J's SPL Header Install
07-08-2007, 07:22 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
J's SPL Header Install
So, to start, I can't take any credit for this install write-up. xviper had it down with the Toda Header install, and I did the same exact thing.
This is for an AP1 install of the header, so it might not be the same for AP2's (sorry folks).
So, you want to J's Header, do ya? These things are well manufactured, and the J's guys are proud of them.
J's Racing SPL Header (english by Excite)
J'S RACING S2000 SPL stainless steel EX Mani(english by Excite)
The header should come with a new gasket, and new 'donut' as well as a bolt for covering the extra sensor outlet in the header. If you did not receive these parts, contact the person you bought it from - they are friendly and will send it along (thx Steve from Evolution).
Installation:
Open up xviper's thread on this, then read the below for my tips:
Header (Toda) installation "How To", with lotsa pics.
I did this install by myself, and a few things took longer than I expected.
Heatshield removal:
- Remove the heatshield and untighten bolts before jacking the car up. I did this, but as I was excited to put my new JDM piece in the car, I might have forgotten. It's much easier to reach stuff when the car is down.
- The heatshield will bend a little once you have moved the forward 3 bolts. You must loosen the bolt next to the heatshield to be able to have this move around. (instructions in xviper's thread) This should let you get to the last bolt of the heatshield with the 'slot' attachment. I used a wrench to carefully get this guy loose and pull the heatshield out.
Jack height:
- You *must* get the car high-up in the air to get the stock header out. I had to borrow a better jack, since the cheapo Craftstman one I had for doing oil changes did not have sufficient height. My jackstands were about 3-4 notches up when I finally had the correct height, but I would put this as the pinch rail was about 1-1.5' in the air. It was easy to get under the car (I'm a big guy) at this height.
Header removal:
- It will wiggle it's way out the bottom of the car after detaching it from the engine and the cat. I also pulled the bolt from the engine block, since the J's does not have a fitment for this (apparently the Toda does). The header will come out through the bottom by moving it in vertical (up-down) movements to get the base of the header (the part that attaches to the engine exhaust) through the hole. Get the edge closest to you through first (this would put the cat side of the header on the ground), then, pull the header down towards the rear of the car and it should fall out. This is what took me the longest, because I did not follow 'Jack height' advice above.
New header install:
- For AP1, the J's header will install from the top of the engine. Use a hooking motion to the the cat-side of the header in first, with the base of the header resting on the valve cover of the engine. Once I had it in this position, and it seemed it would not go in, I went under the car, and took the cat-side by hand and moved it past where it was touching the base of the engine mount. This allowed the header to proceed towards the cat. Go back up top, and carefully position the header in place near the exhaust outlet of the engine. It will take a little bit of 'coaxing' to get it there, but it should go on. Put the gasket on before attaching the nuts.
- I did not have to loose the engine mount, or lift the engine in any way. When I finally got it installed, it was the cat side not getting through the bottom that was the problem, and the rest slid through.
- I did find a thread somewhere that spoke of removing the heat shielding under the car - that would have been my next try had the above not worked.
O2 Sensor re-install:
- For the anal retentive, give it some negative pre-twist before installing it back on the header. Anti-seize is nice too, just be more careful with it than I was an keep it off the sensor (that brush is just way too big).
So you like it shiny:
- Since I saw some reference to 'fingerprints', I took the step to clean-up the header after install and before burn-in. Get a cotton 'cosmetic' cleaning pad (guys, ask the wife or g/f if you can borrow a few) - these are pretty lint-free, and are much better than cotton swabs for wiping down the header with rubbing alcohol prior to firing it up. Just soak the pad slightly in alcohol, and wipe down the header, focusing on the visible parts. Give it a few minutes to evaporate before starting the engine for burn-in.
Reset ECU -
- Do these things:
"How To" reset Maintenance Required and Check Engine Light.
Idle Learn Procedure
Burn-in of the header:
- Yep, it will smoke. As long as it doesn't light up on fire, you should be good.
Exhaust leaks:
- I'm not sure about the leaks portion. I tightened the cat bolts to torque spec (16 ft-lbs), and tightened the header bolts inside to out, going over them repeatedly (as you tighten the first set, it pulls the header in, and loosens other bolts), then torqued to spec (23 ft-lbs) from inside out. No CEL's yet!
- I tried the 'cigarette' smoke test around the base of the header, but did not find this too effective. The header gives off a lot of heat, so it was affecting the smoke stream anyways. If anyone has better tips for detecting an exhaust leak, let me know - suffice to say, I did not smell any awful odors in the engine bay after letting the engine idle for 5 minutes. I would expect with an exhaust leak at the header base, all sorts of bad stuff would smell.
Results:
- Feels nice. I have a Tsuchinoko, and she feels faster in the mid to high range. Not really torque, but the speed is going up faster. Kind of like the first time you really take off in the S not knowing what to expect - it's not a torque feel, but when you hit 90, you don't know how you got there so quick!
- I look forward to mating this with a J's exhaust, and ECU, but that will have to wait for another occasion where I have an excuse to spend the funds.
Hope this helps anyone working on this!
This is for an AP1 install of the header, so it might not be the same for AP2's (sorry folks).
So, you want to J's Header, do ya? These things are well manufactured, and the J's guys are proud of them.
