MX6.0

Yea, the tight radius bends are a little thinner than the other stuff so it tends to burn through easier. I'm gonna play with my MIG setting a little more before I do the X pipe.

MX6.0

Had some time to do the "full size" X-pipe today. First step was to cut one pipe along the line.




Initially I was going to just going to freehand cut both pipes, but since the lines marked on the pipes with the ruler were so inaccurate, I figured out that I could slide the uncut pipe inside the cut pipe and accurately mark where I needed to cut.




And here's the end result. Not the prettiest welds, but it definitely shouldn't leak

cruisin'73

iTrader: (8)

MX6.0 Thanks for the detail on welding up your own crossover! I am in the same boat with the 5.3 in my Nova and will be making my own "X" in the near future! Great work on the entire header project! Excellent results, especially for a first try!

omc8

iTrader: (7)

Nice job on the X pipe . One suggestion tho you should have made the the legs longer on the narrow splayed end . Its going to make it more difficult to weld later.

MX6.0

Thanks, I couldn't find much info on building my own so I kinda wung it. Pretty happy with how it turned out though.

Yea, I thought about that when I was about 1/2 way done welding. It shouldn't be any worse than getting in the crack on the narrow end.

MX6.0

Headers bolted up for the last time (hopefully). Engine is going back in today! It's a shame most of them will be hidden underneath the car. Oh well, if they sound as good as they look I'll be happy

vazfx16

That is pretty

MX6.0

Busy weekend. Got the engine back in and was able to fire it up yesterday. As you can imagine, with open headers it was stupid loud...but it definitely sounded like it had a deeper tone than before and more pronounced cam lope.

The audio just doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea.


Here's a shot of them installed.




Today I finished up installing all the suspension and put the inside of the car back together.

Started working on the rest of the exhaust also. Tacked on the other half of the V-bands and pipe that goes through the trans crossmember hoops. Tomorrow I'll weld up the X-pipe and resonators.

MX6.0

Got some more done on the exhaust today. The X-pipe is done. Took a lot of cutting to get the pieces to line up with it just right. Tomorrow I should be able to put the resonators on and route the exhaust back behind the rear subframe.

Mufflers and E-cutouts should be here Wednesday or Thursday so I wanna be ready to put them in and hit the road ASAP!

ig109

Looks good..

I would love to have a lift in my garage.. I am blessed with 10ft ceilings and a 30x40 attached two car garage on my house.. Would love to come across a deal on a good used lift..

MX6.0

Yea, this is one of the many jobs I wouldn't even consider without a lift. It's paid for itself 10X

MX6.0

Finished up the rest of the exhaust over the past 2 days. Turned out really nice I think. And it sounds great! Might be a little louder than before but it's hard to tell with it idling in the garage. Tomorrow I just have to bleed the clutch and tack some exhaust tips on and I'll finally get to take it out and see what it sounds like under a load.

Got the E-cutouts too, but they are gonna have to wait a while till I get my driving fix! lol

ig109

Looks good.. Now take some driving videos..

MX6.0

Got home from work Friday, bled the clutch, tacked on the tips and a couple other little things and was on the road by 8pm. Pretty much spent the whole weekend driving around aimlessly.

After about 400 trouble free miles on the new headers/exhaust, I can safely say that it was all worth it! The car sounds completely ridiculous......in a good way. Not overly loud, but the deep tone and "long tube" sound is intoxicating while shifting up through the gears above 3.5K rpm.

Used a plain ol piece of 3" 304 stainless (same as the rest of the exhaust) for the tips. It polishes up really nice.







I'll try to get some video up within the next couple days.

seadoo

looks awesome! Wish I had your welding skills!

MX6.0

Took another quick video clip of the new exhaust. Same camera placement, same location as the original video. Not the best audio quality on the camera but in person the tone is noticeably deeper with just a touch more volume than the Flyin Miata kit.


...and oh yea, it just passed MD emissions

ig109

Damn you... This made me want to LS2 a Miata even more!!!

Sounds fantastic.. So when are you planning to start making those things?

Did you say that the old exhaust was a kit from Flyin Miata?

MX6.0

Yea, I had the standard FM kit with 1.5" shorties (similar to the Sandersons).

I'm working with another local LS6 Miata guy and a fab shop to see about getting copies made. It's probably still a couple months out but I'll post back here when we work something out.

MX6.0

Well, I finally had the chance to get the car back to the tuner since the new headers and exhaust is done. Lets just say the new exhaust system surpassed everyone's expectations....even my own. Any previous doubts about the large headers not working on a stock-ish motor can be thrown out the window.

On my previous trip to the dyno the car produced 429 RWHP / 409 RWTQ. Since then I have changed nothing more than headers and exhaust. Today the car made 465 RWHP / 448 RWTQ! Same dyno, both numbers are SAE / corrected (481 rwhp uncorrected)...

THAT'S a 35 HP and 38 TQ gain at the wheels

Here's a clip of the dyno pull.

2001CamaroGuy

iTrader: (6)

Nice improvement