Euro headers on an s52 swap, whose done it? Chime in!

[RedDotRacer]

Ive searched hours through different threads and forums.

I am in the middle of the swap and am looking specifically for what you did to make your euro headers work.

I will be ordering the treehouse cabs. I am using akg motor mounts.

The subframe has been notched and the firewall has been hammered. I now need to clear the ST sway bar. If I lower the sway bar with spacers I touch the control arm. I understand this is a pain but people have done it.

I know about eBay/raceland /ss rep headers and don't want to debate using those. Simply looking for tips/advice from those who have euro headers in their e30s.

Going in my track car so it doesn't have to be pretty.
Thanks!

[FredK]

I lowered my ST 22mm swaybar around 1/2", and the metal shackle needed just a small amount of trimming to clear the control arm. I think that's about the easiest solution besides relocating the swaybar pickup points to the front of the engine.

[RedDotRacer]

Hmm I don't think I can drop them a half inch. The actual bar would definetly touch the control arm. Do you any pics?

[FredK]

Sorry for the misinformation. I am using a similar setup--Ebay S54 headers that have larger piping than Euro S54 headers. The angled portion of the sway bar clears the headers by a whisker with a spacer.

I am guessing that your headers are biased further towards the passenger side of the car, causing maybe an interference that can't readily be addressed with a spacer.

Do you have any pics of your setup? Because I am in the middle of swapping back to a "winter" suspension setup which gives me more ground clearance and it might not be representative of the bar when it's around 1.5" lower.

[RedDotRacer]

I see. I'll try to snap a few
Pics. I have basically a whisker between the sway bar, next to the control arm bushing pass side, the sub frame and the firewall.

[hoveringuy]

Snakes in a car!

Instead of making the car fit the headers, I made the headers fit the car...





Aluminum block also has some bumps, protrustions and seems slightly thicker than the iron block which made it more challenging.

These headers made slightly more power than the OBD2 set that they replaced, but that's partially because I could program in some more retard on the exhaust cam. The difference in power was mostly in the 2500-3500 band which suprised me.

[madsedan]

Nice!

[hoveringuy]

Later upgraded to Borla exhaust, this shows the routing and clearance much better. The unmodified headers would have hit the CAB and sway bar badly!

I love that with the V-bands I can remove my entire exhaust in about 2 minutes!

[madsedan]

Is that 2 1/2" or 3" after the 2 to 1 merge?

[hoveringuy]

Is that 2 1/2" or 3" after the 2 to 1 merge?

2 1/2"..

Yes, I know I could have gone with 3" and it wouldn't have been loud, etc. etc but the M54 is a dog over 6000 stock so what's the point?

I'm hitting 227whp and it sounds great!

[RedDotRacer]

Wow, some serious modification. How close to the sway bar? Its hard to fromthat angle. How about the piece that gets up against the firewall? I ordered my treehouse bushings today that should give more room. Once it is in I will post pics.

[Robert]

I'm using ebay headers, and sway bar reinforcements from IE, all it does it touch the subframe ever so slightly, but doesn't really affect anything.

[hoveringuy]

How close to the sway bar? Its hard to fromthat angle.

In the picture the exhaust is touching the sway bar, but that's because with weight off wheels, the sway bar rotates down as the wheels drop.

In practice, I have 5/8" clearance.

[Gooneric]

Question : i am assuming you lot are using Euro headers in US Left Hand drive cars?
If i were to use Euro headers in an RHD car with S52 conversion would i have similar fitment issues?