Headers

[TheFirstNutZo]

Okay I know generally that I have to take all of the nuts and bolts off of the rusty ol' headers before I can put the new one in... but some of those ones down by the engine fans are a bitch to get to. Does anyone have any helpful hints/suggestions for easing the process of getting those SOBs off? I'm going to go back and keep working at it but I'll check back periodically. Damn rust. :)

[TheFirstNutZo]

and moreover I couldn't get that one by the fans that bolts the headers in sideways with a wratchet, so I was using an open-ended wrench and I started stripping it so now I don't know what to do about that :( :dammit:

[vasponger]

i dunno what ta tell yeah, i dont think the 5thgens had a side bolt, have you tried getting it from underneath? i know i had to do 1 or 2 like that,

[TheFirstNutZo]

yeah I finally got the SOB off... got the new headers on fine put the cat back on.. now the catback exhaust isn't fitting up with the cat properly. I don't know what to do I'm f*cking pissed off. It bolts up just fine... but it then is at a really cockeyed angle and won't bolt to the next two pieces. I guess I'm going to have to fashion some damn connector piece or other, ah this is infuriating.

[TheFirstNutZo]

P.S. Good to see the boobies are in good order :)

[vasponger]

that sucks man, i know the parts that bolt on wer at an angle for me but this sounds a lil dif. i cant help much my exhaust was custom so it fit perfect i guess you could say, and i didnt put it on so good luck

[TheFirstNutZo]

I'm going back out there in a few minutes to give it another try... see if I can fashion a little chunk of metal to do the trick. its cold as shit here so I'm inside warming up :)

[TheFirstNutZo]

Actually, I think I'm going to wait and work on it tomorrow or friday. I have a friend who can work magic with a welder so I think I'll just cut off the end of the cat and just have him weld up a new piece that is at the right angles. That makes more sense and will give me a nicer end product. :)

[TheFirstNutZo]

I went back out there and took a look at it... thought my heart out and then figured out what the problem was. They made the hangers (pieces that hook to the rubber gaskets which hook to the underbody) upside down.. they put them on backwards. So I'm going to have to cut them off and plug them back on a different way but thats alright at least I know whats going on with that.

So I bolted it all into place (left one seal loose) and started her up. Damn I like the sound it makes (crisp, yet deep), but its spitting black clouds out when I revv the engine up. I haven't wired the sensor back into the system yet so that may be it, but its a bit concerning anyway. Also, it sprayed some liquid out of the loose gasket section, I took a close look and it looked like dirty water, so perhaps its just condensation from the engine/et al being so damn cold (its like 30 degrees here right now). I DO know that the cat converter is messy... I can see all the way through it so I guess somebody gutted it or its gone bad, a new one is $90 at AutoZone so I'm going to hold off on that.

Things are looking up... the car has not been used much (previous owner had it parked for like 6mo) so maybe the black smoke will just go away. I do need to get a good cat though, I do want to be (at least somewhat) environmentally sound.

[vasponger]

did you have any trouble gettin your o2 sensor off? i had to take that piece to my friend at the acura dealer to get it off it was on so tight., if the hangers wer upside down could the pipe have been upside down as well?

[TheFirstNutZo]

the pipe was upside down when I tried installing it the first time.. because I installed it on the hangers and then tried to bolt it up. THEN I realized what was up, flipped it over and everything bolted on just like it was supposed to. The O2 sensor was a pain to get off, here's what I did:

Removed the wiring harness so that it was just wires coming out of the O2 sensor, put a closed-wrench of the proper size onto it, and used a breaker bar.. it came off quite pleasantly after I set it up that way. I put it in a vise to keep it from moving during all of this. One thing I don't know.. how am I supposed to wire it back up? I didn't take note of how I removed the harness, so I don't know which one goes in what hole now :( (actually a friend removed the harness while I was sanding my new headers [they had a minor warp and I was smoothing it]). Also, how did you re-run the wires from behind the engine to around the front of the engine where the sensor sits in the new headers?

