Hotshot header opinions?

[91H22ACB7]

Considering picking one up that I found locally for $70. Its slightly dented on the bottom but I will be taking care of that. Its a 4-1 'one piece' header, not a true one, it has a slip fit connection on the primaries. I'm somewhat worried about getting that to seal. Any one know any tips or tricks on getting slip fits to seal up?

[deevergote]

It's better than a cheapie no-name brand, but it won't hold a candle to the Bisimoto header. I'd say 5-7whp could possibly be gained from it, at most. $70 is a decent price. It's not a very common header on here. The guys here usually get no-name "ebay" crap, Megan Racing or OBX (the quality knockoff brands), DC Sports (the generic design with CARB approval and good build quality), or the Bisimoto header (the holy grail of F22A headers! )

The 4-1 design is rare for an F22A header. Most are 4-2-1.

[wed3k]

4-1 is good for torque, my unequal length with a 4-1 collector produced quite a bit of torque but not so much hp. this is on a a1 engine with a performance valve job.

[Losiracer2]

I tried installing one on my H22 when I first got it swapped back in 08'. Its A LOT of work to get it to even fit inside the engine bay.

I had to:

-notch the crossmember
-bend the A/C lines way outta the way
-the right most exhaust primary was resting right on the Alt. plug and melted the rubber casing....a D-series Alt. is almost necessary it seems w/ a custom bracket and belt.

And to top it off, I couldn't get the slip fit connection to seal...the middle 2 pipes weren't sealing at all. I eventually got it tig welded and then when I went to install it, it wasn't clearing anything...so I sold it to my friend w/ an H swapped CRX for a 100 dollar loss after buying it and tig welding it.

Walk away!!!! not worth it IMO.

[91H22ACB7]

Thanks for the reply guys.

Losi: I figured this was the type of response I would get. Unfortuanetly, it looks like this won't be my quick fix to my extremely dented megan racing header. My header looks like a 1/4 moon it was smashed up so much.

Maybe ill look into grabbing another megan, increasing collector size to 2.5" and true up the flange to help prevent against leaks.

[deevergote]

That would probably be your best bet. You might be able to find a DC Sports header with a 2.5" collector as well (They were available for a while, not sure if they still are.) Unless you can weld, or you have some good connections for parts and labor, adding a 2.5" collector to a cheap header can increase the price dramatically. It might just be worth paying a little extra for a better piece that will give more significant gains! Another thing to consider is welding up some sort of skid plate to protect the header from damage in the future.

For some reason I didn't realize you were asking about an H22 header (we have MANY members with "h22" or "turbo" in their names that don't actually have those things, so I never assume!)

[91H22ACB7]

The skid plate is an idea I've been considering, but the header was smashed up when the car was completely dumped, which its not anymore. Still thinking about making something regardless.

I can weld, but don't have a welder at this moment. I would just leave it to a buddy of mine. I also may have him make me a 2.5" test pipe since we have piping laying around from the exhaust on my old truck.