i just bought these headers on ebay which are supposedly custom made. The seller assured me they would fit "in my car". I figured 75 bucks wasnt a huge loss since headers only come along at that price every once in a blue moon. Well somebody waited until the last minute just like me long story short they got up to 130.
here's the only picture that was in the ad.

description : 95- 99 Maxima Headers - bolt on - "Super Exhaust Headers"
comes with gaskets and nuts.
New, never installed.

there wasnt really any info about them and he couldnt tell me what they were made out of or if it was stainless steel.
I bought these for my 3.5 swap to get a cleaner install and avoid re-using old parts. But i'm not that knowledgable on what makes a GOOD FLOWING header so i'm looking for input on what yall think based on the picture and any knowledge you have about headers. When i watch them make headers on horsepower TV its just as simple as welding the pipes to the flange and to a collector at the end. Is there any possibility these might be more restrictive than the stock headers?
just lookin for some input...thanks.

 

These are almost exactly like stock.

 

can you explain to me what that means "almost like stock". i've already stated that im unaware of what would make the headers flow differently.
i wasnt necessarily looking for an increase in horsepower, just a cleaner part and maybe some better sound.
if they are like stock they should FIT like stock, right?

 

Yes they are a replica of the stock design. The egr pipe needs to be modded to make it fit right but you will prob just cover that hole up since you're doin the 35. I have read these do sound different than stock but I doubt it is anything big.

I would have tried the OBX new style headers and custom mod them. They have the rear header welded to the ypipe. The headers look longer so they should sound different and add a lil bit of power. I would cut them and add a flange so you can remove the ypipe.

 

they look like ssautocrome headers. there shorty headers which mean they look like stock. But You will see about 5 hp and a considerable noise difference. For $130.00 its not a bad upgrade. You shouldn't have any fitment issues.

 

yeah well i wasnt going to buy headers unless i could get them really cheap, i didnt even plan on spending THIS much. I wouldnt have gone any higher though.
I went with shorties because like you said, i want to be able to remove the y pipe and what not.
what are you saying you would cut and add a flange? the obx headers?
yeah i hope there arent any fitment problems.

 

Got a dyno? I never seen a 5hp increase do to these. Maybe calispec 99's get a 5hp increase but I don't think others will.

 

haha, it doesnt matter to me...its going in with my 3.5. Just as long as they arent MORE restrictive than stock.

 

They are just like stock. I got them when I did my DEK cause I didnt wanna spend $800 on cattmans, but on the other hand I didnt wanna install the ugly heavy a** stockers back on there.

-matt

 

im in the same boat then. did they make a sound difference?

 

A bit, yes....nothing really major

 

There is no dyno, but 5hp probabl the maximum amount of power it would put down. Also, you have to look at the design. The stock is just an open cavity where as the sorties allow the exhaust gasses to flow through a path and than into a collector before the y-pipe. This means exhaust gasses are flowing more freely. And therefore the increase in HP.

 

i bought a set heat wrapped and used , and the inside welds werent pretty . but just the fact they are heat wrapped kept alot of heat out of my engine bay i would say the heat wrap helps power right there.

sound levels couldnt tell a difference under the hood but the muffler sound was alittle throatier.

and they save 8-10lbs not bad for the $90 i spent and they are made of 304ss

i dont know if all have the welding on the inside that restricts flow but when i get a chance iam gonna remove the headers and grind the inside and have them welded on the outside

 

I hope the welding isn't on the inside then. Heat wrapping really makes that big of a difference? Its not very attractive haha. But ill look into it since ill probably be getting rid of the heatshield.

 

stock a32


cattman ( hard to see, but different design for sure )


i say you got an upgrade

 

I hope the welding isn't on the inside then. Heat wrapping really makes that big of a difference? Its not very attractive haha. But ill look into it since ill probably be getting rid of the heatshield.

 

I'm dealing with the welds now on the inside. I'm trying to grind it down, but the dremel takes a long time. What are you going to use to grind the inside down? The rear is bad but the front is good.

 

im just gonna use a drill bit for grinding stuff down.

 

Don't wrap unless you feel like replacing your stuff down the road. The retained heat does the headers in. The metal gets so hot that is actually changes the structure, the metal literally rots from the constant overheating. Warranties are void because of this. It you remove the wrap down the road you will see the metal has a funny very large grain size, you can see this on the outside of the pipe, the metal is no longer smooth but looks like a coarse sand.

