Initial Impressions of the CXRacing headers
Good:
The bungs are not positioned correctly - not even close to 9 and 3 position - I hate to be over negative but C’Mon Man! That is a rookie move coming from a race shop. I would like to use it as an air fuel sensor, but I really don't want to burn through sensors or worse make it unreliable
Plus it is described as being for 90-97 - that's not true 94 and under need 2 bracket O2 sensors and they need to be set for the firs and last 3 cylinders.
Header Installation
As I mentioned the ECU for my 94 requires 2 O2 sensors for the first and last 3 cylinders respectively, the CXRacing system does not account for this, so I added them here about 6-7 inches from the colectors. You can also see that the brake line bracket and fender needed to be modified to allow the down pipes to fit.
Routing the exhaust is very similar to the original 94 and what many others have done over the back frame. I do not have a body lift, so it’s tight all over.
The headers and down pipe were coated by Jet Hot and the exhaust pipes wrapped up to the catalytic converter to reduce heat under the hood and help hold the exhaust temp to the CAT which is by necessity a long way down stream.
you can also see here a CV joint heat shield to protect it from the catalytic converter.
The brackets are key and the original rubber dampener brackets provide enough rigidity to prevent excessive shaking. I trust there is enough give in them to spare the welds and vband clamps.
A few tips
Welding settings and tips (Disclaimer I’m a beginner with a YouTube Degree but was happy with the results)
Good:
- Very Sexy
- Good looking outer welds
- Heavy gauge equal length runners
- Fits well (unfortunately its too big to be completely under the frame but that is unavoidable)
- Good price – (IMO)
- They clearly didn’t back purge it (or didn’t do it well)
- It came with grade 5 bolts (easily fixed but why skimp on less than $20)
- The bung setup doesn’t support 94 and earlier factory O2 requirements
- The down pipe is not 16 gauge (I didn’t measure it but I’m certain its not)
The bungs are not positioned correctly - not even close to 9 and 3 position - I hate to be over negative but C’Mon Man! That is a rookie move coming from a race shop. I would like to use it as an air fuel sensor, but I really don't want to burn through sensors or worse make it unreliable
Plus it is described as being for 90-97 - that's not true 94 and under need 2 bracket O2 sensors and they need to be set for the firs and last 3 cylinders.
Header Installation
- The size of the runners makes it impossible get a socket on some of the Nuts (I fear the day I need to change the gasket)
- Runners 2 and 3 must be cut-out and modified to fit under the Supercharger
- You either must remove the Supercharger or be a contortionist. I opted for contortionist, but it hurt during and after and provoked more than a few F-Bombs I'm sure the neighbors could hear
)
As I mentioned the ECU for my 94 requires 2 O2 sensors for the first and last 3 cylinders respectively, the CXRacing system does not account for this, so I added them here about 6-7 inches from the colectors. You can also see that the brake line bracket and fender needed to be modified to allow the down pipes to fit.
Routing the exhaust is very similar to the original 94 and what many others have done over the back frame. I do not have a body lift, so it’s tight all over.
The headers and down pipe were coated by Jet Hot and the exhaust pipes wrapped up to the catalytic converter to reduce heat under the hood and help hold the exhaust temp to the CAT which is by necessity a long way down stream.
you can also see here a CV joint heat shield to protect it from the catalytic converter.
The brackets are key and the original rubber dampener brackets provide enough rigidity to prevent excessive shaking. I trust there is enough give in them to spare the welds and vband clamps.
A few tips
- I finalized the position of the most forward bracket last because any small change there affects the whole system. I used existing threaded wholes in both the first and last bracket.
- I had to remove the pipes a few times to finalize brackets, add the bungs, add heat shielding…etc, so I marked the clamps by welding a dot on either side to line them up exactly same way each time.
| Here is what I used | Qty |
| |
| 3"OD 304L Tubing, 16 Gauge - 3' Length | 1 |
| 3"OD 45 Deg. 304L - 3" Radius, 6" Legs | 6 |
| 3" 90 Deg 304L Elbow w/ Tangent, | 4 |
| 3" Vibrant Ultra Quiet Resonator, 304L | 1 |
| Verocious Motorsports V-Band Clamp Kit - 3" | 5 |
| 3" 90 Deg Elbow w/ Tangent, 304L | 1 |
| 3" 45 Deg Elbow w/ Tangent, 304L | 1 |
| Thermo-Tec Adhesive Backed Aluminized Heat Barrier, 12" x 24" | 1 |
| CXRacing Performance Header | 1 |
| GESI G-Sport High Flow Catalytic Converter (3" IN/OUT x 4" Body Non EPA) | 1 |
| O2 bung | 2 |
| Denso 234-9042 Air Fuel Ratio Sensor | 2 |
| Inferno Wrap (Scrap) | 0 |
| 2"x2" 304 stainless square tubing (scrap) | 0 |
| 4"4 304 stainless square tubing (scrap) | 0 |
Welding settings and tips (Disclaimer I’m a beginner with a YouTube Degree but was happy with the results)
- I used a pipe expanded with Cooper sheets pressed to the inner pipe to weld the Vbands (I haven't seen that mentioned at my YouTube University but it works great without purging)
- I used food service silicone plugs with wholes to do the back purging (better than tape and 1/10th the cost of the actual purge plugs they sell)
- Vband & bracket welds - Set to 80 amps, but I almost never gave it the full 80, I would say I had it between 40 and 60 most of the time. Set gas at 1 second pre flow and 3 seconds post flow.
- Butt welds & O2 bungs - I used Pulse Tig set to 95 amps, with 30 pulses per second at 30% background and 30% pulse time but mostly stayed at about 80% of the amperage once the puddle was created.
?
but that would 100% require a body lift. (several times I thought I bit off more than I could chew). However. I like the suggestion about the flex pipe. Honestly it didn't occur to me because I wasn't very confident about my ability to weld SS but I'm confident I could exchange the resonator for that flex pipe and the hanger is already perfectly positioned per #mudgudgeom's recommendation.
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