FocusCanada Forums

so in this thread im going to be showing how to install a race header and bigger flex pipe

not gonna lie it took me and my buddy some what 5 and half hours to do it...we weren't in a hurry and there were alot of rusty nuts and bolts. basicly we took our time and just wanted to do everything right.
just remember,its something like one day on a weekend job.
i have a video in this thread,the link will be at the end, but please read it over first

for tools you need alot of deep sockets, common one would be 13mm(everything in MM, don't forget),rachet, WD-40(it does its job good),lots of wranches, working gloves is a must unless you wanna cut yourself 20 times, gear clamps for header wrap, new hardware for connecting flex to the header and to the catback

i desided to wrap my header with DEI to keep my temperature under the hood a lil cooler


what i've learned about wrapping a header is that 4 hands better then only your 2...so its the best if one of your buddy's can help you to wrap the header. trust me it would be much tighter and looking better if someone helps you

here's DEI stuff out of the box, you will need 8mm socket for gear clamps


starting the job (i did it my room because header was pretty clean and it was just too cold out there)


the hardest part was prob figure out whats the exect lengh of the wrap i needed for each pipe(so i mest up on that one)


so it went faster when my buddy came over


and the out come of what it looks like after its been completly wrapped



after we were done with wrapping we relocated to my buddy's shop (his shop is only for hobby, but it has every freackin tool you need to rebuilt your engine)

when we got to the shop we jacked the fron of the car and put it on 2 stands



so here i look at my car with the stock header for the last time



so first of all get rid of that heat shild of you OEM header,then unscrew 3 nuts that are holding your header to the cat, 2 on the font and one behind


im going to put photo's in different order since i was workin on the top of the car and my buddy was working on the bottom so i tried to take as many pics as i could still

start unscrewing nuts that are holding your OEM header to the block of the engine (deep 13mm, rachet)


just a pic of the stock cat from the bottom (bad pic)



this bolt gave me a hard time (10mm ranch), it didn't wanna come out and it was so uncomfy to unscrew it


so here's your stock catalic converter with no header on it


so when i was workin on top part my buddy took the stock flex pipe off, between you see the bracket that connects the flange of the flex pipe to the stock cat? i took it off as well, its not needed, that thing will be holdin on there solid, not goin any where for sure

here i took the EGR tube out,next this cat is comming out with every bracket that it hold ons to, all that stuff is just going to be on your way. please be carefule with o2 sensources when you take them out or put them back in!


so its all out........after a couple hours


just looking of how this flex pipe is gonna look


jus another look from the top part when its all out


here are the stock parts with the new header


my gf came over between...p.s she did the most job on this install........complaining of when its gonna be done cuz it was too cold! :lol:


so finally we are puttin the main part,don't forget to put the new gasket that came with your header. just put it on one bolts so you can attach that EGR tube, cuz its a biatch to do.what we did is that i was pushing on it from the top and my buddy was putting the original nut on, works great as a team ;)



so this baby is on (p.s. don't over tighten those bolt/nuts on the header)

now we are going back to the bottom and my buddy (he's the owner of the shop) is connecting flex pipe to the header and a catbback(don't forget to put the gaskets on both sides)


this nut was a real pain in the ass either to unscrew from the OEM header or to screw it back on to the race header....i hated this one


so here's when the flex is on



Don't forget to put your cheater on(unless you have Xcal), it connects to the o2 sensor that goes into 2-3 pipes

When you first start it, don't be aware of that steam thats comming from your header it could be some oil that got on it or just some greas and fat from your fingers. just let it stand running for a bit like that and it will go away

And you're good to go!

I love the outcome of this install, great gains. on another side its loud even with my 2 resonators and its stincky ;)

Here's when we first started it after install when it was still lifted


First start up

here are just some rendom pics from the install
this is the difference between stock flex pipe and the aftermarket flex(2.25")


the shop



V12 Jag

a bunch of other cars



chillin room :D

i hope this How To will give a better idea to some of you out there.
Thank you for reading over and enjoy!

1

p.s please correct me if anything is wrong or w/e

Where did you put the Cat? Also I think you used wrenches not ranches.

Great how to though. Good job.

Good write up man!

Only thing I would look into more is that middle bracket between the header and flex. I know for us turbo guys, that brackets does prevent your header from cracking....releives some stress if you know what I mean.

I honestly dont know if its required for race header guys.

Focus man, Focus.,Nov 14 2006, 07:22 AM Wrote:Where did you put the Cat?   Also I think you used wrenches not ranches. 

Great how to though.  Good job.
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high flow cat is not installed...yet.....sometimes this week for sure though....just looking around for a shop that will give me a better deal on it.....
i will take pics when they'll be welding it on at the shop
but to give you an idea i'll be putting it right after the flex, using fleng from the catback

thats what I did to, my high flo is right after my flex. Going for my etest soon...maybe Ill wait till next spring.

Thats a good write up, is that your shop???

^^no, its one of my good friend's shop....but i can use it whenever i want....
if you come with me to work on the car is free and everything......there are some power tools and torch's

basicly everything you need

Nice man , you got your flex and header in before me ! lol but thats not hard considering im still battling it out on ebay and paypal with the seller of that header i bought which was totally the right one but the wrong header got shipped.

I was going to say , exhaust wrap ... eeeee , i dunno about that stuff man , i mean in a way its good but it also keeps the heat in the headers and causes them the rust out quicker.... my old car did get a little warm under the hood but nothing that caused major concern.... then again that zetec runs hot.

Yeah , no cat , those bitchez is loud without one :P

Enjoy your header man , that 4 - 2- 1 is the best bet for that car , unless your building a motor to rev to like 8000 or 9000. But hey were focus drivers , who has that kinda money, if we did , we would drive something else.
LOL

Mike,Nov 15 2006, 08:10 PM Wrote:Nice man , you got your flex and header in before me ! lol but thats not hard considering im still battling it out on ebay and paypal with the seller of that header i bought which was totally the right one but the wrong header got shipped.

I was going to say , exhaust wrap ... eeeee , i dunno about that stuff man , i mean in a way its good but it also keeps the heat in the headers and causes them the rust out quicker.... my old car did get a little warm under the hood but nothing that caused major concern.... then again that zetec runs hot.

Yeah , no cat , those bitchez is loud without one :P

Enjoy your header man , that 4 - 2- 1 is the best bet for that car , unless your building a motor to rev to like 8000 or 9000. But hey were focus drivers , who has that kinda money, if we did , we would drive something else.
LOL
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i have to say it works pretty good(header wrap) i mean even after a hard run i can grab that header with bare hand.....i was actually suprised

just wondering, how come did you use different types of clamps to tie the wrap instead of the ones they put in the kit?

PerfectSaiyan,Nov 16 2006, 12:15 PM Wrote:just wondering, how come did you use different types of clamps to tie the wrap instead of the ones they put in the kit?
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in the kit?
they don't put any in your kit....u just buy strictly wrap by itself....then run to CT and buy the whole bunch of those gear clamps....sons of the bitches are not cheap either

I wonder how hard it would to be to wrap my logstyle turbo header. Cuz it gets damn hot!!! :o

pics of it?

I have a friend who has a turbo integra, and it only has a few inches before the entire log manfiold connects at all runners, looks like a stupid design, and cannot be wrapped

-edit-

in reading my last few posts, i realize im a pic whore!