J's Racing SPL Header (english by Excite)
J'S RACING S2000 SPL stainless steel EX Mani(english by Excite)
The header should come with a new gasket, and new 'donut' as well as a bolt for covering the extra sensor outlet in the header. If you did not receive these parts, contact the person you bought it from - they are friendly and will send it along (thx Steve from Evolution).
Installation:
Open up xviper's thread on this, then read the below for my tips:
Header (Toda) installation "How To", with lotsa pics.
I did this install by myself, and a few things took longer than I expected.
Heatshield removal:
- Remove the heatshield and untighten bolts before jacking the car up. I did this, but as I was excited to put my new JDM piece in the car, I might have forgotten. It's much easier to reach stuff when the car is down.
- The heatshield will bend a little once you have moved the forward 3 bolts. You must loosen the bolt next to the heatshield to be able to have this move around. (instructions in xviper's thread) This should let you get to the last bolt of the heatshield with the 'slot' attachment. I used a wrench to carefully get this guy loose and pull the heatshield out.
Jack height:
- You *must* get the car high-up in the air to get the stock header out. I had to borrow a better jack, since the cheapo Craftstman one I had for doing oil changes did not have sufficient height. My jackstands were about 3-4 notches up when I finally had the correct height, but I would put this as the pinch rail was about 1-1.5' in the air. It was easy to get under the car (I'm a big guy) at this height.
Header removal:
- It will wiggle it's way out the bottom of the car after detaching it from the engine and the cat. I also pulled the bolt from the engine block, since the J's does not have a fitment for this (apparently the Toda does). The header will come out through the bottom by moving it in vertical (up-down) movements to get the base of the header (the part that attaches to the engine exhaust) through the hole. Get the edge closest to you through first (this would put the cat side of the header on the ground), then, pull the header down towards the rear of the car and it should fall out. This is what took me the longest, because I did not follow 'Jack height' advice above.
New header install:
- For AP1, the J's header will install from the top of the engine. Use a hooking motion to the the cat-side of the header in first, with the base of the header resting on the valve cover of the engine. Once I had it in this position, and it seemed it would not go in, I went under the car, and took the cat-side by hand and moved it past where it was touching the base of the engine mount. This allowed the header to proceed towards the cat. Go back up top, and carefully position the header in place near the exhaust outlet of the engine. It will take a little bit of 'coaxing' to get it there, but it should go on. Put the gasket on before attaching the nuts.
- I did not have to loose the engine mount, or lift the engine in any way. When I finally got it installed, it was the cat side not getting through the bottom that was the problem, and the rest slid through.
- I did find a thread somewhere that spoke of removing the heat shielding under the car - that would have been my next try had the above not worked.
O2 Sensor re-install:
- For the anal retentive, give it some negative pre-twist before installing it back on the header. Anti-seize is nice too, just be more careful with it than I was an keep it off the sensor (that brush is just way too big).
So you like it shiny:
- Since I saw some reference to 'fingerprints', I took the step to clean-up the header after install and before burn-in. Get a cotton 'cosmetic' cleaning pad (guys, ask the wife or g/f if you can borrow a few) - these are pretty lint-free, and are much better than cotton swabs for wiping down the header with rubbing alcohol prior to firing it up. Just soak the pad slightly in alcohol, and wipe down the header, focusing on the visible parts. Give it a few minutes to evaporate before starting the engine for burn-in.
Reset ECU -
- Do these things:
"How To" reset Maintenance Required and Check Engine Light.
Idle Learn Procedure
Burn-in of the header:
- Yep, it will smoke. As long as it doesn't light up on fire, you should be good.
Exhaust leaks:
- I'm not sure about the leaks portion. I tightened the cat bolts to torque spec (16 ft-lbs), and tightened the header bolts inside to out, going over them repeatedly (as you tighten the first set, it pulls the header in, and loosens other bolts), then torqued to spec (23 ft-lbs) from inside out. No CEL's yet!
- I tried the 'cigarette' smoke test around the base of the header, but did not find this too effective. The header gives off a lot of heat, so it was affecting the smoke stream anyways. If anyone has better tips for detecting an exhaust leak, let me know - suffice to say, I did not smell any awful odors in the engine bay after letting the engine idle for 5 minutes. I would expect with an exhaust leak at the header base, all sorts of bad stuff would smell.
Results:
- Feels nice. I have a Tsuchinoko, and she feels faster in the mid to high range. Not really torque, but the speed is going up faster. Kind of like the first time you really take off in the S not knowing what to expect - it's not a torque feel, but when you hit 90, you don't know how you got there so quick!
- I look forward to mating this with a J's exhaust, and ECU, but that will have to wait for another occasion where I have an excuse to spend the funds.
Hope this helps anyone working on this!
07-08-2007, 09:38 AM
#2
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Weddington NC
Posts: 829
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Great job, thanks to you and Xviper. My sons did my install of the Berk header and test pipe. They told me they had to loosen the motor mount so that the header would fit.
Once I drove it, I could not believe the differance in the car. I have a Spoon Snorkle & 70mm thottle body. My next move is a ported and polished intake manifiold and exhaust, just not sure witch one as of yet. I want one that is not really loud and that can utilize the OEM exhaust tips or something close in appearance.
Once I drove it, I could not believe the differance in the car. I have a Spoon Snorkle & 70mm thottle body. My next move is a ported and polished intake manifiold and exhaust, just not sure witch one as of yet. I want one that is not really loud and that can utilize the OEM exhaust tips or something close in appearance.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post