So I've had this job planned for a couple of months now, and this weekend I finally gave my balls a tug and did it.
My ingredients for this terror were: Tsudo 4-2-1 header
LZM solid upper and poly lower engine mount
Magnaflow high-flow cat
Apexi World Sport 2 muffler
29" louvered cherry bomb glass pack resonator
2.5" exhaust piping
Where to start with the issues.......
Taking off the stock header was the first pain in my ass. I soaked every exhaust manifold bolt with liquid wrench and still had lots of fun just trying to crack them loose, not to mention I could only turn some the bolts about a 1/4 turn with a wrench from up top......that took hours....
Next was getting the new header in......this was by far the most frustrating part. I've read all the posts on everyone else's Tsudo install but still, like a fool, I tried to get it in without removing my cam cover.....what a mistake. I even tried unbolting my engine mounts to make room, but still had no luck. Finally I removed the cam cover and it slipped in with ease. I was happy. So happy that I started to bolt it up right away. 4 or 5 bolts in I realized that i had to shave one of the studs, which meant undoing all the bolts I just put in and sliding the header off the studs. Then I had to use a small pointed vice grip to remove the stud because I didn't have the small star pattern socket. By the time I was finished tightening all the manifold bolts it was 3am......I started at 6.....
Not bed time yet though, I HAD to RTV the 2-1 section that night to give it adequate drying time for the exhaust the next day. A little after 4am I called it quits once I sucessfully got the 2-1 section on.
I had a bright and early start the next day (saturday) because I had to drop my mom off at work in case I needed a vehicle to get parts. She starts at 6am.... So I'm well rested and full of patience for the work day ahead.
Removing my stock exhast wasn't that bad, besides hacksawing my muffler off, which took me literally one hour, with few breaks just to rest my arm; which was fully extended so it was all tricep. They are still sore right now. But of course it takes an hour when you are cutting through TWO layers of exhaust pipe. Me being the genius that I am under pressure, I chose to saw the inlet of my muffler that was overlapped by the exhaust pipe. I was thrilled to find out I made the job twice as hard when it finally came off........Absolutely thrilled.......
So the header was in, the exhaust was out. Now all that was left was to go back under the car, and re-secure my fuel lines, that were now resting on my header (2-1 section). Started her up and had a good laugh at the loudest car I've ever heard. It was fun driving to the shop with no exhaust on. It was only 2 mins away so I risked it. But I definitely made a lot of heads turn on the way!
Exhaust guy did a great job, mounted everything nicely and securely. I put the Cherry bomb with the louvers facing the direction to give me maximum flow. I know some people say they have an issue with the louvers for flow characteristics, but the car sounds really good. Quality sound all around, only at about 5500 rpm do you hear a high pitch noise. I think its the header hitting the subframe. But other than that the tone is perfect. Apexi is definitely the way to go for silence idle. Obviously the 29" resonator helped a bunch too.
After two full days of labour I'm left with sore joints, busted up knuckles, dirty garage floor full of tools everywhere, and a check engine light. My wallet is smaller too.........BUT IT WAS WELL WORTH IT!!! All the swearing, blood, sweat and almost tears gave me a finished product I couldn't be more proud of. I think this might have officially gained me right to call my self a member of the tuner community.
Big thanks to all those who gave me info / advice before I attempted this.. I owe my success to you and this community.
Nitrous is now on deck......
Yea I remember when I put my 4-2-1 rk header on my ld9. With a buddy took us about 5hrs including dropping down a bit to fit it back there. Id love to hear a sound clip of the apexi with the nice long resonator. I have the exact same glasspack going in soon, but mines 3" with no cat
For the check engine light look into the manual o2 simulator mod, its like a $5 fix.
icemike89 wrote:For the check engine light look into the manual o2 simulator mod, its like a $5 fix.
I've never heard of that, but it sounds like a hacking module. I'll check it out tonight,
As soon as I get my hands on a good enough camera I will post some clips. Got some pics lined up too
Those are a pita...
My LN2 only took a few hours with a buddy, Along with doing bushings on an '89 Z24.
yep they are one of the worst headers to put on(and I've done some bad ones).
its always good when you get something done. i know how you feel, just did the same about 3 weeks ago with a friend.
i have a 28" glasspack i want to put on but it looks like it will be pretty low (as it is 3-4" round). i'll def stay tuned to hear your exhaust!
icemike89 wrote:For the check engine light look into the manual o2 simulator mod, its like a $5 fix.
I still can't find the 18mm Spark Plug non fouler. So far all I can find is the 14mm.
If it is just a matter of making a spacer with a shield for the sensor, I'm sure there is something else out there i can use.
But for now I'm putting 91 to get some more Kms for my gas. I've noticed about 20 Kms less per quarter tank since my engine light has been on. At the same time I have been doing some hard pulls so I know my milage is not going to be great.
Is it beneficial to run a higher octane if you have the p0420 code? Something about catalytic threshold. Which seems to be the code that everyone is getting.
So I think my header is still hitting my subframe ( right at the flex) even with the solid upper mount and poly lower. Only when i'm close to 5000 rpm wot can you hear it, but it does sound like hard banging metal on metal.
Any reason why notching my subframe is a bad idea?
when i had my tsudo it knocked bad too!!!
i ended up with a hole in the flex pipe of it...
eventually just swapped it out for a pacesetter.... no more problems!
Smoosh wrote:when i had my tsudo it knocked bad too!!!
i ended up with a hole in the flex pipe of it...
eventually just swapped it out for a pacesetter.... no more problems!
LOL That is the expensive fix. I"m goinna try to grind my sub frame first.
What is the check engine light coming on for?
I hear some say the 4:2:1 header makes the O2 sensor too far down the pipe which causes errors from not warming up as fast.
Is this what is happening to you?
My wife's 2003 Ecotec 2.2 liter Sunfire:
* 2 1/4 inch turbo muffler
* 2 1/4 piping to a 2 1/2 inch resonator
* 2 1/4 inch catalytic converter
* 2 1/2 inch down-pipe
* a match ported 4:2:1 RK Sports 'clone' header
* an AEM true cold air intake NOPI edition
* 8 gauge ground wire kit
* Toyz front strut brace
* Vibrant rear strut brace
* and Russell stainless steel brake lines all around.
Mike85220 wrote:What is the check engine light coming on for?
I hear some say the 4:2:1 header makes the O2 sensor too far down the pipe which causes errors from not warming up as fast.
Is this what is happening to you?
As of yesterday the code is: P0135
I replaced the second o2 already and the light came back on. I know, dumb thing to do, but i had 3 codes originally now it's just the one.
I still have to check the status of the wiring for the first O2 sensor, but that sounds it could cause that code. Any ideas how to fix that? besides welding a bung further upstream?
Check resistance in the wires you might have to solder ina new wire. Do you know how to backprobe a connector? And also I've never had a problem with my tsudo header throwing a code now I have had the clunking problem though. Eventually my subframe wore my flex pipe so bad it tore away from the header completely. So I went and had them just weld a larger collector with no flex pipe. It stopped the rubbing now I just get some minor rubbing during decel.
