PPE Engineering Headers Installation and DIY

[JDKane527]

I purchased the Header and Overpipe in High temp black coating from Jeff at Micro Image. The welds are amazing and of high quality. The black finish is pretty stealthy and looks clean in the engine bay. This post will have pictures of both header and overpipe, including side by side between PPE Header and stock header. 2nd post will have DIY guide, which I've updated with gained experience. 3rd post will have the dyno graph of my car as it stands, no before graph for comparison.

It is loud with Berk catted front pipe and stock catback. There is rasp with this setup. I have some added engine noise 3-4k with the Visconti STG1 tune, and now at 4k+, it just roars.

With the tune, I didn't have any CEL lights, as I'm sure the defouler they designed in does its job. Works with the stock tune and didn't throw a CEL for the few hours I had it flashed. Visconti tune worked well and made a noticeable difference with smoother idle and helped the midrange. Trying to find time next week to dyno.


IMG_4528 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4527 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4539 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4537 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4533 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4540 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4542 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4541 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Side by side:


IMG_4551 by jdkane527, on Flickr

[JDKane527]

DIY Guide:

I had my neighbor help me install this. It is possible to do by yourself, but much easier with an extra set of hands. I posed the question in another thread if it is possible to do this without lifting up the rear of the car. To prove it, I did it myself, and it is possible to do it with only the front lifted.

It's good to have a few various sizes of wrenches and sockets between 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, and 17mm, as well as a few long socket extensions. The header nuts require a deep 14mm socket to reach. I used a crescent wrench to remove the O2 sensor, since the largest wrench I have is 19mm.

First disconnect the wires for the O2 sensors. They will be located left of the alternator. The O2 sensor will be removed when the header is off the car.

IMG_4529 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Use a flathead screwdriver or something appropriate to remove the clips holding the wires to the engine block. There are 2 clips for each O2 sensor.

IMG_4547 by jdkane527, on Flickr


Crawl underneath the car and remove the 2 undercovers, the metal one in the front under the engine and the plastic in the rear under the transmission. Didn't have pictures for the next few steps.
Spray PB-Blaster or equivalent on the 6 nuts securing the header onto the engine block. Spray the 2 nuts holding the header to the overpipe, and if necessary, the 2 nuts holding the overpipe to the front pipe.

Using deep 14mm socket with extension, remove 4 of the nuts, and leave 2 just to hold it up. Remove the 4 nuts holding the overpipe, and remove the bolt holding the frontpipe mount to the transmission mount. It is the bolt that attaches to the bracket on the front pipe.

2013-03-29 15.41.09 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Remove 2 nuts holding header and drop stock headers with O2 sensors still in place.

To remove the overpipe, unbolt the 2 motor mounts to the chassis with 14mm socket with extension. Put a jack under the front part of the transmission and slowly raise it approximately 1" to remove the overpipe. If you feel comfortable jacking it from under the motor, that works too. Once removed, the engine can be returned to its original position and motor mount bolts installed. Torque nuts under motor mount to 50 ft-lbs. The Toyota manual says 70 ft-lbs, but 50 is adequate. At 70 ft-lbs, the nut kept rotating and wasn't tightening so I did not want to destroy the mount.

Spray PB Blaster or equivalent on the threads of the O2 sensors. I did not do it for one and almost thought I screwed up the threads.
Remove O2 sensors from stock header and install on PPE Header, noting which were first and second in exhaust gas flow. The first O2 sensor will be installed directly to the tube of the header. The second O2 sensor will install off the right angle. First time I wasn't thinking and switched the 2. Idle was rough but car didn't throw a CEL with stock tune or Visconti tune.

IMG_4552 by jdkane527, on Flickr

For the first O2 sensor, the cable needs to be spliced and extended. Jeff included the wires with connectors for me.

IMG_4560 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Note in this picture I had the O2 sensors in incorrect location and the sensor that needs to be extended is the sensor installed directly to the tube. I cut the connector off leaving a few inches of wire with the connector and pulled back on the loom to give me some more wire to work with. Strip wire and solder wire extension on. In the picture though I crimped the wires. After a few days, the wire came out from the crimp connector because the wire gauge is to small. Strongly recommend soldering! You can see how I cut a slit in the loom. I used heatsink on each wire and a large piece around the set. In the picture, I wrapped electrical tape around the 4 connectors to keep them protected.

IMG_4562 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4563 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Didn't get pictures of this, but install header onto engine block. PPE didn't include new gaskets, so I reused the OEM ones. My car has 1900 miles, so they still looked good.

Here are the exhaust gas ports on the underside of the FA20 block.

2013-03-29 13.04.30 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Here is the picture with the header installed. I could only get a socket on 3 of the 6 nuts. The nuts need to be torqued to 29 ft-lbs. For the other 3 nuts that can't be reached, a wrench works fine. Check the torqued nut to see how 29 ft-lbs feels, and then try to get those 3 nuts approximately as tight.

2013-03-29 15.40.38 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Move the front pipe out of the way a bit, and work the overpipe in. I reused the gaskets here again, and used the included hardware. Lining everything up by working from the front back, header-overpipe, and then overpipe-front pipe.

2013-03-29 15.41.31 by jdkane527, on Flickr


2013-03-29 15.41.16 by jdkane527, on Flickr


2013-03-29 15.41.09 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Plug connectors back in for O2 sensors. Use zipties to secure the cables as needed. I left more wire on, as having more length to work with in the event that I wanted to move the O2 sensor further back.

