The better way

 

better way in what sense ?

 

Maybe he's referring to the flex /mesh connection just before the cat??

 

Yeahhh! I got an email from Sparktec!!!

 

No more trouble with the donut gasket....

 

If assembled correctly, there should be no trouble with the donut gasket. Mine's working just fine!

Jim

 

Yes, although a properly assembled donut gasket shouldn't give you any trouble, one advantage of using the flex pipe is it adds a bit of an OE-look to the finished assembly, which could be advantageous in certain locales...

 

Ditto !

Theres been more discussions on the flex failing than the donut .

 

So do any of you have the OBX headers with the Mini-Madness Stage 2 setup? If so...how do you like them together? How does it sound/perform?

 

Hi MadMick! I read that you're from Germany. How did you get your header there? where did you purchased them and how high was the shipment? I'm from Austria and I'm looking for header for my car..

 

Guys, i have some concerns about the OBX header. Having a look on ebay, i see different designs in the pics. Some are glossy silver, like sprayed in silver paint, some others have the stainless steel look like they should. Also some, have a change in diameter, where the primary tubes join the flange. What is going on? This is my first concern.

Second concern, the OBX header has oval shaped ports. Shouldn't it habe D shaped ports like the stock and like the cylinder head exhaust ports?

 

One is mild steel ceramic coated the other is stainless.

 

concern 1 - its my understanding that OBX did a revision on the header changing tubing diameter.

concern 2 - D shaped ports match up better w/ D shaped header ports.

The OBX as known is a copy of the Super Sprint header which came out several years ago. RMW has come out w/ a D-shaped header. Performance wise it appears that the RMW header is tough to beat. Of course gains come at a price. From what I have seen posted OBX gains are 2 HP and 8 lbs of TQ for 200 bucks.

 

1. I don't think that they did a revision in the design, but that they are making it's production easier and lower their cost.

2. Exactly. D shaped head exhaust ports match better with D shaped header ports. The Supersprint has D shaped ports, but the OBX doesn't.

The OBX is not a proper copy but a cheap replica.

 

"cheap replica" or not, the obx flows better than oem and for the modder on a budget it's tough to beat. when i was looking at headers my decision ultimatly came down to 2 choices, the higher (highest?) performing header RMW; and the lower costing but still effective OBX.
if the RMW's cost is out of your price league then the OBX imho is hard to beat

 

The way i see it, the gain with the OBX is the same as retaining the stock header and modifying it, by removing the pre cat and replacing the main cat with a high flow one like Magnaflow. What do you think about this?

 

"The way i see it, the gain with the OBX is the same as retaining the stock header and modifying it, by removing the pre cat and replacing the main cat with a high flow one like Magnaflow. What do you think about this?" nickbmw

This is only part of the story. The 4-2-1 configuration changes the torque-HP curve more than you realize. The stock 4-1 configuration is focused more on HP than torque. That is what I like the most about this header: Torque.

Search in this thread, I posted a long time ago a link to an article that explains everything about the 4-2-1 configuration. You would not get the same thing by doing what you described.

Bomboasy

 

Okay revision was a poor choice of words, they made a change for whatever reason.

while its been a long time - long ago I held a SS and OBX and they were identical (i.e. ports). The SS I saw did not have D shaped ports.


true that its a replica / clone but not cheap. My is several years old and holding up just fine.

 

Ditto that as well
Running my original donut, not leaking yet

 

Photo of the Supersprint from a member that sells a used one :

Aren't these D shaped ports?

Bomboasy, i know what the effects of the 4-2-1 are, and those of the 4-1 also, and i want a tri y on my car which has litlle torque (R50 Cooper), but what i see in the pics (OBX) has very poor design. The early design OBX seems better in the pics, but the one i see in the seller pics in ebay, is crap to me.

 

Before installing my OBX, I de-burred and polished (with scotchbrite pad) the joint in which the donut resides. I did this to reduce wear and tear on the donut and allow it to slide easily. Mine has held up for about 30,000 mi.

 

I did the same with Cratex Rubber Bonded Abrasive Wheels on a Foredom flexible shaft, cleaned up the flange ports to match stock gasket and removed weld splatter in the pipes. Polished it up like chrome inside, then had it JetHot coated inside and out..
The early OBX that I have is a quality piece.

 

I hate to knowingly bump-up such an old thread, but this seems to be the most informative OBX Header related thread available.

After much poking around, I've found that there are a few versions of the OBX header in existence. It's generally regarded that the older style is better. Part of that "better" is that folks like Helix are saying that at some point, OBX reduced the size of the primaries where they meet the head mating flange. I don't neccesarily agree that smaller or bigger is universally "better" or "worse", but I'll stay on track here.

If you'll take a moment to view OBX's site, you'll see they offer two Headers for the R50 and 53. If possible, can someone tell me which is the older header, and which is newer ? To me, the 1st one looks of better design, however, the 2nd one seems to be the header that I'm seeing in all of these old NAM posts, and claimed to be "the good one". Any input ?

http://www.obxracingsports.com/produ...mit_button.y=0

 

If you buy one from ebay (for example), just make sure it's a stainless one. The first one I've got was probably a knockoff (made of steel with a coat of cheap high heat paint) and the ports were just horrible. After that I've searched a bit more and found the ss one for around 150$. Still have to install it, but the quality is pretty good.

 

The header we ran in days of old was there 4-2-1 design. The one under the crank puppy pic.