[vasponger]

my o2 sensor was a plug on 1 end then on the other is where it bolted up the the header pipe, on my new headr the o2 hole was just where the other one was, so i didnt have to rewire anything, i think dc sports sells a o2 sensor kit if you need it

[TheFirstNutZo]

okay I think I'll just wire it up mahself. I hate spending money I don't have to :) oh my reverse glow guages are here... I have so much shit to do to my car and so little time :( (today I worked on car... now I have to prep for finals)

[vasponger]

yeah i finally got everything on my car i got, cept suspension but i think im gonna sell it, cant wait till christmas for more stuff!

[TheFirstNutZo]

hehe its like having legos all over again... but better.

[vasponger]

i could actually build shit with legos though........ hmmmmm gives me an idea!

i cant do my cam gear anyways so

[TheFirstNutZo]

Legos kicked ass, I still have all of my old ones lying aroudn somewhere collecting dust.. a friend of mine is thinking of buying like 50LBS of them on ebay just to have. I think AR.Com should have a project... build a LEGO accord, 1:1 scale :) hehehe

[vasponger]

thats pretty damn big! i think my brother has mine somewhere

[TheFirstNutZo]

it would take forever and be an incredible amount of legos... but it would be pretty incredible too.

[vasponger]

yeah, i was thinking about trying to make like a 1:18 scale when you brought that up, but i dont have the right kind of pieces

[TheFirstNutZo]

I think we know more about changing the subject than about Accords, I don't think there is a single thread (or ever has been) with a considerable amount of posts that doesn't go off subject at least for a little bit! :)

[vasponger]

hahahaha kinda like a thread i know about headers that turned into a lego accord :confused:

[TheFirstNutZo]

yeah funny how that works... that thread sounds familiar :-/ how does this look? http://thefirstnutzo.tripod.com/car/amp/

[vasponger]

cool, i wish i had the confidence and time to do that kinda stuff to my car

[TheFirstNutZo]

considering how much time you've spend replying back and forth with me all evening, you could have run that... when I did it, it only took me about 3 hours and that includes trying to find a way through. If I had that kit it probably would have only taken an hour or two tops. Confidence comes with time, you just gotta try stuff or you won't get confident. Believe me, I have screwed shit up. Most recently I welded my amp to the wire because it wasn't connected well, and I was adjusting it and it sparked and arced and fused together :)

[vasponger]

yeah i dont want to risk losing my car for more time than i can afford, i wish i had another car i could practice on that i didnt need, maybe i should got grab a 4th gen out of the junkyard to play with

[TheFirstNutZo]

trhat would be cool... 4geez kick major ass :)

[jaccord96]

yeah funny how that works... that thread sounds familiar :-/ how does this look? http://thefirstnutzo.tripod.com/car/amp/

ha ha i really was hopin there was a lego accord at the other end of that link :D

[TheFirstNutZo]

sorry to dissapoint :( . perhaps one of these days I will have one.

[jdmaccordbo!916]

lego accords, what im lost.. its 3am an i can barly read this post..hehehe how did legos get into the picture again.. oh wait, justin are you going off topic again...lol damit, atleast we are not talking about ompa loompas yet.. lmao..

[TheFirstNutZo]

oompah loompahs? that sounds pretty cool. No to close the header issue I got them installed fine (though I am going to need to fashion a bracket since they don't line up with the stock one under the car), I still need to wire the O2 sensor, but its installed and I should get the catback taken care of tomorrow morning.

[vasponger]

i can someone photo shop an empty accord engine bay ;)

[TheFirstNutZo]

What do you want that for?

[vasponger]

uhhh just for something

[jaccord96]

you ganna put some oompa loompas in it?

[vasponger]

;) and i was thinkin about some smurfs too

[jdmaccordbo!916]

do you remember the convo that me an pat had about making the first hamster powered honda...lmao... that woudl be funny shit... i swear if you did photo shop that pic though.. i would have nightmares for life.. something aobut green haired migets with orange skin scares me...

[TheFirstNutZo]

you people are sick! (I'm not, I'm special :) ) ... still I would like to see the picture when you get done with it, sounds ... interesting.