Here's the set I made to fit my RHD R31 Skyline (same engine bay as S13), 1.75" tube, 2.5" merge collectors, equal length runners

Nice work man. I love home-brew work. I bet that cost you a lot less than some other people's header that are around $800.00 or more. I always try to stay low cost / home-made on my build. Jaguar engine mounts - $2.00 each. Transmission - $57.00. Adapter plate - $0.00. Drive shaft - mix and match - about $20.00. Q45 IRS - $120.00. I don't mean to rant but I'm just a big fan of projects that are built with talent and not bought with $$$.

my two sets of homemade headers cost 650+ each set.

But good job!!!!!!

Man, those are beautiful!

How come they are not symmetrical? clearance for steering or something?

Cheers!

Yeah the header on the right is shaped that way to clear the steering column... you'll notice the rearmost runner sweeps back then loops around, the column actually passes through the headers.

These would have cost about a thousand bucks to make, the collectors weren't cheap!

haha, I've tried making a header to suit a straight 6 turbo motor... and i decided very quickly that it was not a job i wanted to do myself. Basically cheaper in the end to get someone else to do it once time and headache is taken into account.
How do ya get each pipe the same length? Is there a general process you could explain to us?

Basically a lot of planning, calculation, and PATIENCE!!! >_<

I made these over the course of a year, pretty slack really, I kept losing motivation to go and roll under the car and figure it out. But eventually with enough lying under there and visualising it, I managed to figure out the routes. The rest was just keeping a tally on the whiteboard of what pieces I'd used and where.

Wish I'd gotten a photo of the whiteboard when I finished! All runners 787mm long, or 31"




Pretty happy with how they turned out, the car sounded friggin awesome!

flyingbrick wrote:haha, I've tried making a header to suit a straight 6 turbo motor... and i decided very quickly that it was not a job i wanted to do myself. Basically cheaper in the end to get someone else to do it once time and headache is taken into account.
How do ya get each pipe the same length? Is there a general process you could explain to us?

Tell the truth about you POS.
I'm sure all the Nissan freaks here will be really happy to hear about what you have done to a perfectly good Patrol!

They look fantastic!

Those are pretty friggin sweet!
Did you use a universal header kit?
I'm curious, why spend that much making your own, when you could buy some for about the same?
Personal satisfaction?
Has anyone tried using some headers from another engine?
You can find some pretty cheap a** stuff for domestics.
Heat them up, bend to your own specs and weld to the VH flange.
For example: http://www.amazon.com/Hedman-89200-Head ... _rhf_p_t_3
I've seen merge collectors that cost more than that whole setup...

Those are lovely!

I've heard that ford 4.6 headers match up port spacing wise... I can't tell you anymore than that as I personally haven't done anything with them.

Most of the LS engines have the same bore spacing as the VH. I was going to just buy a set of LS headers, cut the flanges off and weld on VH flanges but couldn't find any that will work for me. Haven't been able to find any Ford engines with the same bore spacing.

fluffybunny wrote:Those are pretty friggin sweet!
Did you use a universal header kit?

Thanks! Nah I made them from scratch using TRUBS (tight radius U bends), donuts, and straight pipe... a lot of time with a 4" grinder, and my trusty 210amp mig welder.

fluffybunny wrote:I'm curious, why spend that much making your own, when you could buy some for about the same?
Personal satisfaction?

There are no off the shelf headers that even come close to fitting my setup. I put a 90s generation luxobarge engine into an 80s sports coupe, mated to a toyota gearbox, with a custom sump to sit the engine a lot lower than it should theoretically be. The headers had to be custom to fit around the steering column and the narrow gap past the starter motor etc... I'm also not that confident of anyone else's workmanship. In this country, the economy is so poor that if you buy something and it turns out to be s***, you'll have a fight on your hands just to get your money back or get what you wanted in the first place.

fluffybunny wrote:You can find some pretty cheap a** stuff for domestics.
Heat them up, bend to your own specs and weld to the VH flange.
For example: http://www.amazon.com/Hedman-89200-Head ... _rhf_p_t_3
I've seen merge collectors that cost more than that whole setup...

Easy to talk about, probably a bit harder to do in practice when you find each custom transplant setup differs enough that serious work is required. Also, I live in New Zealand, we don't have a nice cheap aftermarket like the US...

hannibal wrote:Those are lovely!

Thank you, I'm really happy with how they turned out

For anyone interested, this is what my car sounded like before it was destroyed. Running two flowmaster super 44 mufflers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pmS96K4VUA

before it was destroyed? Sounds interesting!

-Nathan

Yeah it happened in May last year, was a trailer accident on the way to the racetrack the very day after I finished the project car. It was kinda a big deal for me given I'd spent 4 years building it, made a thread about it but not many people really took notice or gave a s***.

man that is a pretty shiet story! Bet ya didn't have it totally insured either since it was so soon after the finish :-(

I was wondering if the flange would be the same as the VK56. I came across these on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... K:MEWAX:IT
If they are close it would save me some time and $. I'm putting a VH45 in my 240z.

Mettler- those are awesome! Nice work. They must sound badass at wot!

wow, thanks for posting that link up!. It would be AMAZING if those bolted straight up- their shape would lend them well to suiting many applications too.

has the same bore spacing :-D so those would be great. may jsut have to re-drill holes.

hope someone else can give input.

theramz wrote:Mettler- those are awesome! Nice work. They must sound badass at wot!

Thanks You can hear the sound in the video I linked a few posts up

flyingbrick wrote:wow, thanks for posting that link up!. It would be AMAZING if those bolted straight up- their shape would lend them well to suiting many applications too.

has the same bore spacing :-D so those would be great. may jsut have to re-drill holes.

hope someone else can give input.

I think I will buy a set of exhaust gaskets just to check the hole pattern. I'm jumping the gun here cause the engine is still in th Q45. I'm going to run side pipes (on my 240z) so it it should sound freaking awesome at 7k rpm.

Mettler wrote:

theramz wrote:Mettler- those are awesome! Nice work. They must sound badass at wot!

Thanks You can hear the sound in the video I linked a few posts up

mettler, holy s*** you must scare pedestrians to death with that , what other mods have you done? I'd like to see a daytime vid of you decorating the pavement with that!

Mettler, I'm building a turbo vh41 and wondering if u would possibly share your cad file for the vh41 header flange so I can take it to a local place with a water jet cutter and get some cut. It would be really appreciated if u could.
Cheers kade ( building vh41 turbo awd r32 )