Ive got a 95 civic that i use as a dd beater. Ive got a busted bolt on the exhaust manifold between the manifold and the pipe causing it to leak. I considered looking for some headers for the car bc honda crap is usually cheap.

Looked on ebay and they have headers for $30! What is that all about? Materials should cost more than that. I would assume they are likely to be warped, not fit, etc.....??

7/11/2011 8:04:26 PM

it's like chrome air cleaners for carb'd engines.... dime a dozen.

just make sure it's stainless and not chromed.

7/11/2011 10:46:05 PM

Steel is less than 10 cents/lb.

7/11/2011 11:39:59 PM

and this is what your stainless steel will look like in a matter of months



Not mine but you get the point

7/12/2011 6:13:40 AM

^and does it matter? I'd rather have discolored & slightly rusted stainless over flaking & bluing chrome any day.

carbon steel is ~$0.6x per pound, and 304SS is actually >$1.60 a pound if you are buying (scrap value is more like $0.10)

7/12/2011 7:30:41 AM

the heat to weld them was generated by rubbing homeless child laborers together

7/12/2011 7:32:03 AM

^^ Honestly... no it doesn't... if subie knockoff headers were that cheap i'd run them till they crack then get another set.

As it stands i'm saving my $600 for a decent welder and making my own out of schedule 10 316ss.

7/12/2011 10:36:58 AM

^good luck with that

7/12/2011 10:43:04 AM

lol yeah it'll not be easy but i'm actually a pretty good welder... i just don't have my own

thanks though! (and it won't be for some time... honestly i need a giant turbo to make it worth it and then i'll be considering going rotated/ twin scroll and i don't have the time to do all that)

7/12/2011 10:53:52 AM

yeah - i wasnt challenging your welding capabilities, but knowing how many 'basement' projects I've gone through I can tell you that the cost and time investment would probably be double what you would expect... especially for a hand made header- Jigs, consumables, fuck-ups with the fittings, flanges, test fitting, welding time, rewelding time, goddamn how do i snake that last primary around all that mess, I should ahve bought a header, why did I buy this car, where's the beer cooler///

7/12/2011 12:08:13 PM

lol yeah this is true... luckily for subarus there are really only a hand full of ways to make an equal length header (especially one that may be twin scroll later).

but you're right... it is expensive but the only company right now that makes headers that don't crack after a year is full race....

and they cost like $2500.... i think i can beat that price point and have a welder thrown in the cost for play time...


But i do appreciate the luck... i know i'll need it.

[Edited on July 12, 2011 at 12:37 PM. Reason : .]

7/12/2011 12:37:23 PM

handmade shit is definitely fun, it just sucks for the $$$ involved

7/12/2011 12:43:30 PM

yeah i can see that.

so you don't think you saved any $$$ on your build?

(wait didn't you back half your truck?)

7/12/2011 1:15:02 PM

yes, back halfed (or hacked haha). I've done every modification on the truck myself, or with the help of friends, so no labor was involved; the trans has cost me upwards of $4500, but that includes extra components, a 20T press, $400 worth of braided hose & fittings, making a shop table, a few hundred in misc. tools, yada dada.

7/12/2011 1:53:40 PM

how much would it have cost?

7/13/2011 8:09:29 AM

Transmission? with all the extra peripheral shit I bought, probably upwards of $6-6.5k. That level of build sells for about $4500ish from reputable shops.

7/13/2011 8:16:38 AM

cool.

Yeah i learned with my jeep never to let someone who doesn't specialize in your car work on it.

i had a shop change my clutch and turn the flywheel and well... they messed up my master cylinder, slave, clutch, and flywheel.

I was actually in a hurry to go to a concert with Joie & D7freestyler so i didn't have time to do it myself and ended up having to do it again.. + some.

7/13/2011 8:41:55 AM