DC Sports/Hot Shot Header install
 

Whats up guy's I'm on rainy day schedule, that means no work for me for a couple hours. I thought I would post pics of my install because I am really bored right now....... So here I go.....

First what you will need your basic metric wrench kit with wrenches from 10mm to 24mm. Estimated time for header install on s13 4Hours and 15minutes. Header install for the s14 3hours and 45minutes. Only because the S13 came with the AIV unit does the install take slightly longer. This estimated time was also added for the addition of strut brace bars, if one is not on your vehicle subtract 20minutes from the estimated time.
So to start first we take the crap header and anylize where it is and where to get it out. DC Sports nore does HOT shot have a manual for installing the performance headers, technically this should become a sticky, but ehhh whatever floats the boat of the mods....
Attachment 27893

First I unscrewed the EGR tube and the AIV tube from the header. AIV should be easy to unscrew from underneath the car, while the EGR tube will be a little more difficult since the brake lines are in the way. Just take your time it should come off within 30minutes at the most. You will need a 24mm wrench to take the tubes off.
Then you will want to unbolt the header from underneath at the CAT.
Attachment 27894
Then what you need to do is unbolt and disconnect the steering column from the rack this will allow you more room to slide the header out. Distributor wires will need to be removed as well as the AIV for the S13. As you can see with this pic I had unbolted the header early. There is NO clearance to get the headerr out without the removal of theose components.
Attachment 27895
Once all the components are out of the way then unbolt the header from the head. You may need a friend to hold the collector the stock OEM cast is pretty heavy. Once it was out of the bay I wanted to compare difference between the 2 headers. Obviously the DC will show major improvement....
Attachment 27896
Before sliding the DC sports or Hot shot into place you will need to clean gasket areas with mineral spirit and a brillo pad or wire brush, make shure that there is no left over crap or residue left or gaskets may not seal correctly. You could get leaks. Then put all gaskets into place, on the header to head gaskets there are tabs on the gaskets, have the tabs face upward, so that you know that it is on correctly. Then slide the new header into place again having a friend hold the collector at the bottom.
Only bolt the collector to the cat first. The reason for this is that you will struggle to put the EGR and AIV on the aftermarket headers. Just make them snug, and then you can bolt the header to the head. Once the headr is bolted tight then tighten the EGR connection, and AIV.
Attachment 27897
Now it is all a matter of putting everything back, and installing the longer O2 wire (nly for DC sports models).
Then sit back and admire the product. Get in you car and burn some donuts to feel some HP.....
Attachment 27898

nice write up V, stickied

:bigok: MARVELOUS:bigok: You sir are my hero!!!!

How does it feel in power? how louder is it

Good job Big V, Glad youre on our crew.

So tell me, does the butt dyno feel much of a difference in your opinion?

Well all I can say is massive improvement. The engines scavanging numbers are less and the engine defenitely sounds much louder. I was very impressed with the DC Sports, overall there is power through out the entire power band. The engine bay isn't hot at all, possibly due to the ceramic coating on the header. Sound pulses sound more insync, groules rather than whimpers now.
I was also impressed with the collector size, for only 3/8" larger in diameter it showed some seriously (whip your head back) results. DC sports collector runs 2 1/8", the stock OEM collector is 1 3/4". DC had to make the size that big for Cali legality, which I did speak to the rep at DC, the excemption should go through sometime in 2006, the paper work is being processed.

Overall on the butt dyno I would say that I gained 10HP from the header, 3 HP from the high flow CAT, and 7 HP from the Pacesetter CAT back exhaust. Total power in the exhaust about 19~21HP. High flow CAT and cat back are all in 2.5". This isn't like the imaginary 14peak HP from a 3" exhaust either. The HP I feel is from 1200RPM~5900RPM, with a slight dyno dip.

Personally I highly recomend the DC sports I am impressed with the design, the fact that it uses ceramic coating, and the fact that DC backed up the proof in HP. No Joke, this is one of the best headers for the KA IMO.
I've delt with OBX and power shifts through out the power band, sometimes you wonder where the power went. I've also delt with the Hot Shot, which I do notice a bit more dyno dip from 3800 to 4200RPM. The DC dyno dips also, but it doesn't feel as if it takes as long for it to build up power.........

