I have a very good friend that owns, operates and designs custom performance aftermarket headers and exhaust systems .

JP Performance

He has previously done one-off prototype contract jobs designing headers for major manufacturers and his other projects have included Ivan Stewart's race Toyota and he did the initial prototype for a pro-truck race truck.

His credentials are impressive including manufacturing the headers for a winning BMW race team and he recently has gone from a small quiet operation working out of the family muffler shop doing one offs and fufilling special needs to opening a full blown performance exhaust and header shop.

His family has been in the business for 30 years and he is very well respected in his industry.

Why am I saying all of this?

Well, up to now no one has really made great progress with a header option for the X. I myself have heard very little about the SLR header available from anyone and the response has been lukewarm.

When he put on my new exhaust system he spent some time to look the X over and explore the possibilities of a header. He thinks he can produce a quality header that will produce a very real, dyno proven 16-20HP. If you look over the site at their other work and do a little searching over the other boards all of those who have purchased his products are nothing but happy and satisfied customers. His first initial project in the new venture was for the Toy Solara and they are flying out the door. I have researched the input on Solara/Camry boards.

In my mind those manifolds are going to become an expensive replacement part when the truck is out of waranty and it might be worth the hassle to switch it back for testing every four years.

Here's the rub:

There is NO WAY that you would be able to get passed your state inspection or get smog approval with these headers. They would clearly be an "off-road only" item and you would be on your own when it came to passing.

His other customers have been so happy with the performance and tuning of their headers that they have been willing to bite the bullett and deal with the ramifications.

In order for him to do the R&D on a header for the X he would need to know that it would have the potential of profibility. The cost estimate he has given me would hover around $700 for a quality thermal coated piece. It isn't cheap. But it would be a quality header that will have dyno credentials.

JP is one of the most quality people I have known. He is straight forward, honest and does amazing work.

In order for this to make sense there needs to be a minimum of 20 people who are willing to take the plunge. I'm not looking for maybees or could-bes. I want to know how many people ARE willing to take the plunge for a quality piece.

This is the real deal.

No thanks. Happy or not, my options would be moving out of the Denver area, or not driving my truck. I'm not willing to do either for 20HP.

Edelbrock can make 50 state legal headers, why can't JP Performance ?

Does Edelbrock have a header for the X?

There are thousands of dollars and man labor hours involved in R&D and that little 50 state exemption sticker has a price tag attatched to it as well. Unless a company can see a bottom line justtification for spending the money to get a product made they will not make it.

This is a small company doing one off and custom jobs. They are not going to spend 10 or 20 thousand dollars to make a product and get a CARB approval for 20 $700 dollar headers.

The same reasons Gibson hasn't made a header for the X. They don't see the interest there in hard numbers to make the investment.

And we know where that leads...

Now, now. Let's not.

Do you only trust a company or a fabricator if they are a mass market manufacturer? Some of the best custom fab and engine guys are people no one has ever heard of. They make money and sell their products doing nice work and having their name passed on by word of mouth.

Does Fabtech, by virtue being a huge company with thousands of products make the best suspension because they are one of if not the biggest aftermarket suspension company?

Some guys have found that no one can duplicate thier quality of work on their products and are unwilling to sell that product made by someone elses hands and pass it off as their own.

These guys have an impecable reputation. JP is a true craftsman. Like I said they have been in business and have been doing this type of work for a long long time. Google "JP Performance" and add the words BMW or Solara and there is plenty out there.

Only recently, did they finally get an internet presence and make the conscious effort to make their name known and start making production pieces. Odly enough , the Camry/Solara guys got him inspired with their first project.

The problem that he can see with the headers and getting legal is that do maximize HP and do them right, you'd have to remove two (I believe) of the cats. That would automaticaly kill any chance at smogability.

Why do you think emissions-legal headers are so much work ? After combustion, exhaust is just exhaust, nothing in the factory headers changes that.

Aftermarket headers offer a performance gain because they are smoother, larger and offer a much better flow than a factory cast unit. As long as the O2 sensors and cats are in place, emissions shouldn't be a problem.

From what I understand that the location of the cats makes it prohibitive to keep two of them with a header.

There is only one cat per header, all they need is tubing from the manifold to an aftermarket high-flow cat, then tubing from there back to the Y intersection. It is tight in there, but they could move the cat back quite a ways.

I would be interested only if...

1) they are made to work with high flow cats (prefereably packaged with them or sold as an option from the same guy). As Ian stated, they could be relocated somewhat.

2) They are designed to work with early 2000's and have a place to hookup the EGR tube. This should be a simple matter of putting in a fitting that the tube can hook up to for early models or comes with a plug for newer models.

3) They will work without setting off the check engine light or be detectable by plugging in a scanner to the OBD port (WA State only plugs in to see that everything is there and functioning).

