Okay guys, J's Racing Header is on and running! Performance Exhaust Centre in Northmead did an amazing job and I recommend them to everybody!
Installation
The install went suprisingly smoothly and involved most of what I expected. Simple things like rotating the o2 sensor bung on the header and adding one after the cat were easily taken care of. The more complex parts like 'modifying' the subframe also went very well.
Started the morning off by getting the car on the hoist and taking some rough measurements of what needed to be done to what and which approach to take.
Then the stock headers and cat were taken off.
Here you can really see the difference in runner length, width and overall quality of the headers.
After a test-fit comes the tricky part. Because the J's Racing Header was designed solely for use in the CL7 (K20A engine) as opposed to the Toda header which was designed for use in both CL7 and CL9, the J's Racing Header is not a direct fit into the CL9. The head in the K20A is shorter than that of the K24A, meaning when you fit the header to a K24A it sits higher and doesn't clear the subframe. This is solved by simply 'modifying' (technical term for heating up and beating the shit out of) the subframe. Heating the metal allows the fibres to expand, so when they're stretched/moved they don't shatter. This causes no loss in strength to the subframe but makes it possible to bend it. I had read that the modifying takes upwards of 3 hours to complete, and that is a ridiculous overstatement. With a casual pace inbetween conversations and distractions, the subframe was completely finished within about an hour.
You can see the difference from the first to the third picture easily.
After the modification was done the header bolted straight on with no problem.
A nice shot of Eva showing the polished mufflers.
The face of boredom and disinterest.
The o2 sensor bung on the J's Racing rotated 180 degrees.
After the cat had been extended and the o2 sensor bungs added a whole final test-fit was done.
This is the swivel joint/flange the J's Racing uses that eliminates the need for a flex pipe and the obstruction of flow that comes with it.
Finally all finished, good to go!
(The other reason I like their workshop)
Thoughts:
Going from open pipe for so long back to closed pipe, it was no suprise the car sounded quieter. I just had no idea how quiet it would be. On start up and cruising it sounds stock, and under WOT you can't even hear it over the intake, except for a slight hissing sound. Personally I think the car sounded a lot better before the headers, but eventually when the catback is changed it should sound even nicer with them. I'm tempted to try running open pipe again but I have a feeling it will be ridiculously loud.
Obviously having only done this today the ecu hasn't re-learnt yet, so anything I say isn't conclusive. Eva seemed to like the headers straight away and the affection grew after a few hours with them. It's no down-low torque monster thanks to the RBC but when going easy on the throttle and not revving high at all it'll easily go from 0 - 70km/h in a matter of about around 7 to 8 seconds. With the current weather it's really hard to gauge any difference in the power but the car doesn't seem to bog into 2nd as much, if at all anymore (a problem I bitched about endlessly before). Pulling onto the motorway about 10 minutes after the car had been started with the new headers I did a rough 0-100km/h. Starting from a very soft launch, slightly downhill with a terrible shift into 2nd (car really needs new transmission fluid) and some shit in the boot I managed around a mid-7 second I think. If that's accurate then assumably a 0-100km/h in the 6-second range is possible with the right launch and a good shift.
I won't go into too much detail about the difference in peak power or torque just yet because it's too early to say. But I have already concluded that a fair bit of power is trapped in my sorry excuse for an intake and catback.
Will keep you updated when the ecu adjusts and everything. I'm also waiting on my TSX 64mm throttle body and intake. Then I think I'll get a custom catback made up and do a dyno run
Once again, C&C welcomed!
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