Headers

[i12drivemyMP5]

The cat is a giant filter. If you remove the upper portion of the hearder you will see a screen with like a honey comb type design inside. The screens prevent a lot of air to flow through rapidly. And that is where all of the restrictions are. If you want to look completely stock but get a power boost. Just gut the cat to allow the air to flow through.

First of all, I guess I should have mentioned that I took mine off in one piece & donated it to a fellow protege'r so I don't even have it anymore, hence the questions. Thanks for the simple explanation.

 

[Black_Protege_5]

Its cool. Even if you were to gut the cat you would still running a 2 inch pipe instead of a 2.4. =

 

[Bala]

Yeah, that ugly sucker must have catalyst material in it, probably the honeycomb - I don't know, I took it off in one piece (see image ... my 2 year old calls it "the robot") Stock, we have an O2 sensor before this cat and one after (see image of the 2nd one with the "non-fouler" trick on my OBX). We have to do this, or the "mil-eliminator" trick because the computer senses that the exhaust gases have not been converted and will throw a CEL.

*Edit - Jeez ... again - "giant pic. alert"

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Nice display, kid has good eye..............

 

[Buck]

Alrighty, simma down now. The factory pre-cat is that coffee can looking hunk of metal held in place with five bolts directly underneath the exhaust manifold. It lights off quick and is there primarily to help with cold start emissions ... there is no pre-cat on the OBX. Not all headers are illegal, If the manufacturer goes through the trouble of getting their product CARB approved (California Air Resource Board) and prove with objective data that their header does not alter the performance of the factory exhaust (pollution wise) they will get a CARB # and will provide a plaque or sticker with there header to place under your hood for the visual part of emissions testing. If it flies in Cali, most states allow these certified products for use on your ride as well. The problem is that this approval process is cost prohibitive for most outfits. Wagner's shorty header that retains the pre-cat likely does not pollute any more than the stock exhaust manifold, but he never had it CARB approved (and never will now that his shop is out of business) so guess what ... Illegal as well. To date, there are no Protege headers that have been certified, and with these cars already three years out of production ... highly unlikely. As far as the OBX being "CARB Exempt", it's because they market their header as an "off-road / race only" part therefore exempt for the need of CARB approval. At any rate, deleting the pre-cat with the OBX and running a high flow cat in the mid-pipe will net you some noticeable gains. You should be able to sleep well at night knowing you are only polluting fractionally more from a cold start ... but you are still on the other side of the law ... Rebels.

*Edit - Image added from my grocery gitter ...

Where did u get that battery holder? I like!

 

[Bala]

Where did u get that battery holder? I like!

Always a crowd pleaser : http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123622813

 

[TheMAN]

Alrighty, simma down now. The factory pre-cat is that coffee can looking hunk of metal held in place with five bolts directly underneath the exhaust manifold. It lights off quick and is there primarily to help with cold start emissions ... there is no pre-cat on the OBX. Not all headers are illegal, If the manufacturer goes through the trouble of getting their product CARB approved (California Air Resource Board) and prove with objective data that their header does not alter the performance of the factory exhaust (pollution wise) they will get a CARB # and will provide a plaque or sticker with there header to place under your hood for the visual part of emissions testing. If it flies in Cali, most states allow these certified products for use on your ride as well. The problem is that this approval process is cost prohibitive for most outfits. Wagner's shorty header that retains the pre-cat likely does not pollute any more than the stock exhaust manifold, but he never had it CARB approved (and never will now that his shop is out of business) so guess what ... Illegal as well. To date, there are no Protege headers that have been certified, and with these cars already three years out of production ... highly unlikely. As far as the OBX being "CARB Exempt", it's because they market their header as an "off-road / race only" part therefore exempt for the need of CARB approval. At any rate, deleting the pre-cat with the OBX and running a high flow cat in the mid-pipe will net you some noticeable gains. You should be able to sleep well at night knowing you are only polluting fractionally more from a cold start ... but you are still on the other side of the law ... Rebels.

*Edit - Image added from my grocery gitter ...

blah blah blah

federal AND california laws DO NOT permit the removal/relocation of ANY catalytic converter or other emission controls system under ANY circumstances

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

blah blah blah

federal AND california laws DO NOT permit the removal/relocation of ANY catalytic converter or other emission controls system under ANY circumstances

blah blah blah is about right. Spoken like a true inspection station manager. Why didn't you jump in on every header thread & warn people of this? It's the rat race so everywhere is a race track & my car is for track use only.

