msa performance exhaust, 6-1 header with pics

[justinr54321]

Arne, there are turbo headers out there, but it would have to be custom made. However, with what I'm wanting to do, I'm just going to use the a stock turbo exhaust manifold, which I have, and port it out. I'm not wanting to push any more than 300 to 350 RWHP at the moment.

[ktm]

You really need to do more reading justin. I am pushing that much horsepower and torque through a stock head, stock N42 non-egr intake, and stock exhaust manifold. There are people pushing over 400 whp on the stock exhaust manifold.

[zul8tr]

First, thanks for posting such through pictures of your exhaust. I just got the same exhaust system, but am having a few problems installing it and was wondering if you ran accross this.

I have a 73 240z with the MSA Aerospace Thermal Coated Headers. If I bolt the exhaust pipe onto the header tightly, it misses the exhaust tunnel completely and ends up pointing under the differential.

It appears I can bolt all pipes very loosely together and attach to the hangers, and everything will be in the correct place, so then I could tighten the exhaust flanges to force the exhaust into the tunnel. I'm afraid though that with that much leverage (the length of the exhaust pipe), I might be putting too much stress on the exhaust studs in the head and risk them popping out.

Is this a valid concern?

Thanks for any input.

Mike

[LBO730]

I know this is an old thread but for those of you who have installed a header, do you remember what you torqued the nuts to? Also I wonder if there would be any problem with using stainless nuts and washers on the factory exhaust manifold studs?

Thanks for any input!

Byan

[70 Cam Guy]

I know I've posted the page number before from the FSM but I remember the torque spec being 7-9 ft lb's on the intake/exhaust studs

On my car I have better luck using 1/4 drive sockets and extensions (also use 1 universal) for accessibility. I have used an inch-pound torque wrench in 1/4 drive and I've also used a 3/8 drive torque wrench with a 1/4 adapter.

Take your time and don't skimp on the anti-seize. I re-used my original washers and used the nuts that came in the MSA stud kit. Stainless hardware would be up to you

[tlorber]

Does anyone have an audio clip of the MSA 6 into one header + exhaust?

Ideally it would be nice to hear idle, under load, at high rpm and backing off throttle.

I remember seeing a video clip somewhere of multiple z's with their exhaust (can't find it now) but it did not state which car had which exhaust.

Thanks.

[tlorber]

Well, I just got this system (MSA 6 into 1) onto my '73 w/ L28. For any of you considering it, I was actually pretty impressed by the fit. I was concerned based upon comments I'd read that the muffler would be hanging low or wouldn't clear-no such issues.

The only conflict I had was that the header was touching one of the [unused] tranny bosses at the bottom of the bell housing-so I shaved the tranny down to give be about 1/4" clearance. I took the car around the block yesterday and for the first time since I've owned the car I got the tach up to 6,000. My old pipe was around 1.5" in diameter, the new pipe is 2.5" or almost 3x the cross sectional area.

I'll try to post pics once I get the car up on a rack.

[Davey G]

Well, I just got this system (MSA 6 into 1) onto my '73 w/ L28.

What head is on the L28?

I took the car around the block yesterday and for the first time since I've owned the car I got the tach up to 6,000.

Did the car not want to rev to 6000rpm before this?

[tlorber]

Head is an N47. The motor did not want to get up there. Now it pulls hard through 6k. Has a peak between 3800 & 4400 and another btw 5000 and 5600.

However, I also noticed when I pulled the carbs that the gaskets on both had "slumped" into the airway and were blocking around 10% of it on both carbs.

This probably contributed to the condition.

[Jetaway]

Just to throw in:

I printed out and brought in the description for MSAs Premium Exhaust System (For Stock Manifold) to the best of the local muffler shops and asked them what it would cost me for them to come up with something similar. They said it was a "super" price and that I should order it and they'd do in the install for $100.

Having done enough exhaust systems to know that this seemingly trivially simple job is usually not, I agreed. Ordered it on Monday, arrived Wednesday via cheapest shipment option (to be fair, an in-state, maybe 350 mile ship), took the shop an hour to install. Sure sounds tougher, perhaps a bit tougher than my Z really is. It is definitely louder, even under low engine speed steady-state speed conditions, as my wife can hear me coming whereas before she could not. Adds a bit of a rumble at 70 mph (3000 rpm -- very long legged gearing on my beastie) but hardly objectionable. What I really love about it is the sound of killer bees that swarms in at 3000 rpm when accelerating flat-out. Power? Honestly, can't tell. I don't have a timing trap and didn't do a top speed before / after comparison at the time. Probably not much on my stock, no severe problems, but also understandably tired (200,000+ miles) engine, but this upgrade was made with an eye for the future (rebuild and headers) as well as the present. My only real knock is the shape of the muffler itself, as has been pointed out by others, a comparable round one would look and fit better. 2 months in, everything is still together, no bumps or creaks or leaks and I am one satisfied puppy.

Chris

[Powerglide]

200K miles on an L Series Nissan motor is not "tired" unless it has been abused.

[Jetaway]

200K miles on an L Series Nissan motor is not "tired" unless it has been abused.

It had 160K on it when I bought it two and 1/2 years ago so I can't say whether or not it was abused up to that point. Compression was a little low (5-10 lbs) but even across the cylinders and there are odd scratch-like marks on the cam that can be seen but not felt by hand. Goes through a quart of oil every 500 - 800 miles, depending on season and type of driving. Speaking for myself, I'm pretty easy on cars. A mis-spent (or well-spent, take your choice) youth of nursing left-for-dead hulks around for months, even years, with no more than oil and grease taught me how to keep stress low on cars.

Not that I don't know what the pedal on the right does.

Chris