My eyes are taped open and I am strapped to this chair just to watch the video! lol This brings back memories some kid at school 15 yrs ago, installed a header on a integra I remember helping them.
Great video Eric! Just a quick tip for you. I always use 22 mm tools on o2 sensors. They fit more snugly than 7/8". 7/8" tools are actually 22,225 mm. And maybe because here in Sweden we threw our standard tool sets in the trash for like 20 years ago. They just never get used.
Before I finish the episode, I am guessing you may not have felt much of a difference. Though that said, since the old one is double walled and this one is not, you have more flow in potential, but I think you may run into the issue I have with my car. I replaced my stock manifold (on a 1992 Honda Civic DX mind you) which was a factory 4 into 1 that was double walled with a tri-y (4-2-1) stainless header. I did notice it changed the torque curve a bit, but with the factory exhaust I am not seeing much extra top end power. Did give my car a nice little burble though at idle, which is nice :) Now, when I replaced my roommate's exhaust in his 1999 Honda Civic Si, I installed a Megan Racing 4 into 1 header, high flow Magnaflow catalytic converter and 2.5 inch cat. back Yonaka exhaust...not only does it sound freaking amazing, he gained noticeable power through from just off idle all the way to 8,250 RPMs. Also, I might add, I am sooooo jealous that you got that GSR.
put long tube headers on my truck not too long ago but also put 2.5 inch straight pipes with flowmasters made a world of difference. that stock exhaust is killin header grains Eric.
Have you guys thought about getting a light panel or two to sit on the floor behind Brian and shine up at the bottom of the cars? Sometimes it's hard to make out the details. Great video as always.
Thanks a bunch Eric. I really needed this video. I just found out my 99' GSR has a crack in the A pipe, and it's gonna need replacing. I love the videos keep them coming. Thanks again.
i had a 93 integra, lowered, b18, exhaust and completely gutted interior. lots of people mocked how ghetto it looked until one flooded day in sunny sounth florida. cop cars were stuck and stalled, bmws floating in the corner... and my "shitty" little honda made it all the way home. at one point i even hit a spot with water going over the headlights and i even felt water pulling in through the huge intake i had, yet it all came out as vapor from the exhaust. that motor never died on me, it was such a beast!
You have no idea how excited I got when I saw a GSR video, I thought we're a year away from Integra videos. Anyway, I've done headers on Integra's before and honestly without an intake, throttle body, intake manifold, and exhaust you won't feel much at all. Although after everything together, and a dyno tune you're looking at about 25-30 HP increase.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I've always went by the rule of 8-10% You need to have an 8-10% increase in power before you will actually feel a difference. Most of the time just a different sound will fool people into thinking it "feels" faster and /or more powerful. Great video!
I know you favor function over looks, but it would be nice to see you do a mild restoration on the Integra. It's a good start, seeing as its stock and in good mechanical shape. Moreover, it's unusual to see very clean, unmodified Integras. I think you'd enjoy it. Your vigor already suits the purpose of a reliable beater.
I have to agree, I was a little disappointed to miss out on a Fairmont video this morning, but Eric, you seem like you're in a much better mood in this video. I'm not sure when you recorded it, but if working on the Integra for a while saves you some stress, I'll take it.Keep up the awesome channel!
I wanted to bring the Integra up to speed so I took a break from the #FairmontProject to get that done. It's all good now and I'm back to work on the Ford. I love my job.
Flow wise it doesn't look like the factory header was much worse than the DC. But as anyone should know, just changing only the header on a otherwise stock exhaust (and even having the rest of the engine components stock) will almost always net a very very little gain. A header, now matter how good, it just one component to a much bigger system. Anyways, nice job Eric!
ive had to replace sensors before because the threads rip off of 02 sensors, even with using penetrating oil, now every time i go to reuse the sensor, just as precaution so i dont have to replace it i touch it with MAP gas, then use an 02 sensor socket, works like a charm everytime
Eric could you try doing a high flow cat? I"m kind of skeptic about power gains from exhaust on a stock motor, but I think replacing an old cat with a new high-flo one could make a noticeable difference.
+EricTheCarGuy Makes sense to me! You got three builds going on! The Integra, the Fairmont, and the fox body. You should check out Justin Dow with his channel World of Mopar. I feel like you guys would get along.
