What would be the point in wrapping them? You don't have the stock heatshield on your manifold?

 

You could probably epoxy one of those fabric shields (also available at parts stores) onto them... except the shields themselves are kind of expensive so I haven't actually tried this.

Personally, all but one of the bolts on my manifold are broken, and I don't want to take it off to drill them out (the material is freakishly hard so a hand drill won't work), so I took my stock ones off. In hindsight, it seemed like a bad idea since it makes the engine bay hotter, so I'm gonna try epoxying it in place.

 

I have the exact setup this guy is planning on getting, RB collected header/presilencer to Apex N1. It sounds great, but its pretty damn loud. It will set off car alarms just by turning the car on and gets kinda annoying on long drives and you will need at least a decent stereo system to hear over the exhaust. That said, it sounds AMAZING in the high RPM range. I would go out of my way to go under a bridge and do a full throttle run in 1st gear. Reminds me of a F1 car, just not quite as high pitched.
Here is a link for those interested: http://videos.streetfire.net/search/...58001f0db8.htm Its not the same as hearing it in person, but it gives you an idea. You need to have good bass to really appreciate it.

Now for the tips:
1. Remove the aux ports, at least to get off the stock manifold. It takes at most 1 minute to take off the bolts for the aux ports and will save you way more than that since you won't have to find a way to work around them. Just be sure not to tighten the nuts on the aux ports down too much, as the bolts can snap.
2. If you are about to do a tranny swap, get the manual presilencer. The mounts are in a different place for the idff trannys. You can get by for a while without using the hanger on the presilencer (I've never had it.....) so that way you will have the right mount once the swap is done.
3. It should come with all extra hardware needed, including the ACV blockoff plate and O2 sensor extension wire.
4. Make sure to secure the O2 sensor wire well away from the exhaust so it won't get melted.
5. Make sure to regularly check the bolts on either side of the header (once a month should be fine, but mroe wont hurt) since they like to come loose. Also make sure to get brand new crush washers to help with this. I went through 2 header gaskets and 1 other exhaust gasket before I figured that out.
6. While not necessary, heat wrap would probably be a good idea. My wife loved it in the winter because the floorboard acted as a foot warmer from the heat coming off the header. It can also bake vac lines over time.

Ok, thats pretty much all I can think of right now.

 

that was soo helpful. and the video.... OMG!!! i remember seeing that a long time ago and watching it over and over. it sounds awesome to me. its great to know what it will sound like. a little bit. but im sure it sounds even better in person. without a doubt its going to be loud. haha. but im going to go through with the auto to 5speed swap first. thank you for your contributions. haha.
-allen

 

Thanks for the compliments. I've actually got about 7-8 minutes of video that I took of it, but I haven't had time to edit into useful videos. And just for the record, it is street ported and has turbo exhaust sleeves so there are no diffusers. I believe that this mainly effects volume, so it should sound about the same (except without the slight brap) but not quite as loud.
I can't wait until I get that engine back together, but it could be well into this year until I have the money. I'm not going to half-*** it so I'm using brand new rotor housings (there was some flaking on the old ones). I'm also tossing around the idea of getting BDC to put in a bridge of some sort, but who knows. I still have to get it running with the donor engine from my parts car first.

 

are there any downpipes/headers that will let me keep 1 cat. cus i can get away with only having 1 cat. most smog people are stupid. but i have to have one cat atleast. or will i have to make something custom?

sorry to thread jack. 2 times in one thread..thats bad.

 

Yeah get a Racing beat header, and a Bonez hi-flow cat which you can get off rx7.com. I passed CA emissions no problem with that setup.

 

sick info thanks.

 

Honestly, you will probably fail the visual right off the bat if you have a header. You can get the RB downpipe and still use the Bonez cat from rx7.com (the one for use with the RB header).

 

That's why you talk with other car friends in the area about smog shops that only care about passing the sniffer and not about visual. Try the regional section of the forum. The guy I went to only cared that you had a cat with an air pump feeding air to it and that it passed the sniffer test.