Trying to ID VR/VS V8 4-into-1 extractors

[LXCHEV]

I don't know what my chances are of bolting up the rest of the exhaust.... but the rest of the bits I have are the STR105 and STR115 as pictured below from Redback...

I'd be absolutely shocked if it all continues to bolt up - time will tell.

The joys of putting together jigsaw puzzles!

 

[gtrboyy]

Just about all catback exhausts were built to bolt up to original cat...had to be dirt cheap & supercrap not to fit.

If look at your passenger header just above cone that is where o2 should thread in on earlier models & most aftermarket extractors.

Still think headers are vn/p era although they have atrocious kinks/bends in them that look worse than ones I have stored away hence first thought might be aftermarket copies.

I do prefer twin cats for better sound & little more bottom end torque BUT with those horrid headers save the coin & fit up y-pipe you already have to get it up & running.

Later on go pacies,twin cats,shift kit & boost valve etc with Ace Performance memcal to get best bang for bucks & enjoy it.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

It will all bolt up fine. Whether the O2 sensor is in the headers or in front of the cat will make very little difference, apart from reading both sides instead of just one.

Still think headers are vn/p era although they have atrocious kinks/bends in them that look worse than ones I have stored away hence first thought might be aftermarket copies.

That's how they are, probably OEM.

 

[LXCHEV]

gtrboyy - you've hit the nail on the head. My short term plan is to simply get this car up and running and then determine what the long term plan might be. Ideally, I would love a full twin system behind a really decent set of Pacemakers or similar - but I think for now, I'll just proceed with all the bits and I have and see how it all goes. I'm not chasing kw or quarter mile times. Whilst these current extractors may not be perfect, I'm confident they'll still perform fine and give the car a nice note. It's certainly sounding like are indeed original /OEM HSV pipes from that VN or VP era.

Funny you mention shift kits - I'm led to believe this car had recently had the trans built. Perhaps too aggressive with the shift kit as the father in law of the previous owner commented it's pretty violent when shifting gears. Yet another component I look forward to finding out more about!

Cheers for the feedback too Not_An_Abba_Fan. I think I'll just select the O2 location that best suits the wiring of the car.

I'll report back with further updates in due course.

Cheers.

 

[LXCHEV]

Trying to find some flange bolts to connect the y-pipe to the extractors. I have a pretty decent collection of old bolts, but nothing wants to thread in nicely. Once I can I.D. the thread, I'll pickup new bolts from the bolt bloke.

With the HSV-era extractors - had they moved to metric threads by this stage, or still using imperial like a lot of the engine related components?

 

[gtrboyy]

Think they were oddball imperial size...for later models they got rid of studs & went flat flanges with nut welded to headers for bolts.

Take easiest header off go bolt store...use anti-seize or whatever on it.

 

[LXCHEV]

Took a punt and ran my 5/16" UNC tap through the extractor threads (with the tiniest bit of encouragement) and they feel excellent. Fresh bolts now installed.

Prior to installing the rusty old Y-pipe that came with this car in the pile of parts, I attacked it with white vinegar to get rid of the rust and then painted it with high temp black paint. Not a fan of the flat finish at all, but all I care about is longevity. I'm stoked to finally progress a little further forward with this car, and really enjoying the restoration of rusty old parts in the process...

For anyone interested - I'll share some before, during and after shots of cleaning up the exhaust. It's absolutely amazing the difference, for nearly no money spent...

The ends (flanges) at each end were soaked for 1-2 days and came back to shiny fresh steel, as good as new. I didn't have a tank big enough to soak the rest, so that's why it's not shiny, but that rust-free finish was achieved by just brushing on the vinegar and giving it a good scrub.

Before (assuming 25 years old):

After the vinegar treatment:

And after a lick of hi-temp exhaust paint. Will be interesting to see if it lasts or not...

 

[LXCHEV]

Success!