Hi Eric, greetings from Finland! You answered to me last time. It was in the Spring, thanks for that. Just like the way of how you are doing with Fairmont, Mustang and now with Integra GSR. It sounded, that you have maybe a bit wider rpm range in it at least, but there is four horns exhaust header bolted in instead of one or two anyway. Also that was very nice to hear that you are sometimes going to install all the remaining staff to the Mustang you have there. I have watched everything and I'll continue to watch in the future also.
Thank for your honesty I bought turbo and skunk2 manifold for my rhd gsr I will wait to install a turbo kit with patience instead of the headers and manifold since is cheaper to do.
I bought a 36 inch bolt cutter from Amazon warehouse for $23, they are normally about $50. Next time I need to cut a bolt, I'm going to try it. It's supposed to cut up to at least 3/4 bolts like butter. Tired of using a recipricating saw or taking a bath in sparks using the cut off wheel. That bolt cutter weighs about 9 pounds, I'm pretty sure it will do the job.
The Honda cast exhaust manifold is very close to a header as is. Impressively so. And it means it will last almost forever unlike that aftermarket header that will likely rust out in a couple years.
That car needs a nice 2.25, or 2.5 exhaust. I put a 1 7/8" collectors, 2.5 flange header on my b18a1, and a 2.5 piped exhaust with no cat, 18" resonator, and N1 type muffler. It made a WORLD of difference.
"Why? because I can. And you're going to watch the video" Eric brought the funny. Also this makes me want another integra. I had 2 1990s one GS and one LS.
I hope you see this Eric. I installed an aftermarket header on my GSR with the new header gasket but it won’t stop leaking from the right side. I snugged and tightened all the bolts from the middle-outwards. I even tried reusing the old oem one but it still leaks and sounds like crap
Just a bit of advice, if you have exhaust work done at a shop, even if it's a reputable shop, always watch them do the work. I found this out the hard way as the shop decided to cut off the flange to the high flow cat converter and just weld the damn pipe all the way around. Now I have to cut the flange off of the new A pipe/flex pipe and fit it together with the old pipe as I don't have a welder myself. Otherwise this changing out the stock exhaust manifold over to a 4 to 1 racing exhaust header would be so much freaking easier...
Good morning Eric , as always great work on what you love with your passion of work . I must say there isn't many out there that go in this much details like yourself . Keek up the good work my friend . One day or you do now lol will walk into work and go wow and see in full detail what you have created :)
i like dc sport headers they are work the 300 or 400 bucks my dad bought a set for a j30 and they have almost 9 years on and they havent broke hey are amazing and give me alot of top end compare to stock
Great video, I have found it informative and entertaining. It's funny how you keep your safety glasses and nitrile gloves on for the test drive! Eric you're the best.
.I've installed a 4-2-1 race header on my rsx-s and I can really feel a power difference and throttle response.For the money and 1hour installation its really worth it.my 10y-o manifold bolts and nuts came out super easy (canadian all season driven car)
Great video! I've been seeing some good videos about removing rust by soaking parts in vinegar. Dirt cheap, and the rust seems to dissolve - good for things you can't take a wire brush to, like the inside of a gas tank.
I did the vinegar thing to try and get the collector studs out of the manifold on my old 97 F150. It didn't eat enough away to get them out (maybe it would have if I let them soak for days), but it definitely ate enough to show where the flanges end and the stud began. In the end it made torching them out simpler.
Thanks for the GSR video. I miss mine. There is a ton you can do to make this scream, get a high flow cat, and a cat back exhaust, cold air intake and tune it :)
I have a 2000 gsr with a greddy header , you should go with a magnaflow high flow cat with 2.5 piping to a magnaflow muffler really great sound nothing raspy nor to loud I have no resonator
Also helps to do this when you are doing the partial or complete rebuild when the radiator is removed, but not everyone will be doing that. I know for sure though that doing this on an Eagle Talon 2nd gen is much easier than on Honda's and Acura's, as there's less crap in the way...
That OEM exhaust header was fairly well designed - although not equal length it's a long tube. I would be surprised if the aftermarket header would have made any difference for you.
As you said in a later video, just this part alone won't really help, the small gain won't be much unless you do more work to the exhaust, to the engine, to make it better use what the part can do for you. Despite what a lot of people seem to think, there's no one part you change to suddenly wake it up, you have to do a lot of things, each one only adding a little more power, to have it all ad up.
