Ebay header figment issues. How to proceed..?

[986bsdriver]

So I finally got around to installing the set of top speed eBay headers I bought ages ago with the secondary pipes. Figment was reasonably good. Only issue I have with the passenger side header is that it comes into contact with the valve cover.

At this point I’m contemplating putting some heat wrap around it and see how it goes or put a love dent in there with a hammer. Anyone run into this issue, and if so how did you proceed?

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by 986bsdriver

So I finally got around to installing the set of top speed eBay headers I bought ages ago with the secondary pipes. Figment was reasonably good. Only issue I have with the passenger side header is that it comes into contact with the valve cover.

At this point I’m contemplating putting some heat wrap around it and see how it goes or put a love dent in there with a hammer. Anyone run into this issue, and if so how did you proceed?

In a tv show.. the way they deal with it, looked simple and effective, as they heated with an acetylene (?) torch the spot required to be reshaped, then placed a piece of steel pipe and hitting the pipe with a large hamer, leaving a nice shaped recess, it was neat. (at least on the tv ..) :-)

[986bsdriver]

I got ahold of another member of this board and found that he had the same fitment issues I had. I guess denting it was an option but the other option was to leave it as is.

I decided to wrap it and leave it alone. I guess many tracked miles and no issues it is good enough to sway my decision.

Mods can close this thread if they wish👍

[Geof3]

Originally Posted by 986bsdriver

I got ahold of another member of this board and found that he had the same fitment issues I had. I guess denting it was an option but the other option was to leave it as is.

I decided to wrap it and leave it alone. I guess many tracked miles and no issues it is good enough to sway my decision.

Mods can close this thread if they wish👍

One thing to consider if you wrapped it... that area is prone to oil leaks from cam covers, spark plug tubes, etc. if you used a fabric oriented wrap it could catch fire if a leak occurs on the area. Just something to think about, and the primary reason I didn’t wrap my headers. Also, make sure your O2 sensors are well located. One of mine was improperly mounted by the PO and melted to a crisp... to include a portion of the harness. Left me stranded one night when it shorted and tossed the fuel rail fuse. I’m not sure what brand of headers I have, they were on the car when I bought it, but things can get pretty hot under there... also make sure you wrapped your power steering line, or relocated it to keep it from boiling your PS fluid, or the line getting melted down.

[986bsdriver]

Thanks for the heads up. I tied the power steering line up against the trailing arm and also wrapped that small section of the header. Also wrapped the section where it met the valve cover and am confident that it won’t be touching oil where it is.

I know the primary o2 sensors are not at risk of melting or burning through. I’m gonna recheck the secondary o2 sensors for good measure now.

You mentioned that it melted to a crisp, as in the sensor itself melted? I thought they kinda go where the bung is as I’ve never heard of one melting prior😳

[Dave80GTSi]

While of no help to you now, anecdotal stories of fitment issues like this with aftermarket parts have made me wary of using them.

Instead, I am in the process of fitting early OEM factory non-cat manifolds, which you know will fit perfectly, and are significantly more compact as you can see.

Granted, these may not flow as well as a set of proper equal-length tube headers. But I doubt that any substantial performance differences could be noted during most circumstances.

[986bsdriver]

Chances are I won’t notice a huge difference as I’m not usually in the upper rpm range, but there seems to be plenty of room for a couple small snails in there😉

[The Radium King]

two variable vane small aerochargers - no oil lines, no bov, no wastegates, no lag!

[Geof3]

Originally Posted by 986bsdriver

Thanks for the heads up. I tied the power steering line up against the trailing arm and also wrapped that small section of the header. Also wrapped the section where it met the valve cover and am confident that it won’t be touching oil where it is.

I know the primary o2 sensors are not at risk of melting or burning through. I’m gonna recheck the secondary o2 sensors for good measure now.

You mentioned that it melted to a crisp, as in the sensor itself melted? I thought they kinda go where the bung is as I’ve never heard of one melting prior😳

No, the connector plug and associated harness. When we took it out, it looked as though it may have actually caught fire. Either way, it's all good now, but definitely wrap the PS line. If that melts, that's a guaranteed fire.

[986bsdriver]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

two variable vane small aerochargers - no oil lines, no bov, no wastegates, no lag!

Things have come a long way since I dealt with forced induction 10 years ago!


On a side note, finally got around to booting the boxster around a bit. On first impressions it is definitely louder with the headers and secondary cat delete. Can barely hear the 987 intake box anymore it seems. Seems to move around the rev range and putt along with a bit more umph. Now instead of a pesky little P0410 and p0411 that pops up every once in a while for the SAI, I had the P1411 come up on its own. Just waiting for the DME to throw a code out for the secondary O2 sensors unless the spacers with the built in catalyst actually works which I’m a bit skeptical of.


I had the headers and the cat deletes for roughly 6 months sitting on the shelf. Feared snapping bolts along the way which is why I was hesitant. Overall, it was straight forward with the car on jack stands working on my back. Didn’t need a whole lot of swivels and tightened everything down with my handy impact on low setting. New hardware, a bit of anti-seize and I was on my way within roughly 3-4 hours. Started on the drivers side which was considerably easier then the passenger side. Got new gaskets but unfortunately the ones post cat didn’t quite fit the bill(smaller diameter hole) so I had to use the Chinese gaskets there.