KTL: tell me about B&B headers/exhuast

[R22tech]

I noticed a set for sale EXACTLY like yours . What is entailed in the installation, honestly, how did you like the sound, did you actually notice a performnace gain? What did you NOT like about that set-up? Thanks Kev.

[KTL]

Installation is straightforward. The biggest hassle you'll have is getting the old stuff off.

Pull the old stuff off (muffler, straps and bracket, heat exchangers and catalytic convertor as one unit, and the heater crossover pipe) just be careful to soak heat exchanger nuts with penetrating oil so you don't break a cyl. head stud!!!! Remove the two-piece oil line that goes from the engine case to the external thermostat in the passenger wheel well. These two lines are replaced with a single braided flex hose. Be careful when removing the old line at the thermostat. Threads can gall/strip from age and heat cycling? Luckily mine didn't.


Installing the headers is kinda tough as far as the gaskets are concerned. The factory exchangers have a little bit of the pipe sticking above the flange which holds the gasket in place when you mate the exchanger to the motor. The B&B header flanges are flat. So, put a dab of anti-seize on the gaskets to keep them from sliding when moving the header into place. Anyway, I first hung the two headers on the motor. Takes a little patience to get all nuts snugged with the wacky wrench. Then I connected the oil line to the motor and routed it to the thermostat. Takes a little while to figure a good path to the thermostat. Has to go around the back of the two heat exchangers, up past the heat supply pipe of the right exchanger and over to the thermostat along the other oil line that runs from the oil tank to the thermostat.

After you've got the headers and oil line in, connect the heat crossover tube to the headers. I forgot to do this and installed the muffler. With the muffler in the way, you can't get the crossover in place! Installing the muffler is as simple as opening the band clamps all the way, slip them over the muffler, then slide the bands onto the bracket as you're putting the muffler in place. Helps to have two people, but you can do it yourself (I did). Put the gaskets and bolts on the muffler to header connections, fill it with oil and fire it up!

I think it sounds pretty cool at high rpm. It snarls REALLY good at top end. Not too loud (for me), but really lets out a scream. Not blatty or raucous. The muffler has some added baffles in it to make it a little quieter- I requested this when I purchased the stuff. The car kinda sounds like the all-the-money-you-can-dump-into-it 964 Ruf Yellowbird on Gran Turismo 2!!! I kid you not. Downside, at low rpms it's pretty boomy from 2-3K rpm.

Yes I noticed a difference in performance. It pulls much stronger at the top end. Changing from 2nd to 3rd at full throttle feels much stronger than I remember it with the factory stuff. I did also install a chip mapped for headers, so that could be helping as well, I dunno. Low end seems to be a little stronger too. Before, I could let out the clutch and step on the gas around a corner without spinning the tires. With the headers and chip it spins the inside tire plenty (no limited slip). Nothing impressive, I know, but it is an improvement nonetheless.

The think I don't like about the setup is the oil line arrangement. I think they could have done a better job with this. I've got a picture of how the line is routed if anybody's curious.

Overall, the quality of the stuff is quite nice. But i'm no expert, so take that for whatever it's worth. Since i've installed it, I know everything fits together well too. No worries there. The ceramic coating is nice, but I wouldn't do it again. They're not as careful with your stuff as you'd like them to be (put a ding in the muffler). Too expensive also. My loss = your gain. FYI Jet Hot cost me over $400!

Any other questions, fire away!