Everything is well detailed and explained but the thing I don't like is if the mechanic doesn't take off his dirty greasy gloves and touch my steering wheel and actually test driving the car with his gloves still on. Lol So good so far lol. I'm still the number one fan of this man Eric in terms of DIY. Very profesional in what he does best. Stay dirty :)
You're losing 16lbs from the material change but you're also losing some power from the smaller pipe diameters. So your performance really didn't change but you did succeed in making the car look a little cleaner.
AND; smaller diameter primaries on a header do NOT mean loss of power. It means higher velocity flow, better scavenging, quicker throttle response... if tuned to intake primaries and motor displacement. Bigger is not better. there is only right or wrong.
Long tube 4-2-1 header (hytech or replica) along with full 2.5" exhaust including the cat, with a well designed intake manifold and you may see a 10% increase in hp. I'm not surprised that you didn't feel any seat of the pants gain on that one. Nice video though :)
bentboybbz Is it hard without one of those huge car lifter things? I'm 16 and broke at the moment but I want the experience to install them myself and not hire someone. I have a couple jacks in the garage. How difficult would it be?
I enjoy watching your videos but with the Fairmont project now going, I'm a little bummed that I woke up seeing this one. Hoping next week we get back to watching some Fairmont action!
Thanks for more honda stuff. Would have spent 20 bucks and 20 minutes wrapping it personally. wrapping a header might be a good, cheap, fast, and somewhat smoky vid. look up either rockwool/'titanium' stuff, or use silicone spray with fiberglass type.
I feel like if one had a full aftermarket exhaust installed along with other modifications to the car and then swapped from stock headers to these it might allow for better flow and more gains. I'd guess that doing this modification alone would be equivalent to installing a "cold air intake" on a stock engine - more capability for flow, but no immediate gains.
DC sports manifolds were popular early on but the collector is crap. Many other (much more expensive) brands came out and fixed that. I bought one for my 98 civic ex. Its a slight improvement over stock but that's it. Regardless cool video that brought me back to when modding your car was easy. I now own an FA5 and nothing is easy or as cheap.
I bought a second hand one for cheap. It seems to be the same but the flange doesn't line up correctly. It's rotated the other way around and it is for a Civic. Got some welding to do
I have a '96 Japanese Type R with 70k miles on it. I've changed the timing belt but not the water pump. Should I go back in and change that too? Too my knowledge it's never been changed before. Thanks so much for all you do on the channel.
Just like the last motor I put "performance" parts on; I ignore the mfgr claims. If the parts I get jive with what I'm trying to shoot for in a build - fine, I put it in. I don't look for improvement. Only after MANY little "upgrades" here and there have added up - do I have what slowly becomes apparent as "an improvement". Polished ports, a new K&N air filter, a flowmaster exhaust, etc...I say - be patient and use your head. Only certain parts will make a noticeable difference right away; cam, bore/stroke+, etc.
Hi, Great video, when installing a set of headers and I'm using a new gastket, do I need to clean the exhaust ports on the heads? If so, what should I use to clean it? Thanks.
When i replaced my headers i didn’t tighten the 02 sensors that tight lol, just more than hand tight because i don’t want to struggle removing it. I have an 07 nc miata
Supporting mods will help. A new intake, high flow cat and exhaust will really open up that airpump. Then you'll need fuel and a tune. And the suspension will feel soft. Blah blah bleh. Don't walk down that path haha.
Quick question, Eric. I'm about to do a header install and the previous owner's gasket shows an exhaust leak around cylinders 3 and 4. What precautions should I take before installing this header to my vehicle? Thanks!
Love the details of the nuts and bolts and the penetrating oil, I reside in washington state, and I am doing a motor swap, and I am debating on upgrading to 4-2-1, or 4-1, and i done headers before, never got bad enough luck to break the header bolts, but seen it, and don't want to have that happen. All my work was in california which is alot warmer place ... I am little curious why your upper head bolts are not OEM, what is the story on that? gasket replacements?
Eric, you said you didn't have much gain from changing the headers, but if you change maybe intake and even perimeters in the ecu, would it make a difference then do you think? Thax, love the show..
