And now shesa a looka real good!

Ports matched & flat = a very worth while operation.

 

that we all should have done in hind sight (But mine was flat to start). Good job, and it will save you some PITA later.....

Gonna get it coated?

Matt

 

You have the OBX Cat BacK WOW, I thought I was all alone . I am also very happy with the OBX Cat Back - hard to beat for the $$. I did not use their clamps but upgraded to stainless steel - they keep the pipes round, no leaks and permits for adjustments later on. You way want to go this route.

I also have the OBX header w/ stock cat. Hard to say how much it affects performance compared to an aftermarket larger cat but I am not sweating it.
With the stock cat I got a nice TQ mid range addition that you can feel.

I bought the OBX header for 200 and 200 to install and graph stock cat with SS weld = 400 bucks + 300 OBX catback + install 35 bucks = 735.00

 

might get it coated, have to see if someone can get it done quickly, it hurts having everything ready and not putting it all together
whats the goin rate for coating a header

 

I'm going to use a couple of Nissan studs:
studs 14065-V5005 (8mmx30mm)
washers 14037-V5005 (this is a thick washer)
nuts 14039-W1500 (all steel, flanged locking nut)
These are used on the exhaust manifolds of quite a few different Nissan models.

Jim

 

well, it's all finally in.

the OBX header went in without as much as a hiccup, everything lined up perfectly, chopped off the ball/pivot area and welded in a flex section instead, then reused the stock cat.

The front subframe had to be unbolted so as the header could go in from the bottom, the overflow water tank on the firewall also had to come out as did the coil pack. The OBX header is much beefier than the stock header so the extra room is needed for the install.

the cat back Alta went in nicely, everything is up and tidy, clearing nicely, except for the battery heat shield which had to be trimmed a little.

the plastic rear bumper skirt did melt due to the Alta exh. tips being kind'a close (like 1") but i couldn't adjust them any lower being that they would look very ugly if they hung that low. Not sure how i will address that problem but i most likely will rivet a small piece of steel along the skirt cutout where the tips are to aid in keeping heat away from the bumper.

I'll have some pics soon of the whole system.

The sound is v.good, i did have it running without the header, just cat back for a couple hours, it was ok sounding, nothing special though...once the header went in the sound got deeper and now there's gurgling coming from the exhaust upon deccell, the sound is very very sweet.

Power is dramatically increased, even without a tune/reflash, the power difference is felt however there's some black smoke coming out now, running pig rich with the new modifications (the 15% pulley and Alta CAI went in a day earlier)

Waiting to see what the JCW/GP reflash will do for smoothness and A/F levels.

 

I just wanted to chime in and get the tree huggers fired up...If CO2 is the greatest human emitted greenhouse gas contributing to manmade global warming (according to Algore is the greatest threat to our world), then running NO cats is actually BETTER for the environment! Cats help eliminate hydrcarbons and NOx from emmissions by creating more perfect combustion (CO2 + H2O). So, hippies, pick your poison : stinky and fast or hot and slow Flame on!

(Oh, and BTW I do run cats on my car cuz I like quiet and not stinky on my daily driver)

 

in demonstrating the depth of your ignorance of the subject...

Matt

 

Ignorance indeed...Mine? No.

But seriously, you have the choice to emit more CO2 and less hydrocarbons, or more hydrocarbons and less CO2. It's up to you to decide which is more harmful. The NOx thing is a big legislative game as to what x is more dangerous this year (hence all the diesel restrictions, sulfur not withstanding). I only know this from the hours upon hours of calculating emmissions based primarily on catalyst temperature in my internal combustion engines class in college. Algore just made the whole thing more fun with his CO2 horror film. As did MTV during the music awards last year when old Al spoke and they had a commercial which specifically told people to make sure they had a working catalyst to reduce CO2 emissions...hehe.

 

Check out the latest IPCC report. 90 confidence interval on temp rises and CO2 levels caused by fossil fuel use. 1.5" of ocean rise in the last century, 1" of that since the 1970s. Projections for 36 more inches over the next century. And this is based on data up to 2005. More recent results show, like the water levels (via glacier reduction, to be exact) that acceleration of trends is increasing. So the truth is actually worse than the IPCC report.
Attitudes like "we don't know yet" or "it's all a joke" or "there are these studies that show different" all lead us to a situation where it will be harder and more costly to turn the ship of state before we hit serious do-do. Some have said we already have, as it would take decades to centuries for current CO2 levels and their interaction with the ecosphere to stabilize.

How old are you? I don't mean this to be a jerk, but if you're over 40 or so, you REMEMBER air that you couldn't see through, and the effect on air quality by the introduction of the catalytic converter. Air is cleaner, transportation load is higher, as are miles driven. Some of that is efficiency, some of that is that there IS a difference to air quality depending on how you mix the atoms into molecules as you send them out your tailpipe....

I mean gee, salt water contains Na, Cl, H and O. Doesn't mean that gargling with HCl is a good idea.....

