My car build/journal

[vividracing]

I used DEI black 50ft by 1" wrap. It was plenty. Don't get 2" because it's difficult to bend around curves. Make sure to wear a long sleeve shirt you don't mind never wearing again because the fiberglass shards are almost impossible to wash out. Wear gloves and a mask too for the same reason.

Also be sure to get the metal zip ties and silicone sealant spray, you need both.

Start from the headers where it connects to the engine block, 2 pipes at a time (its much harder to wrap 1 pipe at a time and uses less material), starting with the passenger side pipes, then when the 4 pipes converge, secure it and cut and wrap the other two pipes. Overlap about 1/4" on straights and 1/2" on curves.

Wrap the pipes loosely to get the general gist of location as well as to counter-spin the wrap which helps later on as you don't have to keep un-spinning the wrap as you apply it. Then unwrap it a little bit to re-wrap it as tight as-physically-possible (pliers help!) to keep the heat in better.

Then wrap the other two pipes and overlap the other two pipes where they converge just behind the sensor, you may have to use some creative folding to get it to cover just right and you still will have a bit of a coverage gap around the sensor.

Get the 4 pipe convergence extremely tight then continue on the rest of the header, it gets much easier past the sensor, then secure it with a metal zip tie.

Spray the wrap with the silicone spray and use the entire can in increasingly heavier coats until there's nothing left. Spray more on the top of the header (facing up) as it's more likely to get hit by water, oil, etc. from the top. The spray seals the wrap and keeps it from slipping and letting the wrap get soaked which can deteriorate both the wrap and rust the headers quicker.

Install and enjoy!

If you get aftermarket headers, you WILL need a tune, or a CEL is in your future. the OFT was specifically meant for the OFH as they programmed the tune using an OFH. They didn't test it with any other headers as far as I know. The headers may have mostly similar design being UEL but I wouldn't risk it. I've heard the Borla headers aren't all that great anyway, known to crack at the rib areas or something like that.

Tuning is a fine art and I definitely wouldn't recommend doing it yourself unless you know a lot about tuning and/or engine dynamics, because there are so many factors to count and so many ways for it to go wrong. Getting the OFT and OFH is the low-cost and easier, less time consuming way to do it. Plus if you tune it yourself, you will have to get it dynoed while programming which takes time and time costs money.

The OFT by itself is better than stock, an aftermarket header is better than stock, but both make it much better than stock, unless they aren't compatible then the gains aren't as high.

Thank my page: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34772

-RyanG

[Amaya]

Yep, had the headers on for a couple days before I got the Openport and the check engine light came on, which is to be expected if the car is working properly. I checked the OFT file and they had already disabled the P0420 code so no worries about that.
As far as tuning it myself, I do have quite a bit of knowledge and understanding of how engines work and their various systems. In fact I know enough to know that there's a lot I don't know, so I will be doing a lot of research about the particulars of tuning. Learning more about engine management is the main reason I got the Openport.

[vividracing]

Originally Posted by Amaya

Yep, had the headers on for a couple days before I got the Openport and the check engine light came on, which is to be expected if the car is working properly. I checked the OFT file and they had already disabled the P0420 code so no worries about that.
As far as tuning it myself, I do have quite a bit of knowledge and understanding of how engines work and their various systems. In fact I know enough to know that there's a lot I don't know, so I will be doing a lot of research about the particulars of tuning. Learning more about engine management is the main reason I got the Openport.

Well good luck to you. I don't know much about tuning and engine dynamics so I went the simple route and got the OFT/OFH and I'm happy with the results. There is a modest gain plus it sounds amazing.

-RyanG

[Amaya]

Oh ya, the sound of UEL headers through the cat back sounds awesome. It has a mean rumble that I just can't get enough of. I'm really wondering what an borla cat delete pipe would do for the sound, I'm totally addicted to making this thing sound more and more awesome

[vividracing]

Originally Posted by Amaya

Oh ya, the sound of UEL headers through the cat back sounds awesome. It has a mean rumble that I just can't get enough of. I'm really wondering what an borla cat delete pipe would do for the sound, I'm totally addicted to making this thing sound more and more awesome

Careful with that now. The sound it makes after getting rid of a cat is significant. The sound is much rougher and of course louder. The cat does help get rid of high pitched noises. What makes it sound better but not louder is the cat-back you have. Just getting rid of a cat makes it louder.

[Amaya]

I've never been a fan of loud 4 cylinder engines (unless we're talking bikes) but the way this sounds I think a little louder might be what I want. But I should get someone to drive it around so I can hear how loud it from outside the car, I don't want it to be too loud.

[vividracing]

With my headers and catback and nothing else done, it's loud enough. If I got a catted front pipe for it it would increase the sound but not change the noise too much. But I'm pretty happy where it's at now.

What do you have now then, the borla UEL? Any cat-back? Intake?

-RyanG

[Amaya]

Borla UEL and Zeta Performance cat back. The cat back is very quiet but a deeper tone, until the header it was probably quieter than stock. At this point I think it's about as loud as some of the more common CBE's

[Amaya]

So I decided to see what E85 feels like, and so far it's pretty awesome. There isn't a station very close to me but I'm not sure I could handle going back to 93. I'll give it a few weeks/tanks and see if it works out or not.

[Amaya]

New parts, yay!
Went and picked up an overpipe/frontpipe combo from the guys at Top Speed. Got a better price in person than it showed online so that was cool (with tax I paid around 180ish). Also the OP/FP came with new gaskets and hardware which was awesome. I realized that was the first time I've bought performance parts in person. It was a pretty cool store and I'll probably be doing business with them again.
So here are the new parts:





Definitely looks and feels like good quality, especially for the price.

[Amaya]

I decided that while I'm under the car replacing the over and front pipes I would pull the header out and wrap it as I have been just a little worried about the heat. I also wrapped the overpipe since it runs right under the head and the OE pipe has a heat shield. And I had wrap left so I wrapped the frontpipe as well. I also installed a heat shield on the oil pan since the headers are right next to it, it was late and dark so I don't have any pics of it but it turned out great. I may also be getting an oil cooler sometime soon because I worry about heat.



Overall the install went smoothly, the OP/FP fit like OEM parts or better.
Now my cold start is LOUD! but once it goes to normal idle it is actually very quiet. When you hit the throttle it's loud but doesn't seem to be stupid loud. I will have to get someone to drive the car so I can hear what it sounds like from outside. From the inside it still sounds awesome, just a bit louder than before.

[Amaya]

Got some audio of the exhaust

[Amaya]

Finally got better pictures and updated the original post(s). Here are a few of the pics.

[Amaya]

These are several months old, before E85 and other power mods

Some timeslips