My whole exhaust system was off of EBAY.
$354 DC sports header
$50 high flow CAT
$225 cat back exhaust
Total for those of you that can't do basic math $629.00
All installed by me.....PRICELESS

And people pay almost $500 for a 3" cat back exhaust? LOL

good right up... i cnt use it, but i'm sure others will...

that stock exhaust manifold looks like sh*t

hey Vin, when you bolted the headers up on the head did you use a type of bolt pattern or hole pattern. Like for example did you tighten up the top left hole and then the right bottom one or anything like that?

I don't think it really matters any specific order. Although it was much easier to start with cylinder 1 and then worked my way to the end of cylinder 4 just snugging the top bolts (not tightened yet).
Then I snugged all the bottom bolts.
Then I tightened cylinder 1 port top bolt first then the bottom bolt.
I then continued this process to cylinder 4 port.
If you do not have a torque wrench( no worries), just don't strip or break the threads. I didn't use a torque wrench, and I still have no leaks after a few months of driving.......

Aright cool. Thank yah

CARB legal?
 

Bigvinnie, your entire exhaust setup, CARB legal? or at least the headers? reason why im asking is because im tyring to buy my friend's 240sx, but it failed the visual smog test, he installed pacesetter headers a couple of years ago, therefore he couldnt transfer ownership.

The DC sports exemption won't be through until 2006. I spoke with the rep at DC and he said that the papers have been filed with the state of california.
Catco CAT is 50state street legal.
Pace setter cat back exhaust passes the cali Db test.
The whole set up is technically legal.
If you decide to buy the header early like I did keep a copy of your reciept. You will need that to send it to the state in order to recieve the exemption sticker for your header. (That is what I was told from a rep at DC sports)

the book says to tighten in this order:

: 5 1 3 7
:8 4 2 6

i was thinking about getting this too i got an exhaust leak and i thought it was the cat now i think it's where the header meets the front tub. i hope none of my pipes are cracked.

I didn't follow the book, just because when the EGR fitting goes on the header the flange doesn't seat properlly to the head and gaskets. It flexes a little bit more than the cast iron OEM. Doing the bottom bolts were a pain in the A$$ also.

Vin, you said you have a pacesetter exhaust right? Ive been eyeing that since i bought my 240. How do you like it? Is it loud? Did you notice a diefference in power? I like the pacesetter because it looks classy and sounds like its pretty sensible as far as noise

Honest Opinion.......
Pacesetter defenitely isn't top notch quality. How ever it does get the job done when it come's to making power. The welds to the muffler look like dog crap, but they arent even noticeable from underneath the chassis. The chrome on the tips still look good to the day I purchased it a year ago.
I have heard that some pacesetter monza exhausts don't even fit as well as mine did, and that some come in a 2 piece that aren't that well fabricated as my 3 piece. Technically it is a toss up if you get one like mine from an ebay seller. Always ask if the monza comes in a 3 piece to know that you have the right one.
Over all sound quality is good. The black paint that comes on the exhaust burns off after day 2. It is a nice tone that isn't to ricey, and it doesn't come with any resonators like most exhaust, and IMO that is the majority of the performance. Any exhaust that comes with resonators will cut down on performance.
I will leave a pic of my install for you to decide. Also make shure you get a gasket from a chevy CAT/exhaust flange for 2.5" the pacesetter gasket is literally a piece of paper.
Attachment 27821
Attachment 27822
Attachment 27823

Might I add... use 'loc-tite' anti-sieze, to keep the bolts from melting in place.

30 mins to take the back egr... lucky you man... took me 2 days... and a can of PB blaster XD.

