new header installed
Oct 29, 2006, 09:26 AM
#1
new header installed
So I finally got to put the Full Race header on the car to replace the MR header I had to throw on during my WORKS trip (since nothing else was available). I spent all day Fri at WestWerks - why all day? Read on ...
Here's a photo of the Full Race header, it's gorgeous
. Since they are "made to order" I also asked FullRace to put a EGT port in the runner furthers from the fuel rail inlet.
some close ups of the welds - all the Full Race welds are robotically TIG welded and the quality is really nice. The other thing I noticed and asked FR about is why the flange on the engine side is segmented - it's to allow for heat expansion and prevent the flange from warping and loosing the seal. It makes a lot of sense and I wonder why the guys at MR having picked up on that yet.
Pic of the old (MR) header installed on the car. I used the EGR port for the EGT sensor, but it didn't read accurate at all.
When the guys at WORKS installed the MR header, they cross-threaded one of the bolts on the turbo flange. It did *not* want to budge. Here's Francis making a heroic effort to get it out. After about 2 turns the bolt snapped off .... grrrr. So the guys at WestWerks spent the next 7 hours destroying drill bits to drill out the part of hardened steel bolt still in the turbo flange, and then cutting new threads. I was so glad I did not try to install this thing by myself. because I would not have had the patience to accomplish this without doing permanent damage to the flange. And even after all this WestWerks still did not charge me for more than the one hour estimate they originally quoted me - you guys rock!
How many mechanics does it take to drill out a bolt ... ? A lot!
The MR header after (finally) coming off the car. Exhaust leak anyone? Now you know why the FR header has a segmented flange. The flange on the MR header expanded when hot, warped and pushed open the seal to the engine block. All the black soot is the regions where the exhaust was going out through the seal rather than into the turbo - sure explains the drop in low-end horse power and late spool up I noticed with the MR header on the car.
The two headers side by side - the FR header easily weight 1.5x as much as the MR header. You can also see the difference in the diameter of the runners.
new gasket for the engine side made by "Stone" - I had never heard of the brand before, but it said "made in Japan" on the box and it was clearly a high quality piece. The header did not come with any gaskets (kind of lame for the price), but the guys at WestWerks got me what was needed and had it delivered to the shop while we were working on getting that snapped bolt out.
The new gasket in place with some extra copper spray coating on it for a better seal - it's all in the details!
and finally the new FR header on the car ...
Think we were done? Think again ... as we torqued down the header, my battery suddenly started to smoke like a nuclear power plant gone tchernobyl! Hello battery short ... after some digging around we found the problem: the turbo exit pipe WORKS installed was so close to the starter motor that the positive power terminal was rubbing against the pipe making a nice short! The power terminal (threaded copper stud in the photo below) is usually covered with a small rubber cap, but there was so little clearance that the cap had beed pushed aside from the movement of the turbo. What suprised me was that there is plenty of room to move the turbo outlet pipe away from the starter engine which certainly go a long ways to improve the reliability of the WORKS WR9 turbo kit. I called WORKS to (politely) share that suggestion, but they are all wrapped around SEMA right now so I haven't been able to get a hold of anybody yet. A little creative filling down of the contact that goes on the stud and a lot of electrical tape solved the problem for now, but the low clearance still worries me in terms of long term reliability - I'd hate for my battery to short out when I'm driving in the middle of nowhere ...
note: I later found out the guys at Works did not use the correct Evo9-turbo on Evo8 compressor pipe. I bought a new one from FP and that fixed the problem for good.
So, first impressions with the header on the car .... hello. It makes a very noticable difference over the MR one. Considering that Buschur tested it at +14 hp over stock, and the guys at WORKS said the MR header actually made me loose hp, I'm not too surprised I guess. Car sounds different again too (lack of exhaust leaking I guess). I still have to sort out my tune and fix a dented upper IC pipe, and then it's back to the dyno!
Very special thanks to Brandon, Francis & Matt at WestWerks!
Here's a photo of the Full Race header, it's gorgeous
. Since they are "made to order" I also asked FullRace to put a EGT port in the runner furthers from the fuel rail inlet.some close ups of the welds - all the Full Race welds are robotically TIG welded and the quality is really nice. The other thing I noticed and asked FR about is why the flange on the engine side is segmented - it's to allow for heat expansion and prevent the flange from warping and loosing the seal. It makes a lot of sense and I wonder why the guys at MR having picked up on that yet.
Pic of the old (MR) header installed on the car. I used the EGR port for the EGT sensor, but it didn't read accurate at all.
