No problem! hope they work out for you, i haven’t had any issues with mine, pro tip though if you do get the speed engineering, 1/2” (3/8 or 1/4” could work too) impact on the provided clamps is the only way to make them fully seal, good luck to you

 

Did you buy the upgrade clamps?

 

Thanks for the replies everyone, I ended up ordering the headers and x pipe from Speed Engineering which got here a few days ago. I also ordered some better quality stainless steel lap joint clamps, as I've heard (and has been pointed out in here) that the normal clamps that come with the headers aren't the best.

I've got a couple car shows in Chattanooga and Atlanta these next two weekends that I'll be traveling for, but once I'm back home I'll be able to work on the header swap. I hate leaving threads hanging so I'll be sure to post some before/after photos for comparisons sake once I'm done with the job, just in case anyone else finds themself in a similar boat in the future.

 

 

I always strongly encourage to weld up what you can instead of having the complete erector set exhaust.

Even if you need to pay a shop a few bucks to get it done after you build it.

This kit really goes to the next level if you can put in v-bands at the collectors.

 

Finally had a free weekend to tackle the header swap, and then just finally found some free time to come back here and post an update. And thankfully... I can report that the job was a great success! The Speed Engineering headers are definitely an improvement for additional ground clearance over my old XS Power headers.



Even just with the flanges lined up in this side by side shot it's easy to see the old ones on the left are a smidge taller, and just overall bulkier in general. The old headers were a pain in the *** to get out, especially the passenger side, and the new ones went in absurdly easy. Here are a couple before/afters:

First is as good of a side angle comparison as I could get with both sets installed. XS Power first, Speed Engineering second.




As you can see the SE headers aren't perfectly flush, but they do tuck up significantly better than the XS power set (goodness they were bulky). Here's a measurement comparison I tried to get while crawling around underneath the car, measuring from the same spot. XS Power hung roughly 1 1/8" below the floor pan, and the SE set hangs roughly 3/8" lower.




I used some 3" stainless lap joint clamps on the header to x-pipe connections which were great. And instead of sourcing a stock h-pipe to cut a section off of to fill the gap between the end of the new x-pipe and the over-axle pipe (as SE suggests to do), I just did something similar with some 3" ID - 3" ID sections of pipe to mate this with my existing 3" over axle pipes. I cut them staggered as well, so that the bolts for the clamps would all sit side by side and not have to hang lower. Which of course, would defeat the whole purpose of this ordeal if the clamps hung down further than the exhaust. After several drives I don't have any leaks, but I plan to just get this section welded up in the future. 1st pic is everything installed, 2nd is my pipe solution before the axles, and 3rd is a side view of that section.







ALL that said - everything went together without issues. With the car on jack stands, I also took this time to install a new front splitter and new side skirts, both from ExtremeOnlineStore.
Again remember my main issue here was whenever I would air the car out fully, since the headers were the lowest point of the car, they would actually rest on the ground and would support the weight of the car, which I was not a fan of. I didn't drive it at that lowest setting, that was only for when it's parked, but I still just didn't want this to be a long term thing.
After getting the car back on the ground and making some minor adjustments to the bags, pressures etc., not only I was able to air out about 1/4" lower, but I was very relieved to see that the headers do not touch the ground anymore. Success!

Additionally, here are a couple other bonuses from this swap:
- The XS Power headers were VERY close to the steering shaft and would actually rub against it when turning to the right. This is no longer an issue as the SE headers have more clearance from the steering shaft.
- The car used to have a rattling/vibration noise after a cold start and only at a certain RPM range (about 1500-1600 rpm), for just a split second. I could really only hear this when the car was cold and I was leaving my neighborhood, and assumed it was just a clamp/hanger/some other exhaust component rattling when cold, as it would go away once the car warmed up. Regardless - this is ALSO no longer an issue with the new headers. No more rattles at all.
- I deleted the AIR pump and rear o2 sensors and was planning to have to tune these out via HP Tuners after the fact. However - it appears the ECS tune that I got years ago when first installing the XS Power headers must have already tuned these out as I don't have a check engine light from either. Score!


Anyway, enough yapping - here's a couple finished product photos of the car aired out after a fresh wash.





Cheers to everyone who chimed in with photos & input before, it definitely helped convince me to get this done!

 

Congrats! That car is stunning 👍