I just want to share this little technical know how with fellow gaga owners here. Previously we talked about changing the stock extractor (headers) to aftermarket ones be it S.Steel or W.Steel

Most of the time when we buy headers we see the exterior most of the time. The weld on the exterior and the bending but most people forgot or do not know other than checking the exterior, the interior of the headers is the most important thing and what sets the few K headers from the few hundred one.

I spent some time today to went to different exhaust shop and snap pictures of the headers they are selling but I won't name the shop out or the brands of these headers (some don't even have brands)

Picture A
Below is 1 of the S.Steel extractor I saw and snap a pic of it. Notice any problem with it? It's ok if you can't see it. I will tell you. Look at the joining point of the runner to the mounting plate on the left and to the right. See the difference? This is something you don't want to have. The left runner is not fully slotted in to have a flush fitting with the mounting plate while the right one is fully slotted in. This little thing sometime is not noticeable but it will make a bit of difference when you put into your engine. Although the left runner was been slightly ported but it still have a step or ridge this will cause air flow turbulence on the exhaust gas. This is clearly a workmanship error.


Picture B
This one is from another local maker. This one you can see that the manufacturer they just weld the edge of the primary runners onto the mounting plate compare to the previous one which slot into the mounting plate and weld on the outside only. A good extractor maker will only weld outside of the primary runners and not weld on the joints as the welded area will have bumps and uneven surface which will penetrate into the inner side of the runners. There's some bad things when you have weld like this. 1. The welded area will crack and opens up after sometimes of use due to vibration, resonance and constant expansion and contraction of the steel. 2. Rust will happens on the inner side of the runners due to the weld.


So next time you go to an exhaust shop to change your headers, please ask to see the actual items before fitting and check the interior part. If it does not satisfy you then just don't change it. Although the part might give you improvement but the part is not performing close to 100% efficiency. If you have the guts and skill then you can buy a better one with only slight bumps bring it home and port it before you DIY install into your car.

Now, if changing to aftermarket headers is not in you list due to price or some other reason there's another way to improve the flow of your stock extractor.

As we all know stock headers are produced in mass quantity and with cost in mind so the fitment tolerance is surely to be higher than those good performance header. Most of the time the exhaust port opening of the cylinder block is bigger than the exhaust manifold (due to fitment tolerance and mass production). Most performance shop also offers only port and polish for the cylinder block but never the exhaust manifold. So below I show you how to port your stock headers exhaust opening to be the same as your exhaust port on the block.

You can refer to the link here to get an idea how it's done.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3603731

After I've done the DIY to my 206 few years back it felt lighter on the initial to low rev. That's what my butt dyno tells me since I don't have an actual dyno. The differences might be small but for a small cc car but every drop of power that can squeeze out will make a difference. The tools you need also not much if you don't have a Dremel or die grinder a power drill will do also and patience. Also due to the porting process you get some venturi aka cone shape effect which is good. Such porting is not popular in Malaysia and mostly DIYers will do it rather than shop.

Hope the information shared here is beneficial to all.

This post has been edited by TitanRev: Jun 22 2013, 05:13 PM

Hi guys, I need some voluntary help here on a simple DIY.
This morning I was fiddling around the engine bay and I found the original earth point on the car which is mounted to the gearbox mount. I open up the earth point and negative terminal. I saw that the earth point contact is not good because the mounting of the wart point is painted so took some sandpaper and sanded off a small area around the earth mounting point then I took a metal brush to brush the ring connector and clean the negative and positive terminals. Then I put back everything.

1st thing I notice after this is the throttle lag has reduced and my headlights still dim when the ac kicks in but just a short while only. Now I'm not sure what I did made the improvements could be placebo effect. So here I hope some members maybe could do the same ad I did and see if there is actually any improvement because I'm thinking if this simple DIY can work then add in the ular Oren by YAB then the effect will be more better.

It will be nice if a few can chip in and try this and see the result got or not

Dares, original earth point on cars the contact point is not sanded. For aftermarket ones it depends on the installer's knowledge

Yes, is this point. Just below the fuse box and behind the battery. If you take off the ring connector you can see the contact surface is painted and not bare metal. For any factory fitted earth they just bolt on the connector without stripping small part of the paints off on the contact. (more work) Plus all the wiring are fitted after the whole chassis is painted. Paint is not a conductive material.

You can see my gearbox mount is painted black form stock.

Thanks for the offer....I saw your picture like very high tech with all the wiring here and there. It might need a bomb squad to figure out which wire to cut.

All DIY stuff??

Gas pedal jammed under carpet again??

Maybe it's a good time to show off of you have a darth vader, storm trooper, booba fett helmet hehehehe

Guys, correct me if I'm wrong. Is this the CamPro sensor? I've saw a video of the working of CamPro which it changes a small pin inside the tappet similar to Mivec to change the valve lift but this works by oil pressure build up(Mivec) or control by ECU (VTec). I'm still new to this CamPro thing....

I know the current can flow through the bolt thread but the contact surface of the bolt thread add up won't be as much as a flat contact surface of the whole ring connector and the sanded off area. The sanded off area is just the size of the ring connector not much so when you bolt on the connector it covers up the sanded off area.

That's why you see when installing earth cable it is always advice to sand off a small part of the paint in order to have a much larger contact surface.

This recall is for all FLX or some batch only? I didn't receive letter. When did you got it.

On the E-manage thing, need to be careful when buying. There are fake ones in the market.

This post has been edited by TitanRev: Jun 25 2013, 12:23 PM

WTH~~ I think I better check my chassis no. but it stated there Inspection done on "new car delivery" or 1st service. Wonder did they done mine during PDI or 1st service.

The comments in Paul Tan blog is killing me.... Hahahaha

This one..I like

V12, if like Jeremy, very fast die...all the haze masuk mouth...

The sound you said, izit when you go over bumpy road when the steering is not straight? if so its the sound from the center horn piece.

My Own version of TB cleaning.... Intake manifold also took out whole unit to clean but didn't take pic..
Before


The process (cleaning)



The extra Job



The Result (fully done by hand only, no DREMEL) TB intake diameter increased by 3mm from stock



This post has been edited by TitanRev: Jun 26 2013, 01:05 PM

This one I didn't because the TB is controlled by cable not DBW. For DBW need to unplug the battery ka?

Steering heavy got few things need to check based on stock tires and rims

tire pressure. Is your tire pressure correct? under inflate will cause heavier steering also but minor

PS fluid, enough or not? need to check.

PS hose leaking. Check for oil leak

PS pump fluid kosong, no more fluid, also will cause PS to be heavy.

Last time I servie a makcik's avanza PS fluid leak habis kao kao (PS hose lose already shitty PDI check) The makcik didn't know also until I start the car and turn the steering WTF so damn heavy one...jack car up and see Lo and behold....the under carriage all basah like period...PS fluid red colour...

This post has been edited by TitanRev: Jun 26 2013, 02:45 PM

PS pot??? you mean PS pump???

That ALU water pumo pulley sounds good

isk, I see Leona Chin in your avatar and cant help to ask. You gf?

I saw you put her as your siggie and the pic o the right like she's posing for you.... then I saw here sometimes suddenly mentioned her