When the guys at WORKS installed the MR header, they cross-threaded one of the bolts on the turbo flange. It did *not* want to budge. Here's Francis making a heroic effort to get it out. After about 2 turns the bolt snapped off .... grrrr. So the guys at WestWerks spent the next 7 hours destroying drill bits to drill out the part of hardened steel bolt still in the turbo flange, and then cutting new threads. I was so glad I did not try to install this thing by myself. because I would not have had the patience to accomplish this without doing permanent damage to the flange. And even after all this WestWerks still did not charge me for more than the one hour estimate they originally quoted me - you guys rock
!How many mechanics does it take to drill out a bolt ... ? A lot!
The MR header after (finally) coming off the car. Exhaust leak anyone? Now you know why the FR header has a segmented flange. The flange on the MR header expanded when hot, warped and pushed open the seal to the engine block. All the black soot is the regions where the exhaust was going out through the seal rather than into the turbo - sure explains the drop in low-end horse power and late spool up I noticed with the MR header on the car.
The two headers side by side - the FR header easily weight 1.5x as much as the MR header. You can also see the difference in the diameter of the runners.
new gasket for the engine side made by "Stone" - I had never heard of the brand before, but it said "made in Japan" on the box and it was clearly a high quality piece. The header did not come with any gaskets (kind of lame for the price), but the guys at WestWerks got me what was needed and had it delivered to the shop while we were working on getting that snapped bolt out.
The new gasket in place with some extra copper spray coating on it for a better seal - it's all in the details!
and finally the new FR header on the car ...
Think we were done? Think again ... as we torqued down the header, my battery suddenly started to smoke like a nuclear power plant gone tchernobyl! Hello battery short ... after some digging around we found the problem: the turbo exit pipe WORKS installed was so close to the starter motor that the positive power terminal was rubbing against the pipe making a nice short! The power terminal (threaded copper stud in the photo below) is usually covered with a small rubber cap, but there was so little clearance that the cap had beed pushed aside from the movement of the turbo. What suprised me was that there is plenty of room to move the turbo outlet pipe away from the starter engine which certainly go a long ways to improve the reliability of the WORKS WR9 turbo kit. I called WORKS to (politely) share that suggestion, but they are all wrapped around SEMA right now so I haven't been able to get a hold of anybody yet. A little creative filling down of the contact that goes on the stud and a lot of electrical tape solved the problem for now, but the low clearance still worries me in terms of long term reliability - I'd hate for my battery to short out when I'm driving in the middle of nowhere ...
note: I later found out the guys at Works did not use the correct Evo9-turbo on Evo8 compressor pipe. I bought a new one from FP and that fixed the problem for good.
So, first impressions with the header on the car .... hello
. It makes a very noticable difference over the MR one. Considering that Buschur tested it at +14 hp over stock, and the guys at WORKS said the MR header actually made me loose hp, I'm not too surprised I guess. Car sounds different again too (lack of exhaust leaking I guess). I still have to sort out my tune and fix a dented upper IC pipe, and then it's back to the dyno!Very special thanks to Brandon, Francis & Matt at WestWerks!
Last edited by voidhawk; Dec 27, 2008 at 06:30 PM.
Oct 29, 2006, 10:19 AM
#4
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Nice work. That header is truly amazing. I have one sitting in my room right now. It was too nice to put in the garage 
I should be installing it tomorrow along with an ATP GT3076R kit. I'll let you guys know how it goes...
I should be installing it tomorrow along with an ATP GT3076R kit. I'll let you guys know how it goes...
Oct 29, 2006, 10:52 AM
#6
Originally Posted by edison
very very impressive, im glad everything worked out great for you. sry i didnt come to the meet nor did i give you a call, stuck at work with a dead cellphone. i might have to go into stealth mode to prevent dwayne from jacking my ings+1
Oct 29, 2006, 11:26 AM
#7
Originally Posted by edison
very very impressive, im glad everything worked out great for you. sry i didnt come to the meet nor did i give you a call, stuck at work with a dead cellphone. i might have to go into stealth mode to prevent dwayne from jacking my ings+1
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Oct 30, 2006, 07:32 PM
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Saw the "header" at world one. Looks good ralph. Last time i checked it was called a turbo manifold, FTW. Good seing you again. excuse the sarcasim, if you get it.
Nov 6, 2006, 07:24 PM
#14
Originally Posted by Full-Race Geoff
thanks for the writeup, glad you are happy with our product!
still haven't dynoed it (need to work on the tune first), but it spools at least 300 rpm earlier than the old header did.