Then my cat-to-header and cat-to-muffler bolts are nice and melted, gonna take a saw-saw to that...

hope my install goes well cuz i'm driving it with the exhaust in pieces, and an experiemental ebay exhaust (grapefruit chucker)

Monday Morning
 

Install went pretty smooth, I ended up taking the header apart (primary/secondary headers), but the DC headers are worth the price tag... also the ebay muffler wasn't too bad either for stainless steel 3" piping


Attachment 27771 Attachment 27772
Attachment 27773 http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y20...r/DSC00112.jpg

$275 header
$95 cat
$240 cat-back/rez
$10 copper gasket

self install ... priceless (clean, no?)

Attachment 27774

Re: Monday Morning
 

Good to see you got a good deal on your header.
So Sieji, just for all those non believers do you feel a significant difference in whp and acceleration? I would say so. Does your butt dyno average 19~21 HP as well?

OH yea... it's worth every penny, pulls stronger throughout the whole power band. I don't feel much of the torque drop as people claim.
I haven't pushed the car past 3500 for fear of police and the noise the exhaust generates, but i feel around the 10-15+hp gain to the wheels
For a 13 year or so car, with a stock iron header, it was a big improvement, it weighs less too.
Only gripe I have about it, is the finish (hard keeping it clean on a self install), and the fact that some of the lower bolts were annoying to put on. The header smooths out to a collector pretty quick, so i couldn't take a socket to it (open-ended wrenches suk, esp if you only have 10 degrees of freedom to move).

Lesson for this thread kiddies: go save up that christmas money, skip a few meals at mcdonalds, panera, or whatever expensive food join and drop 3 bens for this puppy.

Install was pretty simple too: as long as you have thumbs, and a decent socket/wrench set and some elbow grease anyone could do it.

Overall it took me about 2 hours and some change to pull the old exhaust/manifold and another 2 to put the new one in and snug all the flanges.

yo vin,seiji, i got my headers yesterday and it said for vehicles w/ more than 50k miles it is recommended i get new engine mounts and transmission mounts. i was wondering if yall's engine has more than 50k and if it does, did yall get new engine mounts and transmission mounts?

Still on my stock mounts with over 110,000miles. No worries here. But I did just order some stock mounts that I am about to polyurethane (for extra strength). DC only adds that as a warning that it may void the warrantee on the header if you don't replace them and your header cracks, it's a durable header I wouldn't really worry unless you dogg the crap out of your engine.........

aright cool thnx

if possible can yall post a sound clip???

Off topic yay........How hard is it to replace the motor mounts? And how do you go about doing it? Thanks. I wanna do it soon because I get a lot of moving around that shouldn't happen.

motor mounts and tranny
 

i dropped a 97 engine in my 92 hatch... so my mounts were still kinda fresh. But I did change my tranny mount, just cuz i was under there... and never changed it at the swap.

100k miles on engine... about 210k on tranny and body

As for actually changing the engine mounts, it's not really hard, but timely and annoying. like you gotta pull some wires, vaccum lines, get a cherry-picker, then lift the engine out just to access the mounts (you don't have to completely pull the engine out). Then make sure everything you took out or took apart goes back. Only 2 mounts to change too... one on each side (pass/driver).

as for the tranny mount... there's maybe about 4 bolts on the x-member and 2 on the actual mount..., and i can't remember if the exhaust support linked to it... but it's really easy to change the tranny one.

my suggestion... if it ain't broke, don't NEED to fix it. :nono:

~eji

hope you enjoy your headers ^^

anyone know if dc makes a CARB LEGAL 95 obd1 header?

So D/C header is recomended over other companies??? Next to an intake, a header is going to be my next mod.

Question: I live in Alabama and we currently do not have to have out emissions tested, so could I (in theory) go directly from the header to the exhaust pipe to the muffler, or should I go ahead and plan on getting a high flow cat?

Any advice is welcome and appreciated! Thanx; Guy :)

u could straight-pipe it... just don't get caught.

Hey Vinnie, does DC sports make headers for a 98 240sx?? Or does any company.I searched and all could come up w/ was Megan racing and Hotshot.
Because we were trying to install it yesterday and everything was going good until the EGR tube came up. Compared to your car its different.
Yours
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...install003.jpg
Mine:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...3/IMG_1018.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...3/IMG_1017.jpg
Do you see the difference?? I was thinking maybe (since my egr tube is bad anyways) that i could get an S13 egr tube and put it in my s14. Or if it will work or not.

