Hey (car 92 gsr)
so awhile ago i bought a megan header
while i was installing it the y pipe i guess will call it did not line up with the cat
it bent upwards so that when you tried to connect the two together u had a fairly large V shape gap. also the header didnt line up with the oem bracket.
also the header hung about 4’ lower then my oem header. someone told me they maybe have sent me a header ment for the b18 not b17, something about a shorter block.
Was driving last night and savagely scraped it up and reminded me how badly i need to get this fixed or swapped.
so my question what headers do you know of line up perfectly under the car like the oem one does, nice and close to the under side of the car?
Another weird thing i was checking out dc makes headers for our cars but its fits b18 and b17. if it fit both wouldnt the application on the b17 hang low like mine if the block is shorter?
Typically the clearance issue you speak of is due to different designs, Usually 4-1 vs 4-2-1. Is yours a 4-1?
Generally if you buy any of the nicer, name brand (DC, Greddy…) headers they will fit pretty close to stock. It’s the cheap ebay ones that suck. We put one on our LeMons car and the flange was severely warped, took quite a bit of work to make it fit.
I have a Megan 4-1 2.5" collector header on my car currently, it hangs pretty low, but that’s just the nature of having all 4 primaries right below the oil pan in a 2x2 configuration. It partially lines up w/ my bracket and the angle to the cat is slightly off. Also all the welds were redone from the inside and then ground back down, I guess they have been known to crack at those locations.
its hangs super low, ive already smashed the bottom of the header flat lol
and because it doesnt fit properly it brings the cat lower and a bit of the exhaust
I would prefer a stainless steal one, but still if the dc fits 1.8 and 1.7 doesnt that mean its gonna hang just as low as my current one since they dont seem to have a engine specific header, and others do
Sounds like your header is just a strange one, there isn’t a huge difference in block height from the b18a to b17a so they just use the same header. In fact most of the high end headers now just fit all b series engines. It makes things easier that way.
Do you have any pics of yours installed? It shouldn’t be hanging 4" lower than stock, that would put it pretty far below the lowest point of the oil pan.
heres some pics tell me what u think
the pipes arent flush with the oilpan, i dont no if u can tell by the pics but they hand almost exactly a pipe thickness below it
Maybe the gap between the header and the bottom of the oilpan is large, i can’t tell cause the pics weren’t pointed at that spot. B18 engines have a taller oilpan that hangs lower, so their corresponding headers also hang lower.
mine also hangs a tad low but its snug to the oil pan and hangs just a tad lower the mounting bracket on the header doesnt line up but i dont think its really needed it very stiff and secured in place mine is a JVT header I guess another ebay brand but the construction is very well done and still performs great it is a possibility you have the wrong one because i notice the 2 pipes meet at the cat flange all the headers ive had go into one pipe about a foot or more before they meet the cat flange hence 4-2-1.
That doesn’t look un-ordinarily low to me, but hard to see from the pics. Definitely lower than stock and obviously designed to fit multiple motors. They probably designed it to fit all b series and then only change the length at the end in order to tailor it to fit specific models. Plus there could be some strange fitment issues with your exact piece, a lot of the cheaper ones vary a lot from header to header. Although the Megan isn’t the cheapest of the cheap, usually the Megan stuff is decent quality.
The higher end headers should fit better, and some are designed with ground clearance in mind. Really you’ll want to shop around and see what your priorities are. And consider raising the car up a little or being more careful while driving…
Personally I’d keep using the header you have until its more damaged. Unless of course a new header is high on your priorities.
could some one mention all the brands they know for headers?
i dont want a really pricy one, i was thinking about dc but its ceramic, so if i scrape the bottom itll rust right?
