DC5R: The Journey from Stock

[Peachy]

At the end of the day I will do what I want when it comes to upgrading this car, having said that, I want to make good decisions, which is where the experience and knowledge of other honda fanboys comes in At this point I haven't 100% made up my mind about future upgrades, when I have time I'm always reading other peoples threads and asking around for best kw/$ ratio.

My Kiddracing header arrived today I have a few questions in relation to this. First, I've tried to research terminology on headers but haven't found my answer.
So the header comes in three pieces, the part that attaches to the engine, the bendy part in the middle, and the straight pipe that attaches to the cat/test pipe. What are these called?
I'm assuming the part that attaches to the engine is the header itself, the other bits I just call middle bit and 'attach to cat' bit hahahaha.

[stevan]

the "straight" pipe is called the test pipe, this is what goes in place of the catalytic converter which is defined as a Race Header (Ie no cat). The other 3 pieces that slip together are called the "header" or "extractor", the four pipes coming from the engine block flange are knows as the primaries whilst the section where primaries 1-4 and 2-3 mate are known as the secondaries. The large pipe at the end of the header is called the collector.

[Peachy]

Thanks Stevan
How tight are you meant to do all the bolts that attach all the pieces together?

[stevan]

no worries, this should answer your questions

http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=788649

You should have the slip joints in all the way when you tighten the bolts, you will use almost all of the bolt thread.

[Peachy]

no worries, this should answer your questions

http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=788649

You should have the slip joints in all the way when you tighten the bolts, you will use almost all of the bolt thread.

YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER!!!! I remember reading that thread ages ago and I've been looking for it for the past hour hahaha. thanks mate

[Peachy]

I don't know what all the fuss was about with installation, it took me literally 10-15 minutes to piece it all together, I'm not exactly mechanically minded either. They must have improved on the fitting issues that existed with the original headers.

Here she is all put together:

By b_peachy at 2011-09-29

Did you guys have these kinda gaps as well? Should I get these welded together?

By b_peachy at 2011-09-29

[Peachy]

Can a welder even weld in those places given the tiny amount of space to work with? Any one with welding knowledge know if a quality welder is able to get in all the nooks and crannies to completely weld around the piping?

[T-BaGGeR]

dont worry about that. if you welded them, you wouldnt need the bolts. It shouldn't leak as the gases are rushing pretty quick and they would have to do a u-turn to leak out the gap.

[stevan]

Good work

Yeh some people have nightmares with these headers because of ovaling of some of the pipes, easy to fix though. Mine has bigger gaps then yours, because the slip joint is quite long (more then 80mm) it seals fine

[Peachy]

I also heard that welding it all together can cause issues with cracking due to the inability for the parts to move around.

I'll take your word for it that yours doesn't leak Stevan, however I've read too many accounts of people that have had leak issues. I'd rather be safe than sorry I suppose, I'd hate to pay for the costs of installation then having to remove it

I've heard that people use high temperature copper RTV silicone, I think I'll go to bunnings tomorrow and seal up my slip-joints. Will give it time to cure before I get it installed next week.

[stevan]

up to you mate, i can tell you know that people who claim their slip joints are leaking are the same idiot 16 year olds that post "help" threads on CRSX daily due to their stupidity.

[Peachy]

hahaha good point, good point

I'm trying to think of it logically, since the parts join in the opposite direction in which the exhaust air is flowing, I don't see how having minimum gaps would cause issues for the air that's escaping. I'm wondering how back pressure would work and if its even an issue in a case like this.

I'll talk to the guy installing it and see what he recommends, I'm sure he'll have all that silicone on site in the case that he recommends sealing it.

Did you find that your exhaust got much louder after the install?

[stevan]

it looks like your header is installed well, if the bolts are tight it will seal nicely, like i said my header has larger gaps and in almost 2 years there is no black buildup around the joints whatsoever. You can use some automotive sealant but i daresay it won't be necessary.

I had a stock exhaust at the time, it got a touch louder but nothing like i was expecting.

Bloody hell this thread is already 15 pages long haha

[Peachy]

I might give those connecting bolts a few more turns to ensure they're tight. Did you loctite yours?

Hahaha yeah 15 pages and all I've done is bought shit and talked shit

[Peachy]

While you were all at work slaving away doing what it is that you do, I was out taking the DC5R for a whirl and hitting up the local trails



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The bikes completely built from the ground up using the parts I desired, car will be the same soon too.
BUILT NOT BOUGHT BABY!