[Guest]

Lowdown on $125 www.ssautochrome.com headers?

POS or bargain?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150049117923

 

[boogie van]

you might want to take a gander at some of the links regarding SS Autochrome posted here...

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showpost.php?p=2086629&postcount=13

 

[Guest]

Re: Lowdown on $125 www.ssautochrome.com headers?

NUF SAID! THANKS!

 

[freedomgli]

Rev2Red's post on Miata.net referred mostly to the turbos, turbo manifolds and downpipes. I honestly can't say for sure what the differences are between the 4-1 and 4-2-1 headers from OBX/Megan Racing/SSAutochrome/Xtune/a2rinc/etc. They could all be made in the same shop in Taiwan or they might all be different. Shoot, these eBay vendors might change suppliers every 3 weeks and even if they don't the batch quality could vary dramatically so a review from last month might not mean anything today. It's basically a crap shoot.

There are many testimonials on Miata.net from owners of the generic eBay header. Most 1.6L owners were satisfied. Most '94-'97 1.8L owners said the install was a pain and they wouldn't recommend it since the pipes needed modification for clearance. '99+ owners are looking for a gun to kill the bastards who sold them the POS. For a beater 1.6L car I'd say go for it but avoid SSAutochrome since their customer service is horrible. The other sellers propbably aren't much better but at least some people on Miata.net have had positive experiences with them. Even if the header cracks 3 years down the road it was still a good deal so long as you like working on cars and don't mind dealing with such problems. It seems to me that you've got more time than cash so this would be the route to go. If it were my beater I'd probably even wrap the header in black fiberglass heat shield all the way to the O2 sensor. Oh, yeah, the O2 sensor bungs seem to be all over the place on these headers. Hopefully the one you get doesn't force the sensor to be someplace it can't go otherwise you'll have to cap the hole and weld in a new bung. At any rate you'll probably have to extend your O2 sensor wires. Good luck.

 

[Stealth97]

I've been using one since 2002, its great. It does not look like that anymore after four years, but I'm considering getting it coated. The install was a royal pain, but I have discovered the trick is to raise the engine as much as possible and remove the valve cover. The stock EGR tube needs a little torch work, not a big deal IMO.

 

[Braineack]

I made that post in reference to turbo stuff. As far as I have heard, lots of people love their SSautochrome and OBX headers and exhaust parts. Although there are a lot of cases of bad EGR port placements and this and that.

 

[rthompsonjr]

I have an OBX for my 91 and its been great so far. Its real pretty now that its golden from the heat cycles, all the welds looked great and I haven't had any leaks. Pretty good deal for what I paid for it.

 

[Miatamoto]

Re: Lowdown on $125 www.ssautochrome.com headers?

I have a X-tune header ($75 +shipping) from Ebay on my 94 race car. It was a paint to get in, the EGR was difficult to line up and it rattles on the tranny so pretty much everything freedomgli said was correct.

I mainly got it to replace the heavy stock manifold and downpipe. The butt dyno said it flows a little better up top. I've got a Track Dog Racing heat shield over it, but it looked pretty nice once it turned gold and purple.

For the money it seems like a good deal, but the rattling is pretty annoying.

 

[boogie van]

So hold on a second, OBX = SS Autochrome?


I understand I was taking what you posted out of context Scott.

IMO while some of their parts may be acceptable, I just can't see why anyone would be willing to do buisiness with them based on their fantastic customer service.

 

[Braineack]

OBX - Megan Racing - SSautochrome to me it's all the same brand. I personally wouldn't rock it, but there are a lot of happy miata owners rocking cheap ebay headers without any problems.

as far as turbo stuff, i'd rather drive a prius.

 

[boogie van]

I do know that plenty of 1.6 owners are more than satisfied with the OBX. If and when this hand me down JR header passes away, thats probably what I will go for...but racing beat would definately be preferred if the finaces allow.

...as far as turbo stuff, i'd rather drive a prius.

with an electric supercharger? =D> lol

 

[Braineack]

you're going to have to wait a really long time for that header to die. I only used it for about 1500 miles before I sold it to Dan.

 

[PYTHON]

i got a ebay pos and it rubs on the tranny also...i am going to get a new one this summer when i got the funds

 

[sonique128]

Bill, I was thinking about getting that header for my car also. Like freecomgli said, the 1.6 headers have decent reviews.

My current header is leaking and I wouldn't mind having a cheapy semi-performance header. I was actually thinking of getting it in 2 weeks time. If you decide to get it, I would not mind helping you with the install.

 

[raen419]

I have a OBX header on my B6. It's been ok thus far (23k miles). The previous owner put it on b/c the stock manifold cracked, and said all it did was change the sound of the exhaust system, which is otherwise stock.
I think he paid $120 for it, and the only issue upon install was the o2 bung not lining up or something.

 

[clshrckr]

ive heard bad things about their manifolds and neutral to good things about the header

 

[Guest]

Bill, I was thinking about getting that header for my car also. Like freecomgli said, the 1.6 headers have decent reviews.

My current header is leaking and I wouldn't mind having a cheapy semi-performance header. I was actually thinking of getting it in 2 weeks time. If you decide to get it, I would not mind helping you with the install.

GROUP BUY!

:wink:

Thanks for the offer of help with the header.

Please focus instead on designing my website header.

:mrgreen:

 

[ExHondaMan]

So what exactly is the problem with the 02 bung? Is it a DIY fix?

 

[speedworkz]

Re: Lowdown on $125 www.ssautochrome.com headers?

last night we had an informal dyno shootout among the employees of Planet Miata and Speedworkz. the dyno is a awd mustang with eddy current brakes.

3 cars have the ebay style ss headers as described.

1 1991 eunos (yes right hand drive and all) and borla exhaust (90hp auto cams)
1 1990 with 136k rx7afm, custom intake and mazdaspeed spec miata exhaust -111hp
1 1994 with 95k custom intake and borla exhaust 114hp

the 3 following had factory manifolds.

1 1991 with 91k rx7afm, custom intake and stock exhaust 109hp
1990 with 190k bone stock 93hp
1990 with 215k bone stock 95hp

the rest were not miatas

does the header make a difference? nothing your butt will notice. if you have a cracked manifold, and want to spice up the engine bay a bit, it's a good deal though.

 

[90_mx]

I had the 4-1 SSAutochrome header and it cracked right after the collector....the headers are really thin gauged metal and I personally wouldn`t recommend it....the OBX counterpart is way better.