930 Header ?
 

I've decided to take the plunge and replace my stock exhaust with a set of headers. Looking for opinions on the best and/or the best bang for the buck.
Pat

The best headers are hand-fabbed stainless steel (or I suppose, titanium, but I've never actually seen one of those) jobs. A few guys make them across the country. Bob Holcombe in Scottsdale makes a nice one (and charges accordingly), for example. That's what I have (on a '78 Euro, by the way) . Rock solid headers.

I don't know enough about the B&B, GHL, etc. debate to comment intelligently, other than to say they are clearly less expensive in up-front costs.

I can tell you that the GHL welds are beautiful, but that's all I can tell you as they won't be installed for a few weeks yet.

I have had the B&B headers for 5 years now. I have been very happy and haven't had a single problem. I'm sure you could get a ton of info by doing searches on a few of the turbo boards such as rennlist, turbo911...

B&B makes great headers. Their mufflers? Nah.

I have them on my 930 and it sees hot, intense track use many times per year.

Go with B&B.

Has anyone heard of this guy? http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/Porsche%20Products.htm

Craig, What non-stock muffler would you rec.?
Pat

BIG fan of this - but it is very bassy, and has a bit of resonance.
IMO it is the 930 muffler choice in part because of the simplicity:
It is essentially a ceramic coated straight thru 'cherry bomb' style muffler - no problems, no drama.

Just went out and took these pics:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145998752.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145998783.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145998801.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145998818.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145998862.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145998925.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145998953.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145998969.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145998987.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1145999006.jpg

Sweet! Did you fab up the mounting bracket?
Pat

PO did - takes some time to get it right.

Send me a PM with your e-mail and I can send you a short sound/video file

Looks like a nice header. 321 is a better choice than 304 so that's good and he's using the Burns collectors which are about the best. Have you gotten a price from him?

Most folks prefer the B&B for hp and the GHL for quality and customer service.

You have a Euro 930, you don't need headers.
Headers will add only marginal improvements in performance over the stock Euro system. You will be spending thousands of dollars to lower your boost threshold a few hundred RPM and add maybe 15HP (depending on your other mods).
The biggest bang for the buck would be a simple cheap muffler like Craigs' with a straight pipe on the waste gate.

David,
I've tried emailing and calling. So far he hasn't responded, obviously not a good sign, but I like the look of the headers.
Pat

C.O.B.(Crotchety.....),
What delineates between the U.S. and Euro. exhaust.
Pat

The picture below is a 930 US exhaust with afternarket thermal reactor replacement pipes. You DON'T want this exhaust.

The Euro unit has both heat exchangers exiting near the tranny and into a single pipe that wraps around the driver's side of the engine to the turbo.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1146019587.jpg

I don't have a good picture of a Euro exhaust on this computer. Here is a picture of the driver's side wrap around tube I spoke of previously. You can see how the waste gate is mounted on it.

This style of exhaust system, although not as sexy as the aftermarket, will allow modifications to your engine to work as they should. It will support at least as much power as the Euro CIS, which is a tad over 400HP.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1146020251.jpg

COB,
The one on the engine is what I have on mine. I can now see how restrictive the U.S. version is. Okay, you've convinced me. So what muffler are you running?
Pat

The decision to change the exchangers also depends on the year of the car involved, at least as far as Bruce Anderson's book states. He mentions that from 1986 onward, US cars already have the changes in place on the exchangers, and only require muffler and cat upgrades. There are good pics in his book of both systems. I see Pat's car is a 78 Euro so he should be okay.

I am taking it for granted that the engine we are taking about is a stock '78 Euro 930.

My muffler is stock Euro. I've tried a half dozen mufflers and keep going back to stock due to noise levels. The waste gate however has a dump pipe. The result is quiet running under normal conditions and daaaaam loud when you want it to be. I love it.
If you want a few hundred RPM reduction in spoolup time go for a straight-through muffler design like Craig's. The turbo sound is an added bonus. :)

I will add that headers become necessary when/if you decide to go for big power numbers.