4) They are stainless and well built.

However; if he can make them work with the computer and the EGR without the cats I will still be interested as long as I don't have to move back to a high population area. Where I am now there is no testing.

It would also be nice to have the piping back to where the single pipe hooks in. I would want to maintain my Gibson exhaust but would like new piping forward of there.

BTW, my Dad removed all the emissions equipment from an old F-150 he had and it still passed WA Smog "sniff" test every year! It's all in how the engine is running. If it's running right the cats aren't really doing anything; they are just there to clean up inefficiencies. Of course now they do visual checks on pre OBD II vehicles.

All of their headers are made of stainless, mandrel bent,prescision welded, and these would be thermal coated.

Right now they are taking appointments for new development for the end of March, so we ahve until then to hash out necessary issues. Again, I do invite anyone interested to do a little research and see that JP Performance is legit. I am getting nothing out of this except the chance to purchase a set of headers for $700 with a group instead of the cost I'd have to pay to do a custom one-off.

Ian, I called JP and asked him more questons. The federal emitions standard testing process for a recent Toyota tundra (ULE? I think he said) to get the exemption sticker was $8,000. A '99 BMW test was $4,000. He said the older cars are actually a bit cheaper to test. There probbaly is not going to be the return on the investment to get CARB aproval for a product that isn't going to be super popular with a limited return.

He mentioned something about the coating of the high flow cats and the fact they they aliminized but he lost me there.

It is possible to get the high flow cats on there , but the tubes of the headers are going to be quite a bit longer.

He did also point out that there are states like Texas that do no emitions testing as well as outlying areas. Are you near Denver, Ian? I was just curious. Is it really true that the areas of Colorado that aren't near the city have no emitions testing?

I want to also say that the HP estimates he put in the 15-20HP range. Obviously final numbers would be different on a stock truck Vs. a truck with an aftermarket exhaust, intake ect.

I don't care about the sticker; I'd just like the computer to think and act as if everything is there so it doesn't set off codes or cause fuel mixture problems, etc. I fully understand the cost of CARB certification, but just really don't care if it is or not. Just make them work!

BTW, I would be willing to pay up to $1,000 or maybe a tiny bit more for headers, 2 high flow cats, and they extra piping to the Y-pipe.

There are 2 cats per bank, an upper main and a lower post-cat per side on all 2001+ Xterras and CA/MD/ME and a few other New England state-sold 2000 Xterras. The rest of the 2000 Xterras only have the upper main cats.
I don't want a header if it's not emissions-legal. If anyone is to make an emissions-legal header for an Xterra/Frontier they will have their work cut out for them. No doubt it will have to provide for an 02 sensor per bank at the collector and still leave room before the turn to horizontal for a suitable aftermarket cat. Dealing with the lower post-cats might be as simple as taking them out and installing some inexpensive doo-dads that mimic a "good" signal from what would be the second set of 02 sensors (just heard about those recently) as long as there is no visual inspection involved.

Here in MD for the emissions test on 96+ vehicles they just plug into the OBD-II port. No codes, no problem, off you go. If that can be satisfied without any trickery that truly defeats the purpose of the system, I'd consider it.

Brent

As well, just moving the Cats back is typically not acceptable.

The reason that newer vehicles locate the Cat so close to the exhaust manifold outlet is to expediate it's heat up (or in auto-speak - Lite-off) time, and therefore it can begin to reduce emissions when the engine is still relatively cold.

When the Cat is engineered for this kind of operation, moving it further down the exhaust stream can cause problems as if the Cat does not see enough heat, it cannot burn off the impurities and plug prematurely.

Punx, if he does make the headers for the quad-Cat engines, he probably would be just as well off removing the primary Cats as you had mentioned.

Also, I would be interested if I were to keep the X long term...but I still haven't made that decision yet!

I would love to get a set of headers for my 03 SE-SC, but they would have to maintain full OBD-II compliance. Our emissions here will not pass regardless of real output if the OBD-II is not happy.

I would love to see a full engine back exhaust setup from one company. I just cant believe Nissan forced the poor supercharger to breath through this exhaust setup they have on here.

I could care less about the stupid CARB crap. If I can plug in a scanner and get all the IM systems to come up happy and no codes being thrown, I will be punching in my credit card info for 15-20hp right after they come out.

Sean

I went over to the shop to talk to JP this morning and had his read this thread.

I've got to get someone over there who knows more than I do because once he starts talking about coatings and the cats distances to the engine he starts to get a little too technical for me.

He totally understands how important it is to us that we pass state tests and get our trucks registered. My question is, even if you pass the sniffer and all of the automated test, how are you going to pass a visual.