I'm pretty shure the location of the EGR from the s13 to s14 is in the same location of the manifold.
But I don't know if the angle of the actual EGR changes from the inlet port end. ( I really doubt that it does, I can't remember off the top of my head)
Hey it's worth a shot and the tube should be affordable at any wrecking yard. You can be one of the first to let us know that it works.......
If it's to much trouble send it back and get the Hot Shots..... Do not purchase the Megan.......

yea the angle is diff, mine goes out on a 90 not a 45 degree... but changing that back tube is a *****. If you get one off a s13 and get it to sit right, madd props to you man. Also how does your cat flange sit? otherwise the dc might work on 95+

~eji

like the flange to the cat converter? it sits at an angle. how would the dc might work if it is the flange?

REMOVAL OF EGR
 

hey i was wondering, do you have to remove the intake manilfold to be able to get to the EGR or what. Because we tried removing some circle thing to get to the EGR but that didnt work out too well. there was no room for the wrench to move around in. removing the intake manifold would be difficult cause of gas lines and other things.

Re: REMOVAL OF EGR
 

Can you take a pic, I can help you out......

Re: Re: REMOVAL OF EGR
 

Yea sure. here yah go.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...3/IMG_1022.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...3/IMG_1021.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...3/IMG_1025.jpg
Those two circular plate looking things. I got the top one to move but the one on the bottom is a pain. And any other removals would be helpful.

Re: Re: Re: REMOVAL OF EGR
 

Alright first lets compare and anylize the EGR valves to see if we can use a OBD1 EGR scavaging tube......
PIC of my EGR assembly.....
Attachment 27605
PIC of yours......
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...3/IMG_1022.jpg
PIC of mine......
Attachment 27606
PIC of yours.......
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...3/IMG_1025.jpg
So from the PICS we can conclude that a OBD1 tube should mount up to the OBD2 EGR system. So you should be able to use the DC sports header with the OBD1 tube on your EGR system....
Now your problem is getting that fatty nut off of the EGR to get the tube loose.
The easiest way to do that is to disconnect all vacuum lines that are in the way of the EGR. Disconnect any lines that are within 12" of the EGR, you will need room for what you will be doing next.
Now remove the entire EGR from the monifold, use a ratchet to take the two bolts out that run parallel to the tube, those bolts should be very easy to take off, compared to the nut. Now when I meant disconnect all vacuum lines I meant it. Now you will need to remove the EGR from the manifold, you wont be able to do this if you didn't disconnect all vacuum lines from the EGR to BPT. Now facing the position that you took your EGR pics twist the EGR and tube together 90 degress counterclock wise away from the manifold, now the tube and EGR should slide out from right behind the motor and firewall. Now take a VISE clamp and clamp your EGR down so that you can use I believe a 44mm wrench to take off that tube nut. Now you can apply the OBD1 tube to the EGR valve and make shure that it is snug, but not tight you still want the tube to have some play so that you can reinstall to the header.
Hopefully it should be self explanitory how to reinstall, since you uninstalled.

Parts that will need replacing:
3/8 vacuum line for the EGR BPT
New EGR gasket
Might as well clean your EGR while you are at it with some carb cleaner, get all the exhaust crap out your EGR will work better and possibly last longer.....

well i guess im just gonna go back to nissan and try to get a 91-94 EGR tube and see what happens but if that doesnt work im just gonna ask my bro. to custom bend me a pipe since he knows how to do all that..i just wanna get my headers installed so bad but ill let u guys know later!

so those s13 dohc obd1 headers would work and fit in a 95 s14 obd1 engine?

Yes. I believe that DC sports even tested it on a 92 (s13) and a 94 production date (s14)...............
But my question is what about the AIV port that only came on the s13's?????

Here is DC sports page they claim it can be used up until the 94production year. http://www.dcsports.com/240SX/

lol whoa what do you mean? AIV port that only came with s13?