I have an OBX header on my car right now. Although they are a cheaper brand, I like the style. The welds on the runners are cracking and leaking pretty bad, so Im on the hunt for a new header. Im staying N/A with this car, and want a good flowing, high quality, but not bank breaking header. Any suggestions?

OBX does have some good headers if you are not wanting to break your bank. You can also look the pacesetter headers that summit sales. They are supposed to be a good brand but I have yet to hear anything about them. I would suggest either getting a coated one because the stainless discolors a lot....unless you like that.

Yeah I had the stainless ones originally. They were nice new, I liked when they turned gold/purple, but after that they just looked shitty. I can get the ceramic ones off ebay for $150 shipped, so unless anyone has a better/cheaper suggestion Ill probably go with them.

While were on the topic, whats the concensus on header wrap? Worth it?

if it were me, i'd redo the weld joints at the cracking places. as far as header wrap goes, its great, but in your case I wouldn't put it on there because you wouldn't be able to see any future leaks as easily

I love my Greddy. I know if had a runner cracking problem at one point, and it was rewelded. So even the high dollar headers have issues.

Id just weld yours and keep it! Its way cheaper to have it welded, the welds will most likely be better than OBX welds, and they all flow about the same.

Thats the problem, it already cracked once, and I had a certified welder who teaches classes weld it and he even used stainless filler. Beautiful welds. BEfore it cracked on 2 runners, he welded them up. Now it cracked on one, but in front of his weld. So Im not sure if theres a stress issue or what.

i have a friend whos been running a cheap generic ebay header for years that he paid 70shipped for, megan makes a good header
but as stated before the generics on ebay arent that bad at all

I had a header on mine but got rid of it until I turbo the car. I only had one problem with it and the problem was it stuck out a little to far and rub the radiator fan shroud.

problem with most of the headers and why they are cracking isn't because they are cheap but because there is no support for the weight. If they were supported of had a brack that bolted up to where the factory downpipe bolts up, it would be less of an issue.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-99-Eclipse-Talon-Pacesetter-Header-420a-NON-Turbo_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c66Q3a4Q7c65Q3a12Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a0Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a200QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem140307112610QQitemZ140307112610QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

I had those on my civic a few years back and they were pretty good. The 4-2-1 design is also pretty nice cause most of cheap ones on ebay are 4-1 design. Can't beat getting a new header for $70 either.

+1 on the reweld. Just make sure they grind the cracks out and refill.
No weld-overs.

Whats the benefit of 4-2-1 over 4-1? I assume something about torque versus top end power?

Also, I noticed the crack changes with temperature. When the car is cold the crack is pretty big and my car will miss if I go WOT. After the car is hot the crack shrinks almost to invisible and runs like a champ. So I still have some time.

That's typical with metal. The metal is expanding on contracting. When its warm the metal expands to close the gap in the crack whereas when it is cold, the metal has shrunk.

MEGAN RACING!!!!! A shipped megan racing is barely $200. Its premium quality at a great price.

If you try to reweld the ebay one it will probably crack again. Most of the metals used in ebay are junk and what makes them cheaper most the time too, is the way thinner metal they use. I've had to reweld ebay headers and turbo manifolds on people's cars and it never stays sealed. The metal was just too thin. You can get a good one, but you always risk it.

For looks, i'd ceramic coat a stainless header if you wanna trap the extra heat to bump cylinder temps and look good. Get a pro to do it...Not a rattle can job. But you can just go to the auto parts store and by the header heat wrap cloth. It works fine.

Dont put a ebay one on, I did on one of my eclipse and I think i have spent more time fixing it than i did putting it on

Was it just some no name brand from an obviously not fluent in english seller? Because the only ones I have any even remote interest in are the ones with a name brand, OBX, Megan racing, greddy etc.

I look at the no namers and laugh, they look exactly like the stock manifold except they have round tubing instead of the angular cast.