Headers going in this week

Installing a set of Pride headers on my 1994. Had them ceramic coated. Will post additional shots when available. Stay tuned . . .

Congrats. Looks like they were coated on the inside too? Done locally or shipped out to one of the major coating companies?

You probably already know this but changing the headers is an opportune time to change the oil pan gasket too if it's old.

Mac Attack said:

Congrats. Looks like they were coated on the inside too? Done locally or shipped out to one of the major coating companies?

You probably already know this but changing the headers is an opportune time to change the oil pan gasket too if it's old.

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Yes - headers were coated on the inside as well. Excellent job. Almost too pretty to mount on the car. Local company, Finish Line Coatings did the work. 10 day turnaround.

Thanks for the gasket suggestion. I am having @titaniumdave oil pan baffle welded in so the gasket AND all 20 fasteners will be replaced. I also took @Kaz-kzukNA1 suggestions and will replace the exhaust manifold nuts with the newer NA2 versions (90217-765-000) which have greater corrosion resistance and use the NA2 exhaust gaskets (18115-PBY-J02) as the opening is slightly larger than the NA1 version.

Finally, I am covering the bottom of the oil pan where the header crosses over with DEI Reflect-A-GOLD for that little extra protection against the heat from the headers. Might be overkill given the headers are ceramic coated, but I figured with three times the radiant area next to the pan it can't hurt. Finished product should look something like this (not mine, but my inspiration).



Hopefully I'll have more pictures in a couple of days.

Yeah, you've definitely done your homework!

Two things I can think of are:

1) A bung in the oil pan for a temp sensor since you're tracking the car and pushing it harder. You can mount a display discreetly to maintain an OEMish look in the car yet provide you with alarm capability. Of course you can always do a bung later with the pan mounted in the car, but I'm a bit obsessive about making sure all contaminants are removed from the oiling system. You'll have that peace-of-mind with the pan removed and ability to clean everything.

2) A new o-ring for the oil pan pick up. Pretty much every other rubber o-ring in the engine (and there's a lot) seals under positive pressure. So, if it begins leaking it's not the end of the world. However, the oil pump pickup has a sealing o-ring leading from the oil pump housing to the pickup screen. That operates under a suction pressure. It cheap and easy to replace that rubber o-ring on a 25 YO car. You can also clean and inspect the pickup and sump screen too. Even slight leakage allows the pump to suck air instead of oil and cause cavitation in the oil pump... leading to catastrophic failure. I don't subscribe to the theory that the oil pump gear has a harmonic resonance leading to it shattering at high RPMs - I've taken mine to 9k repeatedly on a built engine. It's oil pump cavitation that can be alleviated by doing certain things. Some of those things you can do for almost free is making sure the pickup is in good shape.

Love it! I had those headers on my 91 and they were fantastic. Dynoed 274 at the wheels with the Super Ti exhaust- you will love them!

Mac Attack said:

2) A new o-ring for the oil pan pick up.

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Thanks for the additional suggestions.

Just to verify - are you referring to part number 91312-PR7-A00? It is #19 in the picture below.

Yes - Number 19.

Mac Attack said:

Yes - Number 19.

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Thanks! Acquired and installed.

Jeez, that was fast! Was your pickup screen free of debris?

amazing! I hope to do the same soon.

Mac Attack said:

Jeez, that was fast! Was your pickup screen free of debris?

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Yes, screen was clear. Pan was also free of debris. We also pulled a rod bearing cap and the bearing was in "fantastic shape" (no picture, unfortunately). I am also sending an oil sample to Blackstone for analysis.

I am pretty fastidious about my oil and change it after every two track days. All fluids (engine and transmission) also get changed at the end of the track season.

Finished the header installation as well as the installation of the oil pan baffle. Definitely more mid range punch. My butt dyno registers slightly stronger pull from 5000rpms and beyond. Track day coming up June 14th so I'll be interested to see what the performance is like then.



Oil Pan Baffle - Thanks @titaniumdave



Front Header - Thanks @PrideExhaust

Applied DEI Reflect-A-GOLD to oil pan



DEI Reflect-A-GOLD



Engine compartment bulkhead. Applied DEI Heat Screen to the heat shield on the bulkhead. Also replaced both O2 sensors. Front one is hanging down in the picture.



Very happy with how everything turned out. I feel like I have now addressed the two areas that were (IMO) under-engineered by Honda; Exhaust and Brakes.

Awesome!

The place you're using looks like they know what they're doing and are taking some pride in their work. Even the shop itself looks neat and organized. From what I've seen over the years, very few places are like that unfortunately.

cool you are paying homage to Mac F1

Mac Attack said:

The place you're using looks like they know what they're doing and are taking some pride in their work. Even the shop itself looks neat and organized. From what I've seen over the years, very few places are like that unfortunately.

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I am fortunate to have a great shop local to me. The shop owner, Eddie Nakato is an accomplished racer and all around great guy. Eddie races part time and most recently participated in the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge - SprintX - GTS Am and also finished 3rd in the 2018 SCCA National Championship Runoffs Touring 3.

Racing career summary


The rest of the shop team has a racing background as well. The shop services and supports many of the local racers in the area.

Update . . .

Had a track day June 14th and thought I'd share the results of the header upgrade. While most manufacturers claim certain HP gains or torque gains with their headers I think the real gains are the ones realized on the track where you can actually compare before and after lap times in order to evaluate real world performance gains.

In my case I lowered my lap time by almost 2 seconds (1:40.69 vs. 1:42.14) and increased my top speeds by almost 7 mph (114.0 vs. 107.4) on the back straight and over 7 mph (108.5 vs. 101.3) on the front straight of Portland Int'l Raceway. Note that my corner speeds were relatively the same. Hugely impressed with the gains the headers delivered. No other changes were made to the car.

Shout out to @PrideExhaust for a quality product. Note: I am also running the Pride 300 cell high flow cats, however these were on the car with the OEM manifolds so a minimal (if any) gain when combined with the headers.

LAP TIME BEFORE HEADER INSTALLATION (Sept 2018)



LAP TIME AFTER HEADER INSTALLATION (June 2019)



IMO - probably the best "bang-for-your-buck" performance modification you can make to your 1991 - 1996 NSX.

Thank you mwagner10702

Great review and nice to see she gets plenty of track time!

mwagner10702 said:

. . . I am also sending an oil sample to Blackstone for analysis.

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Blackstone results for anyone interested. Engine currently has 147,700 miles on it.

View attachment 94 NSX-190515.pdf

mwagner10702 said:

Update . . .

Had a track day June 14th and thought I'd share the results of the header upgrade. While most manufacturers claim certain HP gains or torque gains with their headers I think the real gains are the ones realized on the track where you can actually compare before and after lap times in order to evaluate real world performance gains.

In my case I lowered my lap time by almost 2 seconds (1:40.69 vs. 1:42.14) and increased my top speeds by almost 7 mph (114.0 vs. 107.4) on the back straight and over 7 mph (108.5 vs. 101.3) on the front straight of Portland Int'l Raceway. Note that my corner speeds were relatively the same. Hugely impressed with the gains the headers delivered. No other changes were made to the car.

IMO - probably the best "bang-for-your-buck" performance modification you can make to your 1991 - 1996 NSX.

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Nice - That is a big difference.