kcscott11

hmmm, I think i unexpectantly just realized my 79 rx7 had headers, i welded my new muffler onto the pipes from my 85 parts car, and ive been spending the morning pulling the old exhaust offa my 79 to put the new exhaust on, when suddenly i noticed the difference in the manifolds, the 85 is 1 single pipe coming off of the manifold where as the 79 has dual pipes (1 from each rotor, leading into a single pipe a little ways down, wouldnt this be headers?? I am caught off guard about that this car had them, but hey I dont mind welding a flange onto the pipe that was already on my 79 and bolting my muffler up to the pipe it already had.... please let me know. Thanks. K.C.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Yes, you have headers. The stock exhaust manifold for a 79 is called a thermal reactor, and is a heavy, barrel-shaped affair, with a single coaxial pipe outlet in the rear.

Stock SA exhaust/air control system:

kcscott11

thought so, After further examinging the setup, its in much better shape, and it has larger pipe, which is better flow, its basically all aftermarket custom exhaust system. so im going to just use this whole setup. Im about to go buy some flanges though, since it was welded straight through. The other thing is, that the both catalytic converters are bad shape, im going to cut them out and run straight pipe as long as there arent any performance issues with this.... I can get it inspected this way, technically its a little better for performance right?? thanks guys. K.C.

thunkrd

iTrader: (1)

hey dd are you running the stock exhaust? when i saw it on my friends' 80 i was like wth is that?

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Yeah, I have the stock exhaust on right now - - I smogged the car back in january and have been short of time & motivation to swap the header back on.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Depends on the rules for Texas, which I don't know. here in Cali, we have to have all the original stuff in place - - no swaps allowed, even if "better" - - to pass inspection. I know Texas is looser, but not by how much.


Some of the other guys on the forum will know.

kcscott11

no thats no issue. They have laws but then again not really in my county. Plus i have an inlaw aunt who owns a parts store/ inspection place..... so im good to go :-) i was just checking to make sure rotarys werent different, i seem to recall reading that you have to have a muffler designed to handle a rotary on a rotary, i so i wanted to make sure there were no other problems, ill take pictures of my exhause in a bit, i bought some flanges for the pipe, for between the pipe going to the engine and the one i have going over the rearend. They are already welded up, I Am about to cut the catalytic converter out and cut me a peice of pipe the same length and weld it on, then I will be painting the entire pipe and all except the muffler with some high temp flat black, to try and help protect it from rust. Its kind of a good day to find out i have a header and upgraded pipe, considering I would have ended up buying it all later on anyways, but the down fall is i had to go buy the flanges and such, and its taking alot more time, because im having to refabricate everything i did the other day.... considering i already had my entire exhaust ready to put on. It sucks, but is well worth it. Thanks everyone. K.C.

slow5oh

i havent ever heard of a rotary needing a special muffler, but if you run cats, they do need special cats. your average run of the mill cat will not hold up. I recently had my exhaust redone after installing a RB road race header, and the exhaust shop would not do it without installing a cat, so i had them install a used one that was still pretty shiny. it was burnt out completely within a couple days. the smell is horrible, but after it burns out, its basically just an empty chamber. i swear the car got 3x times louder in the first 5 miles than it was when i left the exhaust shop, lol.

kcscott11

well the cat converters are off, and welded equal length pipe in their place. All my welding is done, need to clean the welds up, buff all the metal and spray them with the paint! Then im going to take pictures and hang the exhaust on the car, I already know im going to have to buy an exhaust tip to make the pipe exit the back of the car... :-( but at least it will be pretty. Ill post the pictures in an hour or so. Thanks.

orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

There's not really anything known as a rotary specific muffler. There are companies that make mufflers with rotary's in mind, and they are built to bolt right up. The idea of a rotary compatable muffler is one that will stand up to the exhaust heat of a rotary engine. Rotarys run a few hundred degrees hotter than a piston engine and so will burn up a shitty muffler quite quickly.

Hyper4mance2k

iTrader: (40)

Noone here has "headers." There is only one, so it's a header... And since we don't even have heads, in another thread we decided to get rid of that name all together. It's a housinger! LOL!

kcscott11

Well im done fabricating my exhaust, im about to go make sure it all bolts up right and such. Alot of work, but i think it turned out pretty damn descent. Yall are welcome to comment, and even tell me it sucks. It doesnt really matter. Tomorrow the car will get a bath and such and ill take some pictures of it. Its getting painted soon :-) anywho. Heres the pics i promised of the exhaust.

slow5oh

i doubt the paint will hold up to the heat, so you may not want to waste your time. is that a one chamber flowmaster?

Hyper4mance2k

iTrader: (40)

Or maybe we can just call tehm what they are instead of slang. Nice tubular exhaust manifold there dude. That Flowmaster will not last you a year FYI. It will be blown apart and rattle you to death. Ask me how I know.

kcscott11

on flowmasterdirect it just says chambered muffler, The paint is high temp paint, It may or may not hold up, but maybe itll protect from rust a little bit... anywho I Ran into dark and ****, so Im going to finish in the morning.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Rotary exhaust temps run about 1700 degrees, at the "housinger," IIRC.

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

In Texas if you car is 25 years old or older you are exempt.....all counties.

Dude that exhaust is going to be loud as hell!!! Better bring earplugs!!!

slow5oh

i dont think it will be too bad. my car has a road race header into y collector into 2.5" pipe over the axle into a magnaflow muffler with dual tips and its surprisingly quiet until you nail the throttle.

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

Magnaflow muff is not near as brutal as a metal absorbtion/reflective muffler like the flowmaster.

I have an RB road race header going into a 3" pipe over the rear axle to a "flowmaster" style muffler......It is OBNOXIOUS!!!!

I am changing to a Borla muff attached basically on the Road Race header and with a short pipe exiting right in front of the rear tire.

This will be loud as hell too.....but it's a race car.

BTW.......racecar spelled backwards is..........racecar.....

slow5oh

I guess i didnt realize how quiet the magnaflow is. Ive had 1 chamber flowmasters on a mustang, and they were prety loud.

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

LOL, I thought of you when they said headers. I was actually just saying housinger so someone could come up with a better name. We need better than exaust manifold.

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

dammit someone came up with the name back in 06. I thought I'd be the founder of the new name.

posted back in 06

I think we should go with kegger.

slow5oh

i had never actually thought about the meaning of the term header until reading this thread.

I like kegger, but i think housinger is pretty good too. Mine is usually referred to as "The Primaries"

slow5oh

dude, that is a jumbled up mess. I never realized there was so much to the factory exhaust. my car is not an SA, however, the stock exhaust was so hacked up that its no good reference to the chages that were made between the SA and GSL-SE. Mine had a peice of 2 foot long 4" ID diesel flexpipe on it, thats how bad it was.

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

Not necessarily quieter (DB level) maybe just a more pleasing tone.

Now if you are talking Mustangs....there is nothing quite as sweet as a lumpy cammed mustang with flowmasters!!!!......and I am not even a ford guy!