Open headers on an N/A
 

82' ZX 2.8L N/A Manual Tranny

Anybody have any experience running open headers on the N/A's? The reason im asking is the exaust is yet another thing i need to replace asap, but im a few weeks off from having the cash and the time. In the meantime i was thinking of just dropping the exaust off the car to free it up (and get rid of the annoying buzzing sound from the cat that has a hole in the side and is clogged to boot).


I live in california, so im not worried about cold air warping anything (its been warm as heck out here lately).And the small of exaust is an old friend and matters little. The only thing that may be of worry, and i really want to know the effects of, is the corrosive effects of the exaust gasses on the underhood componets, lines, etc etc. Is this normally an issue?

Thanks in advance!

One thing you should know is that it's freakishly loud (at least on Supras I've owned) and it's way worse then the buzzing a cat makes.

-Matt

Is it a popping sound or a buzzing?

Heck anybody have a sound clip or what its like on a V6? (not a V8, or I4 ive heard those)

Driving w/ just a header / manifold doesn't really do any damage, but it prevents heat from leaving the engine bay... and it's loud as hell, so you'll prolly get pulled over for noise ordinance violations. :D

I think you will be fine...the hood has vents built in so bye bye gases and some heat. You should lose some bottom end Tq but gain some top end Hp with an open header...but not much top end. If you can live with the loud ass open header go for it.

i only run 2 1/2 feet of exhaust pipe and a turn down so i don't burn the bottom of my car. it's loud. but sounds awesome. I used the stock exhaust pip. cut off, and a turn down tip welded on. I would not run open manifold though. just to damn loud. If it's only for a week. Just cut the cat off, and drop from the cat to the rear. let her run with only that pipe. Quieter then open manifold. and has a sweet sound to it.

ive done open header on my z with a 6-2 header 2 1/2'' collector. it was loud. i put a single chamber magnaflow on it and it sounds literally like a V-8 had a cop and 2 civilans pull me over wondering if i had a ls1 or 400 small in it.

do you plan on driving it alot? Cops might pull you over for the sound and then realize you have no cat on it an give you a ticket due to smog laws in cali. If it was pre 72 then go for it, but i think its the law for you to have all the smog stuff on it past 72 now.

project car, i drive it daily but less than a mile each way (taking my son to and from school) and test driving it after i work on it for the day (and yea im working on something on it every day now, even if only for a few minutes a day.)

Until i get the driveshaft fixed im not taking it on the freeway or farthur than 5 miles from home.

What's wrong with the drive-shaft?

1975 and older model year cars are exempt from the semi-annual smog check, but are still supposed to have the approved emissions installed. If you get pulled over, the cop can refer you to a referee station where they will validate whether or not your legal at your expense.

Unless it's making the car un-drive able, I would just leave it the way it is until you can get the new exhaust installed.

Must Be Nice Here In Vegas Its Still 1968 To Be Smog Exepmt.

as long as you have something there to create back pressure (aka a header) you will be fine and as long as it points towards the ground. otherwise if you loose too much back pressure you can fry the rings. also, its gonna smell like ass in your car, and be louder than you probably imagine, i might be running an open down pipe for a couple days once i get my car running, but its got about 1 foot or so of 3 inch piping on it after the downpipe and a turbo so the noise will be reduced a bit and supply backpressure. but just due to all the crap you can get ticketed for doing this, i would just put up with the noise for the next week or so.

you really should just leave the exhaust on till you get it fixed proper. it is loud and really really stinky. ive done this lots during testing and such. if you are gonna do it, resist the temptation of going over 3000 rpm. after that it gets mega loud, and youll have a hard time hearing stuff for some time.

heres 2 clips of open headers on my NA at low RPMs

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y24...zmoviesavi.flv

http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y24...install008.flv



Loud as ****, and in cali its super illegal . . .thats all you needa know