Matt

 

My posts were focussed specifically intended to point out the catalytic converters INCREASE CO2 emmissions versus driving with no cat. I agree that no cat = polluted air. Pollution caused by hydrocarbons. If you're old then you'll recall that in the 70's the big fear was global cooling due to hydrocarbons (smog) blocking out the sun. If you're worried about global warming, then perhaps insulating ourselves from the sun with hydrocarbons is the better option In response to the charge of manmade global warming, I say dinosaurs and clouds. Temperature on the earth has been rising and falling since the dawn of time absent the evil wrath of the SUV and the USA (just ask the dinosaurs). Sea levels have also been rising and falling since the dawn of time (Pangea and the land bridge). In terms of CO2 being the most evil of gasses, it doesn't jive that we can cause much to change in that humans are responsible for at most 3.5% of the world's CO2 emmissions. Water is a much more powerful greenhouse gas (think clouds). The balance of CO2, H2O and every other gas in the atmosphere and in the ocean is not fully understood. So, indeed, who knows if we're causing any problems? If we are, how much of a dent can we make in the grand scheme of things since we are only responsible for 3.5% of the CO2 anyway (once again assuming that CO2 is the most significant contributor). I obviously don't buy into the whole idea. But using common sense, if the teperature is rising and causing oceans to rise and all that jazz (never mind the expanding glaciers in the southern hemisphere) we have a much better chance of coming out ahead if we focus on adaptation rather than try and fight what the earth has been doing forever by cutting out .1% of the worlds CO2 emmissions and thinking that wil have some sort of effect. The temperature will change with or without us, as it has been doing forever.

 

In the mean time, I'll keep on driving my MINI with a cat cuz I like it quiet, clean (no soot on the back), and smellin good. I'll drive my S2000 with no cat cuz it sounds cool and goes faster (but does get a nice sooty film on the back) and my big ol truck with whatever it's got, cuz I don't care. This way, I can offset my global warming-accelerating increased CO2 emmissions from the MINI with some nice hydrocarbon insulation from the S2k. To each his own. If you are concerned enuf to lecture others on the subject, lead the way by riding a bicycle and slapping some solar panels on your roof. Until I see our esteemed scientists and legislators who preach on manmade global warming do the same, I'm not too worried-obviously they aren't.

 

Yeah they arent concerned, I guess that's why it is a federal offense to screw with your cat or remove it. Upset the wrong environmentalist who turns you into the EPA and you end up in a PMITA Federal Prison for going that 1/10 of a second faster. The judge typically loves the "its not my responsibility" part.

Doesn't seem worth it to me...

 

I like the OBX myself

 

In theory the OBX design 4-2-1 will produce more mid range over the Megan design 4-1. On the other hand the Megan design should produce more top end power over the OBX design.

I'm running the OBX and am pleased with the results. I found noticeable SOP TQ gains from the mid range on up.

Here at NAM, both are being used successfully. Both seem up to the job, pick the design you like or whichever is the best deal and HEADER UP

 

OK I need a little help here...

I really want to add an OBX header to my car and a high flow cat.

Can somebody tell me what is the best high flow cat in thier opinon for the money? I need specifics, like part numbers or exact descriptions.

Where would I get it, and is there any other parts that would be needed to have it ready to be fit on the car.

I know I will have to find a decent muffler shop to weld the parts up, but I will be hopefully doing the installation myself.

Also, what is the typical price people pay to have a header ceramic coated. I am not aware of anywhere that does ceramic coating. If I was to go on a search, what type of business would I look for? "Ceramic coatings R us" or what?

Thanks for the support, and after reading through this thread I have completley bagged the idea of running a test pipe only.... Thanks alot Dr. O....

Jasun

 

I paid $180.00 to have my OBX ceramic coated and the flange milled flat. Do a Google search on "ceramic coating". You'll find plenty of info.
As for the cat, I was able to find a 5000 mile old stock header/cat on ebay, and I'll be using that cat to mate to the OBX.
Jim

 

Try doing a search on OBX or OBX header because there are numerous threads which more than discuss options, what others have done and contain the info that you seek.

 

Here are a few photos of my OBX after the coating. Same shop that did Dr.O's Stahl header. I was told that they shoot two coats on the exterior and one coat on the interior.









Jim

 

looks great!!

 

that does look very nice. if it were me, id be half tempted to just keep it around my home as a decorative piece.

 

Dam that's pretty.

 

I have to ask what's the real benefit of ceramic coating a header for our MCS crossflow heads. I've seen the benefits on under bonnet temps on non-crossflowed heads for the Classic Mini, as the carb float bowl is right above the central exhaust port for cylinders 2 and 3, and the Classic Mini's intake manifold is shouldered by the header on cylinders 1 and 4. Some Classic Mini owners have gone as far as coating intake manifold and header! I could also see owners of the R56 benefitting from coating their exhaust manifold, exhaust down pipe, turbine housing, and compressor housing because of the 180 swap in driveline layout. I just can't see underhood temps dropping that much with an aftermarket header being ceramic coated for our R53s. Anybody have any temperature deltas out there?

 

It's not all about underhood temps. It's also about exhaust gas velocity. Hotter gases flow faster. Here's some more info:
http://www.crucialracing.com/products/coating.php

Here's a couple of shots of the newly assembled header/cat.





Jim

 

Im using Megan Headers..

Do i'll get more power if i weld the stock cat into the Megan header ? and wut about the sound ??