Ok guys, i just purchased some ceramic dc sports headers for my 2000 4cyl accord. I'm just waiting for them to arrive and then install them. I've started to hear mixed feedback on dc sports headers, any advice guys? thnx

 

I have a honda accord Ex that I recently purchased. It came with a DC sports header on it. The top half was cracked along half the welds and the tubing was cracking also. The lower half was cracking,rotten and booggered up from someones half *** repair attempt. I had to cut and patch 2 places and go over half the welds. And on top of that the prior owner got the wrong one as it ended 6" short and they cobbled a stub pipe between the header and cat. From what I saw when I was repiaring it the weld quality is poor, fitment of piping is even worse,flanges are so so and its an all together cheap header. The tubing came up short to many of the flanges on the inside and was just filled with weld. The inside had no signs of deburring or blending of seams. The tubing was not joined cleanly on my spots.

To compare it, I bought a SS "generic" header,cat back and intake off ebay for under $200 shipped to my door. i figured for the price why not? The header and cat back was all TIG welded, it came with all the appropriate gaskets,bungs,plugs and was the correct legth for my EX with the F22 motor. The header bolted up nicely and had zero interfernce problems. The lower support flange even lined up perfectly. That one was broke off on the DC sports header I removed. After fighting the old "custom" bent SS cat back and cat I hung the cat back. It too was all SS,polished and had all the gaskets and some extras. It had all the hanger points,accepted the stock rubber hangers and had nice balled ends to prevent them from sliding off. After hanging that I installed the cat and had to pull the cat back forward roughly 3/8" which was basically because everything was bolted together loosely. The cat back I bought also had a section of flex pipe on the intermediate pipe behind the resonator. I didn't check to see how magnetic the SS was, so I'm not sure if its 316,304 or 409SS. It had an excellent polished finish, fit great and was stupid cheap. Even the el cheapo SRI I bought fit good except for the ultra tight filter boot. My remedy for that was to soak it in hot water and soften it up, then it slid onto the intake pipe. The lower support bracket was cheesy and used the filter hose clamp to keep it in place after I bent it up to fit correctly to the inner fender wall sheetmetal.

IMHO I'd cancel that DC Sports header order and contact"racinghouse" and see if he has any auctions for your make,model accord and get one of his combo deals. he also sells SS polished cats. I think for under $230 you can have a head back complete SS exhaust system shipped to your door. I've spent alot of money on other cars I had for headers,jet hot coatings, cat backs and ceramic coating. None of those headers,cat backs and finishes compared to this "cheap generic" stuff i got. Save your money for good rims/tires and get this stuff. Just my .02

 

Thanks for the response i really appreciate your feedback, especially because of the fact that you took your time to thoroughly explain your feedback and inform me on some better options. Thanks again.

But on the headers it's too late for me to cancel because of the contract and all, and the fact that it has all been paid for but i guess i'll just learn from my mistakes haha

Ya at the moment i got a skunk2 exhaust and an aemV2 intake, I got alot of work ahead of me to be honest haha. But i'm looking forward to it. But hopefully i get my moneys worth out of the headers at least.

And one more question, with my current mods being the exhaust, intake,and headers, will i still past smog? I also want to replace my cat but im a bit uneasy for the most part becase i've heard that it's illegal in california, and that i definetley wont pass smog, but im not really sure because those are just assumptions from people here and there. What advice can u give me or clear up?

 

i have actually heard dc sports headers are quite impressive. but since they are ceramic, they will be prone to rust, and the fact that you live in wisconsin sure wouldnt help.

i dont know much about california smog logs (none down here in georgia), but i believe you would need parts that were carb exempt. i believe the aem intake and dc sports headers are, but i know the generic ebays one arent. other than that, if you have kepts the oem cat and muffler, you should be alright

 

WI weather has nothing to do with **** poor build quality and materials. The ceramic coating was still on 99% of the header, the cracking killed it. All the cracks originated along welds which tells me it wasn't welded properly on top of the fact it was all MIG welds and very crappy ones. I wish I had a camera so i could have taken side by side pics of the 2. i think alot of DC Sports fans would be no more.

For the OP I'd run the stock cat, if you can get your hands on a Hi-flow cat that'll fit in the area try it out. Keep your stock one and just bolt it back up for smog testing. My SVT Contour passed emissions where I used to live with no cats at all! Full headers,cat eliminator and 2.5" cat back. i did have to run MIL Eliminators to keep the O2's and ECu happy.

 

ah i c thnx guys, appreciate the feedback

ya i have kept the stock cat because i was unsure but i think thats what ill do, get my hands on a Hi-flow cat and keep the stock cat as u said for smog testing.

Hey thinkmoto, when u said that u had to run MIL eliminators, do you mind filling me in on that? thanks bud

 

I got DC sports ceramic for my 95 Integra, and they didn't crack. Some gobs of weld spatter, so it wasn't the prettiest job & I had to file the gasket surface of the flange flat. They were OK for a few years till I sold the car.

 

Mine are completely fine. It depends on the luck of the draw then.

 

Ok thnx guys

Now when I get the headers and install them, there's gonna be alot more air getting in, does that mean that there is gonna be alot of unburnt fuel as well, how do I go about that?

 

No, your ECU will measure stuff & compensate. You might try resetting the ECU, but probably not really necessary. It'll use the O2 sensors to re-learn what it's doing. Resetting the ECU simply speeds up that process by erasing what it has learned previously.