headers.

 

No I never got around to messing with these. Still sitting in a box in my storage space. I'd like to at some point but who knows. Not much time these days for messing with the car.