headers

[DaBird19]

hey guys,
im thinking about putting in headers, on my 2000 bird. i already have an upgraded CAI and a flowmaster catback, but i just dont know if its worth it because my car has a lil less then 68000 miles. i just dont know if its worth it with how many miles its got on it. does anyone have any input?? if anyone could help it would be great. thanks.

[ssms5411]

Re: headers

I've had RK sports for 8-9 years coating is still great. They provide more clearance than stock manifolds when changing out the spark plugs. Also have the biggest primaries at 1.75. The only thing I would suggest is having a exhaust shop cut off the 2 bolt flanges and put on 3 bolt flanges, this will help seal it better and you won't have leaks. It was the first thing I did when I put them on and took it to the exhaust shop to have my Y pipe welded up. The guys at the exhaust shop recommended going to the 3 bolt after looking at the 2 bolt flanges. I think I have only swapped out the gaskets 1 times in 8-9 years. Also the copper flanges with copper sealant spray , I have foound to work best. For the header gaskets i used Fel Pro metal gaskets with copper spray and it works great. No leaks. Since you do have a CAI and flowmaster exhaust , headers will only benefit you more. But whatever headers you go with the coating is worth every penny. Mine are still holding up great after 8-9 years. As for header bolts stock ones are fine, I have the grade 8 locking ones but didn't want to mess with them this last time I swapped header gaskets. The stock ones are holding up fine, just have to tighten the bolts down after install about 1 week later or a couple of good heat cycles then recheck them again another week later to make sure they are snugged tight.

[pace2006]

Re: headers

68k miles is nothing compared to some of the other cars on here. Mine's just about to roll 85k and I've no doubts about putting headers on. Your engine is fairly new enough that throwing a couple hundred dollars into it isn't going to be a waste of your money.

[ssms5411]

Re: headers

I put headers on at 105,000 miles, now I'm at 175,000.

[Smoke Panther]

Re: headers

but i just dont know if its worth it because my car has a lil less then 68000 miles. i just dont know if its worth it with how many miles its got on it. does anyone have any input??

68k is jack squat on our cars. Installed correctly, headers hurt nothing

[LETZRIDE]

Re: headers

the o2 sensors may need to be replaced after the install....mine got messed up, but I also had something like 164,000km on the clock when I installed....be gentle with the egr tube as that "could" break as well....thats about all that can go wrong though...
nothing major that can't be fixed....

[Taheen]

Re: headers

175k miles here. Put headers on less than 5k ago... you're fine.

[DaBird19]

Re: headers

thanks guys, im gunna get headers soon, but i just needed to be sure that having 68k and putting a couple 100 in it wouldnt be like flushing $ down the toliet. thanks again.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: headers

like said 68k is nothing...your car is a baby...these things last well over 200k if you take care of it....I have 197 almost 198,000km on the clock right now....I am gunna be camming and doing head work soon....lol my engine is still young.....

[whitdog54]

Re: headers

68k is nothing, im not sure whos telling you this is bad, but increasing air flow efficiency will help any car regardless of miles.

[blackRS]

Re: headers

the cat back system and the rest of ur exhaust isnt hitting anywhere close to its full potential with the restrictive exhaust manifold thats on it now. So go for it and reap the benefits!!!

[DaBird19]

Re: headers

is getting headers installed a pain in the ***, how many things can go wrong??, and i also dont know what to go with i know i want pacesetters but idk about what coating to get.

[u441105]

Re: headers

A lot of people from different sites will tell you that the coating does not do a thing for you with some decent evidence, however I decided to go with the ceramic coating regardless. It only added about $100 to the price and I mean it can't be harmful can it? If anything it has to help a little.

As for the install, I didn't do it myself but after researching it some problems you could have may be breaking some bolts or not getting the EGR to fit back in correctly. If you plan on doing this yourself you should spray down and let the stock header bolts soak before trying to remove them. As for the EGR, many people, including myself, have noticed that it doesn't exactly reach back to where it's supposed to go and you have to really force it. This may cause an exhaust leak and I used some RTV silicone to plug it.

Another problem many people have is that the Pacesetter header gaskets are real ****ty. I went with Abbott gaskets to try and prevent a leak there before it happened. I also bought locking header bolts because I didn't feel like going back down there and tightening them back up.

[DaBird19]

Re: headers

you had it done at a shop, and you still would have had to tighten the header bolts, if you didnt get the locking bolts??

[u441105]

Re: headers

Yeah, the heat from the engine and the vibrations may cause them to loosen over time. It's recommended that you tighten them every couple heat cycles for a few cycles, after that they will remain tightened. Or go with the locking header bolts.