$300, that is, if you can do the install yourself. The header job is leaps and bounds more difficult than doing test pipes. I think I would feel a bit more comfortable going with the DC Sport header for $415 if I were to do it.

Chuckie, what was your baseline before getting the headers installed? Same HFC ? Same catback? Same temp & dyno?

 

I do all my own work, many of these ACE certified dealership boys don't know their stuff. It boggles my mind.

I had no idea DC made a set, I'll check them out.

 

More power to ya if you can DIY it. I can DIY a lot of stuff, but the test pipes and headers is not something I want to do with the resources I have. My mechanic at UpRev quoted me about 6-7 hours of labor, and they've done their fair share of swaps on VQ's.

 

Oh I hear ya, next to my manual swap there isn't much worse of a job on the VG36 bodies. $1k of labor could fund a full set of 2 piece rotors lol. I'll grab some beers and bloody up my knuckles for a day lol.

 

I paid 400 for the install. I hear people saying 800 to 1k. I went to the same mechanic I've been dealing with Since 2001. I had 2 mechanics turn the job down. Lol.

 

has anyone done their own install.. anyone have links to a writeup.. mainly looking for pitfalls..
planning on doing this on my own.. ive done plenty of wrenching from simple installs to motor swaps..
have no intentions to fork up part of my supercharger budget for it..

 

I haven't done it on this car but if its anything like most other v6 and v8's then it would consist of removing the intakes completely and moving around the harnesses, removing the y-pipe, then cats. Other than that its just getting to the hard to get to bolts on the header with big tools in a small space. It'll suck and be tedious, but it's not at all impossible. Just keep in mind, the shop anyone takes it to has to do the exact same thing you do. There aren't any special secret tools that magically make the manifolds fall off. They may have a lift and a torch but other than that, its basic wrenches, ratchets, swivel sockets and extensions. Grab a friend, jack the car up as high as you can, play some loud music and save $800+ for your summer trip.

 

I haven't done it on this car but if its anything like most other v6 and v8's then it would consist of removing the intakes completely, probably a coolant hardline or two, removing the y-pipe, then cats, maybe even loosen or remove a motor mount and lifting the motor a couple inches. Other than that its just getting to the bolts on the header with big tools in a small space. It'll be tedious, but it's not at all impossible. Just keep in mind, the shop anyone takes it to has to do the exact same thing you do. There aren't any special secret tools that magically make the manifolds fall off. They may have a lift and a torch but other than that, its basic wrenches, ratchets, swivel sockets and extensions. Take a day, grab a friend, jack the car up as high as you can, play some loud music and put $800+ towards that much needed tune.

 

Ok, so my big question with all of this is not how expensive the labor might be, but which headers should I go with? Megan Racing are like $369 and someone said DC Sport would be like $415? I was about to buy the Z1 headers but they are $895 and I don't want to pay more if it wont be a significant difference in HP gain. Are most headers going to give you roughly the same gains?

 

i dont think any have a before and after dyno with those headers..
only proven dyno i have seen for headers were mine and ANMVQ
i gained 16whp with mine and he gained like 12 or 13 with stillen headers

 

Were your gains base solely on header swap? Meaning all you did was add headers (all previous mods remained)? The Z1 headers are $$$ and labor would kill it for me I think. Im planning to go the Z1 plenum, CAI, FI RHFC, and a Transgo tranny kit 5AT.. already have a CBE.

 

I believe both of ours where. I know mine was all I did was swap headers, got a dyno run before retune and after.

 

600 to have mine installed..plus i also had my headers ceramic coated to keep the heat down under the hood

here is all the info for you..
header swap and had to swap the cats to DE same BERK HFC
Dyno pics included

https://www.myg37.com/forums/engine-...er-thread.html

 

I think I am going to skip the headers due to cost. It looks like a nice gain but not for $1500+. I was also told the manifold was not worth it either. Shop near me, Specialty Z said it wouldnt do much if anything. Guess I will just go with Stillen Gen 3's, Berk HFC (maybe some other HFC), Transgo mod, and a tune. Did you ever fix the Ecutek tune issues you had?

