PLM UEL Header Experience
 

Having difficulty finding what I would call reputable reviews on the PLM header. Made the mistake of ordering it before doing any extensive research and have seen a bunch of complaints surrounding overall fitment and the quality of hardware that accompanies the piece. Just looking for any input from people that have it on their 86.

PLM doesn’t have a good rep and you won’t find much about them because they knockoff other companies parts. I believe their UEL was a knockoff of the early JDL UEL.

This right here.

You get what you pay for. Buy once cry once.

Welp. At least I know now. Thanks

Stick with JDL/FT86 & HKS? *sadly HKS is out of production..... :(

Tomei is nice too but there isn't much option for catted one if you don't want drones.

I did purchase catless because I live in a province that does no emissions testing and I plan on leaving the rest of the exhaust stock. I just wanted a more subtle rumble and a slight increase in sound. Also didn't want to spend $1500-ish on what will likely be a relatively short term setup.

The general complaint seems to be the gaskets and hardware, so upgrading to Grimmspeed gaskets seems to somewhat resolve the issue.

Ah ic, that's good. Cuz when you swap out the intake & rest of the exhaust, being catless tend to get very drony @ certain Rpm. Enjoy! :burnrubber:

Live and learn. If you are having issues getting it to seal I recommend remflex gaskets.

https://catalog.remflex.com/

Thanks. I'll give that a look. I'm thinking there's a reason people switch to different gaskets rather than just using stock - perhaps the port size changes? I'm tempted just to run to Napa to get a multi-layer gasket rather than the crap ones that come with the header.

Mind you, I can't know until at least Thursday anyway. That's when it's supposed to arrive.

The grimmspeed gaskets work pretty well. I have used a few sets and always leak free. If you get any flange warping, or if it is not flat, the reflex is the only gasket that will seal it.

Noted. Did some more reading and OEM gaskets will work so I'm running with that as a short-term (unless it just works). The bolts that come with it are designed to work with the PLM overpipe so need to figure out an alternative for that. Was hoping I could find dimensions somewhere but I'll have to wing it, I guess. Can't find anywhere that can confirm if I can reuse the original hardware or not.

I believe the stock overpipe is studded where it mounts to the header. So if you are using a stock overpipe just reuse the stock hardware. With aftermarket overpipe, they are usually 10mm, or 3/8(9.525mm) hardware. I have been running 3/8’s for years with no issues. Gives me more locknut options.

Easy. Hopefully I can just reuse everything for an easy install. I'll update when it's all done.

Just finished getting it installed. Had to be worked into place because one of the flanges are off about half an inch but I was able to get it to work. I damaged the OEM header to overpipe gasket during the uninstall so I used the one with the kit as a temporary measure. No surprise that it's leaking but it is a bit loose still. I'll see if I can find just that gasket and get it swapped out soon. Given how difficult it was to force the header into place, however, I don't know if it's ever coming off lol.

As far as the actual bolt assembly is (my main concern if you scroll up a bit), the studs are actually part of the factory header assembly, so use of different hardware is required. However, the hardware with the kit seems to be fine, so I'm not sure what the problem was supposed to be.

Overall, I updated to stage 2 on my OFT and the car feels great. I definitely feel more grunt in the mid range. Slight leak that is audible but I'm overall happy with it. It's ever so slightly louder than stock so I can confidently recommend it to anyone that doesn't have emissions testing in their state and want a slight choppier exhaust note.