Ok so heres the problem.. I bought the RRM headers and installed them myself. Figured there was nothing to it. took out the old and put in the new. THen i ran into some kid that sounded like he knew what he was talkin about and asked me if i matched the gasket. Now, i hadn't even thought of that... he said that the gasket is probly the size of the stock headers and that its still restricting my airflow. He said i should take off the headers and take a dremel tool to cut the gasket to size. However, those bolts are a pain in the *** to take off and on so i just wanted to ask some guys who know more than me about this. Is this an issue with lancers?? Do we have a gasket that needs to be opened up to the headers?? I just want info before i check myself. THanks.. peace

 

This has nothing to do with forced induction. Moving.

Unless your exhaust openings in your head are larger I don't know what difference he expects it to make.

 

ok, well i dont know.. could someone set me up with some stuff to say to him so i sound a little more informed... i just dont really know either

 

Think of it like this. You're attaching a hole the size of a grape (your head's exhaust port) to a hose that's the size of a golf ball. (These are both smaller than reality, but work for the purpose of the example). If you put a gasket with an opening the size of a grape you won't restrict anything because the hole the exhaust originates from is still that size. Unless the gasket overlapped the hole (the flow area), which I know it does not, there would be no restriction of flow.

Does that help?

 

Say that the main function of the header was to remove your pre cat and that has nothing to do with the gasket. I dont have headers yet so im not sure if rrm increased the piping size(i would imagine that they would but you never know). I have not heard anything that has to do with the gasket restriction airflow. I would also shoot a pm to ROCK because he usually doesnt read threads that dont have rrm in the name.

Hope this helps

 

The gasket does not interrupt exhaust flow. It's not an issue.

 

ok, thats all i needed to know... this kid was just talkin shiit i guess.... i was gettin scared that i'd have to redo the install.. and Hobie.. why do you Always seem sour whenever i see a post by you.. especially when i've asked some questions.. i dunno.. might be one of those **** bugs. jk. thanks for the help. peace out

 

Thinking about it now and after reading Hobies' post the gasket matches the opening coming right out of the engine so it doesnt affect airflow at all.

 

I prefer to think of it as "dry". It's probably because I mostly post from work.

Either that or I'm an *******.

 

yeah i guess dry is more appropriate. you can trash this thread now if you want

 

If the cyl head's port for the exh mani hasn't been enlarged, don't worry about it.

 

Yep, keep in mind that many people reply from work. We don't always have the time to right long answers to sound friendly. We type as we can, and sometime we have to type an answer within 30 seconds. So we try to keep it short and sweet, but accurate. You're on the internet, don't take anything personnal.

 

So what does a RRM header really do if the holes aren't matched? Is it just a way to eliminate the cat?

 

RRM is better flowing, but the cyl head is probably a tad smaller.

Taking your cyl head off to port match your exh mani takes effort.

 

No, increased piping certainly seems to help (as seen by the 17whp gain on the RPW header), but it's more a matter of potential. There's potentially more to be gained from porting the exhaust ports on the head, but that does not mean it's required for gains. The same goes for the intake manifold. You're trying to cram more air into a hole of the same size. Again, gains to be had, but the only way to reap the full benefit of these mods is a ported and polished head...which is a big commitment for a lot of people....and understandably so.

EDIT: BTW, I'm keeping the thread open because it's not a bad question, and it has info in it that people may be able to use.