 

[TheMAN]

only because it the original poster said "CARB exempt", which is misleading!

the bottom line is, I don't care if you put that s*** on your car, it's not MY problem... and the EPA can go to hell... but the fact is, laws are laws, and you better damn know WTF you're doing to your car and know what the consequences are.... what I don't want to see are people slapping s*** like this on their car and then bitching later they got a big ass ticket for illegal s***

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

only because it the original poster said "CARB exempt", which is misleading!

the bottom line is, I don't care if you put that s*** on your car, it's not MY problem... and the EPA can go to hell... but the fact is, laws are laws, and you better damn know WTF you're doing to your car and know what the consequences are.... what I don't want to see are people slapping s*** like this on their car and then bitching later they got a big ass ticket for illegal s***

I think you do care. It's more important that people damn know WTF they're doing WITH their car & what the consequences are. I hereby promise to never b**** about anything that happens because of anything I've done to my car on this here forum, or any other ones either.

 

[Protephile]

I think you do care. It's more important that people damn know WTF they're doing WITH their car & what the consequences are. I hereby promise to never b**** about anything that happens because of anything I've done to my car on this here forum, or any other ones either.

Lol. Put that in your sig, we're all gonna be watching now.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Lol. Put that in your sig, we're all gonna be watching now.

I kinda knew that's where that would go when I was typing that up.Stay tuned. Call me on it.lol.

 

[FastMSP]

I have a ractive header in my Protege5, and I love it.

 

[Kansei]

I have a ractive header in my Protege5, and I love it.

Welcome to the forums!

No fitment issues with your ractive? I don't get why mine is rubbing up against the oil pan but it's definitely something I need to address soon.

 

[SlowPro98]

Welcome to the forums!

No fitment issues with your ractive? I don't get why mine is rubbing up against the oil pan but it's definitely something I need to address soon.

You could probably just heat it with a tourch then bend it down a little.

 

[six_dolla_bill]

i don't think many people here are from a small town. i could take a straight pipped lawn mower with a NOS bottle in a side cart down to a smog place where i live and walk out with a certificate.

 

[Kansei]

i don't think many people here are from a small town. i could take a straight pipped lawn mower with a NOS bottle in a side cart down to a smog place where i live and walk out with a certificate.

I'm from a small town too, but I have no clue how strict CT is with emissions since they threw out the old system and reimplemented it. It's not just that for me though, I also want to do my part to keep pollution down, and I don't think it is right to sacrifice environmental-friendliness for like 2hp, especially in a street car.

 

[six_dolla_bill]

i live in CA which is pretty strict. i'm not down with heavy polluting either but you could smog clean with a CAI, header, and catback. even a turbo if it's done right. i say as long as your running clean no biggie. only one that cares are authority and that's just to discourage racing. on the other hand they're 60 year old men driving around with 500+ big block engine in a '52 Ford Coupe riding open wheel(which is illegal). they're running so rich you can smell thier exhaust down the block and cops do nothing but smile and wave. they don't even need to have them pop thier hood to know that's not legal.i know they don't need to be smogged but it's still gross polluting and those engines definitely didn't come with the cars back then. ain't that some B/S

 

[Buck]

amen brotha!

 

[TheMAN]

i live in CA which is pretty strict. i'm not down with heavy polluting either but you could smog clean with a CAI, header, and catback. even a turbo if it's done right. i say as long as your running clean no biggie. only one that cares are authority and that's just to discourage racing. on the other hand they're 60 year old men driving around with 500+ big block engine in a '52 Ford Coupe riding open wheel(which is illegal). they're running so rich you can smell thier exhaust down the block and cops do nothing but smile and wave. they don't even need to have them pop thier hood to know that's not legal.i know they don't need to be smogged but it's still gross polluting and those engines definitely didn't come with the cars back then. ain't that some B/S

I didn't say you can't pass emissions with that crap... it's even possible to pass it without a cat! the problem is, the laws are there requiring the bulls*** to be in place, REGARDLESS... so even if it passes the sniffer, it'll FAIL the visual

and who cares about the 52 ford... it's exempt from any emissions inspection anyway... it's older than 25 years old!