 

(Feel free to skip a bit... a lot of back story)


I paid my mechanic $800 to put on Megan headers and Kinetix CBE. I wish I had documented the changes I've made in my exhaust system over the past year... it's been many. All because I couldn't get an exhaust note I like.


On my 2010 G37, I have the stock headers, Berk HFCs, and the Invidia Q300 CBE. That is the sexiest sounding exhaust note I've ever heard. One year ago, I gave that sweet ride to my 17-year-old as his first car. I had fantasies of doing things to it to rob it of power. I never did, and I'm glad I didn't. My son has been very responsible with her. No trouble at all.


One year ago, I bought a 2013 G37xS stock. It has paddle shifters and it drove me crazy that I couldn't hear the exhaust. It made it no fun whatsoever to have paddle shifters. I started making changes to the exhaust.


I was trying to save money. So in addition to the Megan headers and Kinectix HFCs, I bought a Megan Y-pipe and a Manzo Y-back exhaust. After my mechanic did the headers and HFCs, I installed the Y-pipe and Y-back.


OMG, it sounded like sh*t. It sounded like a jet ski that was lugging. It was so bad, so embarrassing, I spent $1K on the Invidia Q300... the very thing I was trying to avoid with all the cheap stuff. It sounded better, but not good. I even got to the point that I contacted the online store that sold them to me, saying they had given me the wrong part. I was relying on online pictures, which were wrong. I saw a resonator in my setup that had baffles in them, so to me, they weren't resonators, they were mufflers. Eventually, I had to admit I was wrong, and then looked under my son's G and there were the resonators.


It's a long story what happened next and there's a whole lot of posting on an exhaust thread here; so much so, someone scolded me for hijacking the thread. I bought $99 flux core wire welder at Harbor Freight; used an extra X-pipe from my first Q300, which was bad (the flange on one end was only tacked on and it was LOUD.) I cut the Y-pipe and the Y-back up (don't use a metal grinding disk on a 4" angle grinder; your cuts won't be accurate enough and you'll have to make pass after pass with your welder to close the gaps); knocked the flange on one end of the X-pipe; welded it onto the cut Y-pipe; and welded the flangeless X-pipe to the cut Y-back. This opened everything up from choking down to 1 small pipe at one point, to having an X-pipe instead.


That sounded like sh*t for a long time, because I had leaks ar the HFC joint and at the new flange to flange joint I made (because I tried tightening that joint up from a creeper under the car and only used 3 bolts.)


Yesterday, I took the piece I made (from HFC to muffler out) and redid the flange joint and wrapped those flexible joints in the Y-pipe (because one of them showed signs of burning/high temps... like a leak). I put that make-a-gasket sealer in there and in the joints fore and aft.


Before I tell you the results... when the leaks were present, you heard a lot of engine noise from the front of the car, not the back...especially from the area behind the R front wheel.


As of the hours of hot, finger-cutting (those gaskets are sharp in places) work yesterday, she's got a new voice.


That's a lot of back story to say, I believe the Megan headers significantly changed the note of my car.


The major difference between the two cars, and at one point, the only difference, is/was the Megan headers. The difference in notes:


Stock headers: a growl where I can hear each individual cylinder discharge as separate sounds... I can mimic it by exhaling with my uvula hanging down flapping...


Megan headers: I cannot hear the individual cylinder discharges... it's more like a purr than a growl. The individual fires seem to flow together. That might make for more power, via a more orderly exit of the exhaust gases down the exhaust system; but, I'm not a racer. Both these cars are daily drivers, and the growl arouses my limbic system more than the purr.


Finally... the question for you before an after Megan header owners...


Do/did your Megan headers change the exhaust note of your G/Z significantly?
How?
Do you like it?


frankroshi
(I don't have a detailed signature line... I do have the Z1 intake plenum, K&N Typhoon CAI, and an UpRev tune, in addition to the above.)