Thread: ssautochrome 2.5" header "ebay special"

At first the whole buying a header off ebay for 150 bucks sounds like a red flag off the bat, but with limited choices for FWD SR20 headers where else do you go?

at first the headers look pretty good. the EGR and AIV bungs look a little hoeky, but most people just eliminate them anyways.


the install is pretty straight forward. remove the old headers install the new ones. its much easier to do the job if you remove the fans. just make sure you install them afterwards. if you plan on using the egr again you will have some trouble with the alignment. i found that its easier to just remove the whole thing and make a small block off plate for the intake. your car will still pass smog if its running right.

the worst thing about the headers are the gaskets. there are pieces of crap. if you can get a stock or even a VE manifold gasket from greg v and save your self the hassle of doing a header job again to just change the gasket.
second the collector gasket is junk too. the problem with that is that its not a OE nissan part. its a SSautochrome only part. ive found that making sure the 3 bolts are as tight as can be and you install them with loc-tite it can be ok. what kills those gaskets are the bolts coming loose and the exhaust gasses escaping. if it stay tight it should be ok. ive used silicone to seal them also, but same thing there it has to stay tight.


performance wise there great. its a part you can actully feel in the butt dyno. the car just revs so much better and is more responsive then ever. here is a dyno of my old car with intake and a 2.25 exhaust before the header install and after.

you can see there are power and torque gains from the beginning to end.

i feel that for the money you can not go wrong with the ebay special. there a great product that installed corectly they can be compared to a $800 set.

if you have any questions about the header or other sr20 parts please feel free to pm me.

Great review!

Nice to see some numbers behind the gains too

X2 on the Gaskets, I made a mistake of using them on a downpipe that I just bought.

I guess I'm back to making my own ones

Yes, good review. Thanks for the dyno charts.

FYI, the lower gasket is available in tri-metal from Summit Racing. I just ordered mine last week.

do you have the part number ill post it im my thread

Part #SCE-9400

I just rechecked their website. They are copper, not tri-metal, but still reusable and look much more solid than what came with the header. I'm sorry if I confused anyone

Here is the link:
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SCE%2D9400&N=700+0&autoview=sku

^+1 on all the points made 1st post on gaskets, what crap. Also EGR bung is messed up on the head, lack of seat makes it leak. I solved both issues with hi-temp, cut and pressed copper gasket for the collector and OEM gasket for the head. Also my bud did up custom hi-temp copper inserts for the EGR seat because I couldn't just eliminate the EGR, won't pass CT emissions w/o EGR. If you do have the EGR leak I think I have more of the inserts, copper radiused to give the tube the full 360 deg seat.

Perf of the header has been great, just a PITA for the gaskets and the side EGR bung is crap.

Pics here

Exactly which ones are the 2.5"? Not really many of the descriptions tell you

you've gotta ask the seller to measure it

These headers will drop in price as more and more "Budget" headers start being made. An extra $300 gets you an extra 12hp, not a bad deal if you ask me.

Works great. Installed one Wed, put 900-1000 miles of driving and a track day, not a leak. The way the openings extrude into the pipe is a big plus.

Thanks for the link, my old copper gasket of 2 years was starting to let exhaust blow by. I ordered one just in case, and I needed it right away.