Supersprint Header to Section 1 Slip On Fitment & Installation

[mcfreid]

Gearing up to install a set of SS V1 headers and catted section 1 in the coming weekends. Could use your guys' input as this the first header install I'll be doing.

1. Is there any need for a sealant / exhaust paste in the slip-on joint between the headers and the section 1? Worried that applying a paste there may cause the contanimation in the 02 sensors and cats.

2. Should the headers slip right into the section 1 without any force? And would you recommend installing the headers to the section 1 first, and then installing the combined headers+section into the car as one piece. Or to first install the headers and the install section 1?

3. What's the guidance on tightening the built-in section 1 clamps on the slip on joint? Just till some resistance is given / hand tight - or really wrench on it?

Thanks much!

[Tbonem3]

1. Might depend on climate. I didn't, here in socal. Though I did put copper paste on the cap head bolts (clamp).

2. Yes, should slip on just fine. To make it even easier, I slightly beveled the end of the headers, Shouldn't need to though.
You do not want to try installing the headers with sect 1 pipes attached, no.

3. They're just M8 bolts, so whatever common torque value for that is, like 30ft/lbs? I just snug them up. There's a lot of overlap of the pipes. Use a 3/8" wrench and choke up on the handle to reduce leverage, then go as tight as you can reasonably.

[tarheel]

For question #2, I had difficulty slipping the two sections together so I used a heat gun on section 1 to heat/expand it and then it was really easy to fit together.

[Flat-Six]

1) I used copper paste
2)) mine easily slipped on. I installed headers then section 1. I did not install as one complete unit.
3) 18ft lbs max. They are m8.

[mcfreid]

Thanks guys for the help! Quick question: in the supersprint v2 stepped headers, there are two locations for the o2 sensor (pre cat) on each header. Is there a correct bung choice for which location to use (closer to the collector or futher away)? FYI: for the post-cat o2 sensor, I'll be using the supersprint section 1 with cats and placing them the o2 sensors behind the cats.

[heinzboehmer]

Use the O2 location that's further up, otherwise the wires won't reach the valve cover.

[mcfreid]

Thanks heinz! Just finished bolting up the new headers and o2 sensors. Went a little conservative on the amount of torque applied to the o2 sensors, instead of trusting the torque wrench. Wasn't clicking over at even 30 ft-lbs, but felt plenty tight and not 100% sure the torque measurement was correct with the crow foot angle.

Tomorrow will be installing the section 1, post cat o2 sensors (reran the cables from the drivers side to give them enough length), and then packaging everything else back up.

[mcfreid]

Success! Thanks so much for all the help!

Most difficult job I've done in awhile. Ended up finding that one of the cylinders had two header gaskets stacked on top of one another.

Hopefully I can pay it forward by adding a few tips for anyone who reads this in the future.

One, make sure your method of sealing the coolant lines is secure and stable. We thought it was, but after the coolant reservoir was jostled slightly (probably loosened an air bubble or two, or a slight shift in elevation), coolant started pouring out from the hose by the engine block. Using a piece of plastic glove with a rubber band was not sufficient. And wine corks do not fit into the hose. A better solution would have been to buy a rubber plug with increasing diameter so that it could be pushed in properly and stop the flow. We lost about 0.5 to 1 cup of coolant.

Two, how to wire the o2 sensors for the cats in the section 1 was not at all obvious. Many threads and tutorials we looked at made it seem like there's enough length in the o2 sensor cables for them to simply fit without modification. This was not true in the slightest. The only way, at least in my car, that we could get the wiring to work was to relocate the o2 cables from the passenger side to the drivers side. We did this by cutting into the plastic wire loom all the way to the drivers-side of the engine, and then pulled out the o2 post-cat cables that normally go into the plastic housing which sits on the engine. We did the same for the egt sensor wires.

We bought a 3/8" wireloom from ace hardware and used it to loom the wire at the driver-side junction down to the drivers-side of the transmission. There was an existing wireloom there which we followed for guidance. This gave us enough length to the connect the new o2 sensors to the cables above a brace right around the rear end of the transmission. There were a few OEM clips which looks like they were intended to hold the additional o2 sensors (probably for the euro-spec cars). We had to add a few zipties, and then also a few metal wire clips to the heatshielding around the cats, to keep the o2 cables from touching the exhaust and also from hanging towards the ground.

They're still not entirely protected from the elements considering there's no plastic shield around the location of the cats. Because of that, we wrapped the o2 cables with some additional weatherproofing electrical tape. Not perfect, but the best solution we could come up with at the time. Not sure how you truly protect the o2 cables from the weather since they have to connect into the cats, which themselves are not protected.

Three, we torqued down to the left-side post cat o2 sensor prior to installing section 1. This is because after looking at where the o2 sensors would go, there's no way we could fit in a torque wrench once both left and right pipes were in position.