IMG_4567 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4568 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Crawl under again to make sure no wires are loose or nearby the header tubes or engine block.

2013-03-29 15.41.40 by jdkane527, on Flickr


2013-03-29 15.41.53 by jdkane527, on Flickr


Put all the undercovers back in place, admire your work, and take it for a spin!

[JDKane527]

Reserved for Dyno.

[ame]http://youtu.be/B1qMJmzH3G4[/ame]

I have Perrin inlet tube, GFB lightweight pulleys, PPE Headers and overpipe, and Berk catted front pipe, with Visconti STG1 Tune.

Went to KT Motoring in Chatsworth near my home to get dyno'd. The guys were way chill and took their time setting everything up.
Measured 163 whp peak. I'll have to search around to find a stock graph on a dyno dynamics. It measures low, they estimate it might read about 188whp on a dynojet. This will be my baseline and I will work up my build from there.

I played around with paint and was able to make the graph area transparent on the stock dyno, and after lining up the graphs and scaling appropriately, have somewhat of a comparison between stock, and my car. The blurry thick red line is the stock taken from Dynosty, link below if you want to do the exercise yourself and overlay the graphs. The torque dip occurs earlier in the power band, and is shorter. Midrange at 4k+ rpm looks great, with gains of 20+whp and close to 30ft-lbs torque. The bottom end looks like a retune would help.

Dynosty measured 153 whp peak on a stock FR-S on a Dyno Dynamics machine.
http://www.dynosty.com/2012/06/scion...dyno-baseline/

Considering I gained 10whp peak on a hot day, it's not bad. I'll play around with photoshop to see if I can overlay their stock graph on my graph to compare the midrange, what I'm more interested in than peak.

[charged86]

Originally Posted by JDKane527

I purchased the Headers and Overpipe in High temp black coating from Jeff at Micro Image. The welds look amazing and the black finish is pretty stealthy. The first post of this thread will have pictures of both headers and overpipe, including side by side between PPE Header and stock header.


IMG_4528 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4527 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4539 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4537 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4533 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4540 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4542 by jdkane527, on Flickr


IMG_4541 by jdkane527, on Flickr

Side by side:


IMG_4551 by jdkane527, on Flickr

This is really nice. I'm waiting for a company to make a nice catted header to keep dBl down

[JDKane527]

Originally Posted by charged86

This is really nice. I'm waiting for a company to make a nice catted header to keep dBl down

I would be lying if I said it wasn't loud haha.
If a catted header were available with catted front pipe, it would be pretty calm sounding. Driving around town so far, staying between 2-3.5k rpm, it's not bad. Manageable with radio on. It roars 4k+, but if you're in that range, you're not looking for a quiet ride.

[charged86]

Originally Posted by JDKane527

I would be lying if I said it wasn't loud haha.
If a catted header were available with catted front pipe, it would be pretty calm sounding. Driving around town so far, staying between 2-3.5k rpm, it's not bad. Manageable with radio on. It roars 4k+, but if you're in that range, you're not looking for a quiet ride.

That's nice. I just want better flow than stock. I have everything but a overpipe and tune. But my vortech ships monday

[Frostyman]

Such a nice looking header makes a person wish it was mounted on top instead of the bottom. lol.

[Evil86]

I have the prototype in my car, but it is silver; I like the black better.

[JDKane527]

After putting 200 miles on it, it has gotten a little quieter. There is some rasp but with a proper catback it should be less noticeable. I flashed the stock tune and it didn't throw a CEL so the extension for the second O2 sensor works. Idle is smooth as well. The tune helped the midrange torque according to the butt dyno. Overall very happy, the car sounds pretty badass

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[JDKane527]

Realized I had goofed during installation and had switched O2 sensors. Secondary O2 sensor was in direct path of gas, and the first O2 sensor was on the right angle, not directly in path of gas.

Switching the 2, my idle is smooth now and drives better. Funny though that with the incorrect configuration, the car didn't throw a CEL, even on stock tune. @Visconti tune works well with it.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[03Z33]

Great write-up and pics!

[tripjammer]

Is there any drone? Can you make a in car video?

[JDKane527]

Originally Posted by tripjammer

Is there any drone? Can you make a in car video?

There is some drone, but it rasps more than drone I would say. I'll try to get a video tonight. I have a Canon 600D and ContourHD, they both shoot in 1080p, but I think the 600D has a better microphone.

I think a catback will make the overall exhaust drone more, while making the rasp less noticeable.

[Evil86]

Originally Posted by JDKane527

There is some drone, but it rasps more than drone I would say. I'll try to get a video tonight. I have a Canon 600D and ContourHD, they both shoot in 1080p, but I think the 600D has a better microphone.

I think a catback will make the overall exhaust drone more, while making the rasp less noticeable.

JDKane is right, PPE did he entire exhaust (my entire exhaust is light and open), and the drone is there on the freeway and city streets in the 3-4 rpm range, or when revs are dropping. My wife does not like it, by I can live with it, like I live with coilovers, and all of the other PIAs of driving a DD/Autox car.

Btw, my co-driver thinks the car sounds cool, and when I hear it when he or my wife is autoxing it, the car sound freakin' great. It flat out roars.