All,
Thanks for the replies. Sorry for not getting back to you all sooner, but I am now back online at home.
Nigel,
Had a chat with Laurence last week regarding this thread and the short answer is that there isn’t much available “off the shelf”. I’m aware of the middle section which Skids has fitted to his car and have been keeping it in mind (as well as the cost). The rear section which Laurence has patterned is no good to me as it’s an over axel fit and would require handbrake modifications. I suspect an over axel fit could cause me clearance problems due to the vast differences in ride height between my car and a Rally car.
It appears the reason why NISMO don’t produce the rest of the system for an S30 is because they don’t actually know what they are doing – It’s Nissan Motor Sport America that produce the header, and although it’s probably one of the better headers available to us folk, in reality it isn’t as good as some of the discontinued headers which once were for sale. It is good value though (and available in two sizes), and they probably sell them by the bucket load in the States, which is why they keep churning them out.
It’s fortunate that I haven’t purchased the NISMO header yet, as I do have the possibility of shipping something in from Japan (header or system, or both), but at this moment in time I have no idea of cost. I should know in the next few days, and then I can start making some comparisons. I’ll keep everyone posted, but I suspect budget will make it prohibitively expensive and I’ll end up with the NISMO item anyway.
I should add that the reason why I wished to find a complete “off the shelf” system was also to try and save me some hassle. When the car is finished and the engine is installed, I’ll need to MoT & tax it. No exhaust means no MoT, no MoT means no tax. So my only solution is to get the car towed down to Joe Bloggs, sit around all day supervising the fitting and then get it towed back. This will mean a day off work (maybe two) lots of buggering about with Jon’s trailer (so he’ll have to take a day off as well), or stump up the cost of transportation.
I’ll do all that if I really have to, but I’d rather not.
Bryn,
I’m really after optimum performance here (torque). Of course, due to its longevity, stainless would be the preferred material, but it is not the priority due to the cost premium. I’d rather have a mild steel system which worked efficiently than a stainless one which didn’t – even if the overall cost was the same.
Also, I don’t really feel I am qualified to specify what I need to Joe Bloggs. It takes hours upon hours of experience and dyno work to achieve the results I am after – which is why I call on the experts.
For mild street engines, pretty much any tubular header and larger bore system will be an improvement over stock, with only a 3% power difference between an “in tune” and an “out of tune” exhaust. However, as mild approaches near race, you could be looking at a 10% power difference. On an engine capable of producing 250bhp, that’s an expensive loss.
Tony,
I used Pipecraft when the car had its old engine. It was good quality mild steel which lasted for years and years. It sounded the nuts too.
It had a bad header on though (one of those 6 into 1’s) and never performed as well as the smaller diameter Janspeed which came before it, which just goes to show.
