Alright, this may seem like a goofy question, but, the exhaust system on my 85 gsl is simply shot...it leaks fumes at every connection point and along the pipe itself. I'm looking at replacing the entire exhaust from the headers back. However, at all the auto parts stores I have looked at, it is being implied that changing to after market headers messes with emission controls and is thus illegal for use on a every day driver on the highways. In specific, i'm looking at putting a Monza header on the car and wanna make sure I will still be able to drive it around town. Thanks.

 

The Pacesetter Monza header is crap, so don't bother.

But yes, replacing the stock manifold with a header will eliminate at least one cat (I think your car has two). The header also doesn't contain the air ports the stock manifold does.

So the long story short is that if you have to pass emissions, then you will have to do a bit more work then bolt up a header. You'll need to go to an aftermarket cat, weld up a pipe to make it fit and then figure out a few other things. I'm a 2nd gen person myself and my 1st gen FSM is at the shop so I can't give any more specifics.

 

The Pacesetter header isnt that bad. I have it on mine, you have to let the black crap burn off, then cool the car down. Then, once the header is cool, you put some prepsol on it and get some nice high temp header paint and paint the header. That will prevent it from rusting. I was gonna get racing beat which looks nice, but I got the pacesetter and it made a diffrence from stock. Once you paint it, it looks nice. I'm sure there isnt that much of a performance diffrence between the two. And you save a hundred bucks.

 

I'll get the Apexi N1 evolution exhaust or the Apexi GT spec exhaust

 

I've seen the pace setter headers first hand, and they are crap. I'm not talking about the paint job, but the materials used and the method/quality of putting them together. Flow is crap, metal used is crap, design is crap.

Racing Beat is expensive, but they last forever and work well. Besides, there is no other choice out there for direct bolt on....




.

 

I'm afraid I have to disagree, I know your all biased with racing beat. I got the pacesetter and it seems durable to me. Nice thick flanges and heavy duty steel and good welds. It made a big diffrence from the stock manifold on there and it bolted right into my exhaust. It sounds pretty decent too as I get compliments all the time. I guess we all have our own opinions on what seems good to us, but I am just simply stating my opinion that its not that bad for the money.

 

I would go with Racing Beat sir but that's just my opinion.

 

Alright, you guys win, no sense in arguing with a majority. Maybe I should of gotten the racing beat too and I didnt. So I will see how it goes, if it craps out on me then I will buy the racing beat one when it does.

 

It is not a question of whether the Pacesetter header will crap out on you. Headers are a performance upgrade, not just for aesthetics (looks). I purchased a Pacesetter header for a BMW way back before I knew any better, and the workmanship was crap. It flowed worse than the stock manifold did!

I have no love for Racing Beat, mainly because they don't seem to have done much over the last decade. It's like they built some parts for 1st gens, then just sat back and sold them rather than continuing their research and development. For suspension, there are much better options out there for the same money. But for exhaust, there really is no other optionn unless you want to build one yourself (which has been done). Yes, it is over priced. But the quality and performance have been proven, and it will most likely last longer than your car does.

So, if the question is whether you should spend the extra hundred bucks and get performance and looks rather than just looks, then that's an easy one to answer in my opinion.

 

I would listen to Kentetsu.... he knows his shat.

 

to the OP, it's gotten to be 10 pgs long now but might be some interesting reading if u haven't already seen it.

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/racing-beat-exhaust-dyno-compairisons-823229/

 

im familiar with APEXi so ide say go APEXi

 

I really love the sound of the racing beat, i would go with that.

 

apexi is ubnoxious and unproven over the more civil racing beat systems , but i love that n1 evo sound, best loud muffler good for a ticket or so too!