Four, in order to get the section 1 to slip onto the headers, we had to heat up the section 1 expansion joints and also use a screwdriver to open the pipe further by prying between the two halves of the hex bolt receivers. Even then, it took a good amount of muscling to angle the headers slightly down so that we could slip on the section 1 enough to swing it up into position to meet up with section 2. We also had to use a bit of copper antiseize to lubricate the header pipe in order for it to fit even after heating up the section 1 expansion joint. And finally, make sure to slip on both left and ride section 1 pipes before bolting them into position! We did the right-hand side first, and after bolting into position and torqueing all the nuts down, found out that there's no way to get the left-hand side on once the right-hand side (passenger side) is bolted up.

Five, make sure to tighten the joint between the headers and the section 1 *after* you tighten section 1 to section 2. Otherwise you may find that, after getting the position perfect, you don't have any room anymore to fit in the section 1 to section 2 gasket.

Six, a handful of header studs came out in addition to the nuts as we were taking off the headers. We tried a couple methods to install the studs to the point where they bottomed out, including trying to torque two nuts against each other and use the outer nut to drive in the stud. None of these methods worked that well however, because as soon as we tried to take out the nuts after bottoming out the studs, the studs just came out again. The only method we reliably got to work was to apply blue loctite on the end of the stud, bottom it out with a nut attached, wait half an hour to an hour, and then very carefully unscrew the nut.

Seven, once we thought were in the clear and the exhaust was entirely bolted up, we ran into an issue reinstalling the upper heat shield. For some reason, the holes no longer perfectly aligned with all of the threads in the engine head. Not sure how that could have happened - my only guess is the slightly larger headers pushed up against the heat shield which caused the heatshield to go about 1mm out of alignment. We had to drill two of the holes in the upper heat shield about 1mm larger, after which we could install it. The headers do physically touch the upper heat shield though (not sure if it was like that before or whether it's an issue).

[mtpktz]

Two, how to wire the o2 sensors for the cats in the section 1 was not at all obvious. Many threads and tutorials we looked at made it seem like there's enough length in the o2 sensor cables for them to simply fit without modification. This was not true in the slightest. The only way, at least in my car, that we could get the wiring to work was to relocate the o2 cables from the passenger side to the drivers side. We did this by cutting into the plastic wire loom all the way to the drivers-side of the engine, and then pulled out the o2 post-cat cables that normally go into the plastic housing which sits on the engine. We did the same for the egt sensor wires.

We bought a 3/8" wireloom from ace hardware and used it to loom the wire at the driver-side junction down to the drivers-side of the transmission. There was an existing wireloom there which we followed for guidance. This gave us enough length to the connect the new o2 sensors to the cables above a brace right around the rear end of the transmission. There were a few OEM clips which looks like they were intended to hold the additional o2 sensors (probably for the euro-spec cars). We had to add a few zipties, and then also a few metal wire clips to the heatshielding around the cats, to keep the o2 cables from touching the exhaust and also from hanging towards the ground.

They're still not entirely protected from the elements considering there's no plastic shield around the location of the cats. Because of that, we wrapped the o2 cables with some additional weatherproofing electrical tape. Not perfect, but the best solution we could come up with at the time. Not sure how you truly protect the o2 cables from the weather since they have to connect into the cats, which themselves are not protected.

Any chance you took pictures while re-routing the O2 sensor cables? It's strange that most of the SS V1 install threads I've found don't mention the O2 cables being too short.

[heinzboehmer]

Any chance you took pictures while re-routing the O2 sensor cables? It's strange that most of the SS V1 install threads I've found don't mention the O2 cables being too short.

There's a couple good threads on here with pictures for the post-cat O2 wiring:

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/542-extending-o2-wiring-for-section-1-with-cats-repost-pdf

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/38609-euro-cats-require-lengthened-egt-o2-sensor-wires

[mtpktz]

There's a couple good threads on here with pictures for the post-cat O2 wiring:

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/542-extending-o2-wiring-for-section-1-with-cats-repost-pdf

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...2-sensor-wires

Thank you very much. Not sure why I didn't come up with those threads with my searches but greatly appreciated!

[ugaexploder]

Would anyone happen to know the M8 bolt information for the slip on joint from header to section1?

[LSBNick]

For question #2, I had difficulty slipping the two sections together so I used a heat gun on section 1 to heat/expand it and then it was really easy to fit together.

Similar experience for me. I used a pipe expander to be able to get a good clearance. Also used a small amount of grease for easier install.

[ugaexploder]

Would anyone happen to know the M8 bolt information for the slip on joint from header to section1?

Just in case anyone wants to know. they are M8 x 20mm with 1.25 tp