Chuck. With a header cost in the $700 range, high flow cats run right arround $150 each or so. Then you have to look at the additional cost for the down pipe.

He had another idea after looking at my truck. He did a header for a supercharged Mercedes that it was very important that it keep the cats and be as compliant as possible.



It is a short compact header but they are equal length 10inch pipes and he was able to keep everything tight by using more bends. It was a very labor intensive and not the most cots effecient header he's done, but it worked well.

It kept the cats and everything stayed in the stock location. The downside was the price. $1,200. Is it worth the extra money to be close to stock looking and pass everything but very close scrutiny? I dunno.

Please keep giving more input and we can see how we can get this done.

Also , again wanting to pass along that these guys are very well respected and they deal with some severly high end stuff. Even Turner Motorsports , a high end BMW parts reseller enthusaisticly game me a cold call over the phone, thumbs-up aproval of JP. They are only really doing this because the are friends of mine and I have bugged them about it enough. Any help to make it happen would be great.

I've got to spend some more time on the Solara boards and see what they did to get their TRD supercharged cars to pass. If anyone wants to poke arround on there please see what you can find out. Because obviously it's being done.

As has been said befor I would love to have some headers to put on. But living in maine does not help. As long as they make the computer happy and are not extremely obvious when under a visual inspection I would be all for it (when i have some money). It is great that some one is actually trying to get some headers made and will listen to the potential buyers. good job.

Yeah, that "shorty" style is kinda what I have been thinking about. $500 more though...ugh! If that's what it takes though to make the cats work then it may be worth it. I would certainly explore other options first though!

My problem right now is that I'm not working and property taxes are coming up. If I find a decent job within the next month or so it will be easier for me to commit. I assume if you do this you will want at least a deposit up front? If that were to be the case, could I give a reasonable deposit and then have my set made later when I have the rest of the cash?

Hey Punx, PM me so we can talk more about this.

I am here in the LA area if you wanted someone to go with to JP, and I am pretty flexible on time...

I would definitely be interested in headers just to prevent more exhaust manifold replacements due to cracks and broken studs.

A couple ideas..
1. Don't use a Y-pipe. Do seperate headers to seperate Hi-flow cats, to an H-pipe or cross-over pipe to equalize pressure.
Either make it into a true dual exhaust or connect the two into one after the Cats (if at all possible). I have no problem getting pipes bent up and custom hangers made to accomodate the H-pipe, dual cats, and dual mufflers, and tailpipes. So money can be saved there.

2. EGR pipes and O2 sensors are a must unfortunately. :rolleyes:
My truck went on the Dyno for the first time for NYS Emmissions Testing last month. It passed with flying colors at 70k miles with just sparkplug wires, dist. cap, rotor changed around 5k miles ago.
I'd really hate to have problems getting it to pass emmissions on the dyno, especially as it gets older and starts burning oil.

NY doesnt care if the SES (Service Engine Soon) Light is on. At least I have yet to see a car fail because of it, I may be wrong though.
Mine passed with the ABS light on and an ABS cable cut on the front.

3.The price doesnt sound that bad either. I just dont want to be the person installing them. I'd rather have a shop do it.
I hated installing Headers on my Nova with plenty of room, I cant imagine cramming them into the cluddered engine compartment of the X's.

4.Are there any issues with heat and any of the wires, cables, etc. near the exhaust headers?
Is there any special shielding or padding required?

5. Will they interfere with the mounting of the power steering, AC or any accessories?

I think thats about all I can think of right now.
Those were just concerns of mine, and suggestions.
I hope this helped a bit with the design.
Looking forward to see the results!!

You do realize the factory system has the y-pipe after the cats, right? The banks don't collect into one until just after the driver's side post- cat and after the crossover pipe that comes across just after the passenger side post-cat.

Inspection shouldn't care about an ABS issue, the vehicle can still stop just fine without a functioning ABS system. The red brake light being on should get you flagged though.

I didnt realize that the Y-pipe on the X is after the Cat. Most Y-pipes I've seen or worked on were in front of the cat, right after the exhaust manifolds. Thanx for the correction Brent.
Do we even need a Y-pipe or can we change it to dual exhaust?
Any benefit to going with a single cat instead of the two or four? Will this screw up the ECM and trigger the SES light?
Just throwing out ideas..

You guys are rather unfortunate. I live in BFE Oregon and in all reality we dont actually have emmissions to pass here. Even though i live in a town of near 25k. I could potentially be interested in them. Have to be stainless though, Sea Air.

It would probably be cheaper to get them ceramic coated or Jet-hotted. They've been doing that to Headers for a long time and the finish holds up Really well.

Bring them on right now!!!!

i would be interested. just do what most people here do. forget the emissions go give some mom and pop store 50 bucks and WOW you have a valid emissions test!!!!!