Ask any header manufacturer,and they'll tell ya that the warranty will be voided if you add header wrap. Header wrap is for the professional race car drivers that rebuild their engines constantly and swap in new parts.

 

ah alright, thanks for the info.

anyone reccomend a certain gasket before i put these on? i know he included some in the auction but i want to put the good stuff on while its easy to do so.

 

Where are you guys finding them for so cheap? the auctions I looked at were all for the full set: headers and y-pipe. I only need the headers cause I'm boosted and have my own feedpipe.

 

ill check this out when i take the wrap off to weld them but i would say even so its worth it my engine bay is much cooler and my engine loves it.

ill be testing this and see how long my $90 headers last wrapped . i have never not had them wrapped

 

Here is SSAutoChrome's page of Nissan headers:

http://www.ssautochrome.com/level.itml/icOid/1433

No claims to quality....

 

does the ss autochrome use stock y-pipe flanges? My feed pipe bolts to the stock headers fine, from the pic they look the same.

 

are cattmans SUS 304 SS?

IF they are i will probably purchase them sooner or later if there not no thanks for that price . they will definetly rott off with my salted area in NY and me wrapping them

 

Several racers on the ORG said they used them, and I think they fit the standard Y-pipe bolt pattern, but I'm not sure...

Somebody will step in with correct info any time now......

 

They do bolt on to oem style ypipes

 

good to know. I may pick some up sometime then.

 

True, but IMO it would be better to wrap the items you want to keep the heat away from, or go with ceramic-metallic exhaust coating..no negative side effects.

 

well when i first did my turbo setup, I header wrap the feed pipe. When i took the motor out a few months later and took apart the wrap. the pipe looked really burnt and rusted. I refinished the pipe and just sprayed the high temp paint on and i had no problem since. I'm not a big fan of header wrap.

 

was this metal 304ss for your feedpipe? that rusted

 

no, it was mild steel but I painted it with high temp. What probably happened was it got really hot and cooked the paint off and then it got wet and got cooked again... when I took it off, it was not a pretty site. Before I reinstalled the pipe, I refinished the pipe and spray a couple of coats of high temp paint and it has not come off nor is there any rust. It didnt seem like the engine bay was any hotter either.

 

what paint did you use?

 

VHT headers paint.

 

For a while I was debatting on header wrap. I than did some research and in my conclusion I agree with what you guys are saying. The header wrap is great for keeping engine temps low, but the headers will literally rot from the inside out. Its almost like the headers go into supernova. Complete meltdown. And the SS headers are not of great quality but there headrers. I just painted mine with Dupli Color Hight Heat paint with ceramic. good for 1200 degrees. This will protect the headers from oxidation but will allow the air to cool the survace while driving.

But has anyone figured out how to remove the welds from the inside?

 

I was thinking maybe having my friend weld the outside and then take a dremel to sand the welds on the inside? would that work?

 

Well to get back to the header options topic, speaking to nismology, he told me that OBX seems to have redesigned their header design and honestly.... they look pretty good for the price!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OBX-E...spagenameZWDVW

PROS
- primary tubes seem longer than before (better scavenging)
- the POS T-flange of the rear header-to-ypipe connection is gone for a y-pipe flange (BIG improvement)
- bends look smoother overall than the previous design

CONS
- Great! So they got rid of the T-flange crap, but now they made them so that the rear header and the y-pipe are one peice! So if you plan to redo the silicone on your oil pan/ remove the engine/ replace half moons/ put ARP rod bolts for your 3.5... do that 1st, THEN during re-assembly put this thing on. Removing the rear header is quite the bia with the engine in the car.

WTF @ the two bung holes (what the? isnt that an insult? LMAO!!!) on the y-pipe between the 2 banks, and the other pair at the base of the rear header? w/e

ISSUE
I wonder if now that they redesigned the rear header/ypipe, if this fixed the fitment problem of the old design that involved cutting off half of the rear motor mount. ... If this is fixed, I'd be down to get a set.

Can someone that has the old OBX headers jump in to compare theirs to these and give an opinion if these will clear the rear mount?

 

i actually have these exact same headers. got them on ebay for $30. i compared them with the stock one sand they do seem to have a bigger diameter piping. especially the part where the flange to the y pipe is. and they also saved a lot of weight. actually made a small difference with the s/c setup.

 

Is that so? sounds good, let me ask you, did they clear the rear motor mount? are they clear of touching ANYTHING?

 

bump please! trialt wake up! lol If thisnew design clears everything, Im buying. So your word is al Im waiting for