Hi all, with my RHD DB9 gradually racking up the miles since my 9+ year ownership (now just passed 66k miles) one thing I still had to do on my 'to-do' list was a 'header' upgrade.

I toyed with many ideas here, from buying a set of VAP headers to making my own which ended up me buying plenty of SST304 43mm diameter 90 degree bends, 3-1 collecters and 63mm bends and straight pipe, enough to fabricate my own equal lenght headers. I spend over EUR 300 in materials but never got to it....

My ride has been accross the globe (UK first 9 years --> 3 years SIngapore --> 5 years The Netherlands --> and Cyprus since last year) and therefore has seen many climates as well. Since I started to get misfires on some coils after I changed them out 4 years and 10k miles back (yes, a warmer climate doesn't prolongue coil life is my experience) I thought it was a great oppertunity not to just replace these but also change my two (2) engine mounts and upgrade my headers too.

I have been running VAP's secondary CAT delete pipes for 8 years now and since MOT regulation here on Cyprus is not strict at all, I decided to remove my Primary Cats as well. We all know the potential damage they can cause to bores in particular icw misfiring coils...

Upon inspection they still looked good but it was time for me to take them out. I cut back open the rears of the Cats, took all material out (1.5KG / 3.3 Lbs in total for all four cats) rewelded the steel back in and wrapped the headers to reduce underbonnet heat. To avoid emission warnings I installed O2 sensor extenders in the downstream sensors. All went back on the car and: e voila: no issues nor emission warnings ans also no potential harming to the engine. Best of all: I found a Catalyst recycling company that paid me EUR 400 for the 1.5KG / 3.3 Lbs loose CAT material I send them!

A great update after all. Sure, you are not having the upside from equil length-headers icw a tune nor does the sound change significantly but it does save a lot in the finance department :-)





P.S.: don't mind the exhaust paste: on the first header I forgot to put the lambda's in prior wrapping it so I had to cut the holes for the O2's sensors; to prevent the fibre from loosening further I smeared them with exhaust paste.

 

great info here what was the procedure of removing these headers, did they come out with the engine in situ?
Any header bolts shear at all ?

vb
gaz

 

Prior taking the header bolts out I soaked them with WD-40. They all came out no issues. I dropped the subframe (while supporting the engine) to remove the headers and did so with the car on four axle-stands at about 1.5 ft height... That was enough to clear the headers from underneath the car.

New exhaust Gaskets (4 pcs from brand REINZ, item no. 71-34307-00) and bolts later and all is in fine working order!

 

Hi so did you have to drop the subframe because of height clearance as I have a 4 armed lift which would give me clearance to drop them maybe

 

There is no chance you can take the standard headers out without removing the subframe so yes, you have to remove it. Its not a hard excersize at all: just 6 large bolts, 2 steering rack bolts at each wheel-side and it comes off. Change your engine mounts while at it.

 

Thanks for the info 👍🏼
sound clip and fly by next 😉

 

I should indeed! planning to X-pipe the VAP secondary CAT deletes next :-)

 

I’ve got a spare x pipe if you need one

 

Any other tips here? I have VAP headers sitting in my garage and am preparing to install them in the next week or two. I have a friend with a set of quick jacks that we will be using, but we will still be on the ground. I've read conflicting things about needing to disconnect the lower suspension arms and steering rack to drop the subframe enough to get the manifolds out, as well as about needing to remove the starter and alternator to reach some manifold bolts. Any advice you have would be very welcome.

 

Installing the VAP headers shouldn't be an issue with the subframe installed but you first need to get the OEM headers out: there is no change for this without removing and lowering the front subframe. Its a scary thought having to do this but its not too bad after all. Make sure you support the engine with a trestle from underneath and replace the engine mounts while at it. Good luck!

 

Keep in mind that the Xpipe REALLY quiets down the car. Far less noise than the straight pipes. I think quieter than the original cats honestly. I have tried the X and Stuart made me a "H" pipe as well. That was also very quiet. Just FYI.

 

I can confirm that: it really shuts the car down but in my opinion for all the good reasons; you're getting a higher pitched sound back for it. Below drive off gives you a good idea of the sound-improvement with an X-Pipe icw free flowing headers and no CATs whatsoever.

 

I purchased the VAP power pack which comes with cat-less equal length headers and 200-cell cat replacements for the secondaries. I was going to keep the stock rear muffler. I’ve heard that this might even be too loud and was considering adding the x-pipe that goes between the cats and the muffler to quiet it down some if so.

 

The X-pipe is a fantastic part.. I'm certainly not saying it's a bad idea. I worked with Stuart when he was developing it. We also tried some "silencer delete" pipes to use with Xpipe and that sounded really good, but just a bit too much noise for full time, as no way to use with valves to control it obviously. We also tried a set of dual silencers and that was good as well, but ultimately decided it sounded nearly the same as his original mufflers for the V12 cars. I still have those if anyone would like to give them a try. I got very good at swapping out these systems.. I created a few videos as well. At that time I had both my DB9 and DBS, so I did some comparison videos as well. Here is a link to my YouTube stuff. Not too much on there, as I haven't been creating much "content" really, but a few showing different combinations.

https://www.youtube.com/@speedracer8005/videos

 

Hi, was there much/any wiring to disconnect to lower the sub-frame to the distance needed?