Diff between SH and Base exhausts question...with helms pics - Honda Prelude Forum

Dotay · 01-21-2003, 04:22 PM

OK, I have been wondering exactly what the difference is between the base and SH exhaust systems and have searched and haven't found any really good info. So I decided that I will try and get a more comprehensive guide going to answer the questions that I am sure a lot of us have.

I am looking to buy an aftermarket header and some people say you can use an SH on a base you just have to buy the right cat. I have heard you can use a 4th gen GReddy header but you have to modify it somehow, lengthen or shorten? What I really want is exact dimensions of the differences between all of the components so we can all know where the differences are. I am including scanned images from the 97-99 Helms for comparison.

Here exhaust system for the base (I am an imagestation n0ob so I hope this works)

Here is the SH

Now from what I can tell from the pictures, the base A pipe is shorter than the SH. It looks like from the pictures that the SH has some extra length before the flex section. The bracket also looks further back on the SH.

The cat definitely looks smaller on the base. It looks like the front section of the B pipe is considerably longer on the base and it looks like the hangars are in the same position. From there back everything appears to be the same.

Now my question is does anyone know exact dimensions of these differences? I can't tell from looking at the picture and I don't know if they are drawn to scale.

I think a lot of people have these same questions cause I haven't really found the answers in my search and my asking questions. If this has been gone over and I missed it I apologize, but would appreciate being pointed in the right direction so I can find this info.

Any info would be appreciated.

--Dotay

GroverzVTEC · 01-21-2003, 04:24 PM

Get rid of the orig.jpg part....INTERNET NO LIKIE!
Grover

Mugenlude · 01-21-2003, 04:38 PM

There are good questions..

My question is if I purhcase a SH header, cat, and exhaust would it work?

h22 bb6 · 01-21-2003, 05:07 PM

I know there is a difference in the header design because of the SH's ATTS and I'm 90% sure there is a slight difference in the exhausts because I remember something about the GReddy EVO having some sort of extension pipe for the base I believe that the SH did not need.

Lemme look around and see what I can come up with.

EDIT: I came up with one post that said the extension is for the SH, not the Base. So I guess theres somewhat of a slight difference between the Base and SH models exhaust. What is it exactly? I don't know. Sorry.

vwong · 01-21-2003, 05:35 PM

I have the Tanabe G-Power Medallion exhaust in my SH that was designed to fit the Base model. I just took the exhaust to a muffler shop and they cut approx. 3" off the b-pipe to fit my car. I didn't measure the cut piece, but it looked to me like it was about 3" (and most of the "old timers" will know this too).

GP.45 · 01-21-2003, 06:08 PM

From the Helms drawings, it does look like the base has a shorter header collector (B-pipe) than the SH, and the base's cat is shorter as well. Weird, I wonder why they did that?

Seems like the only difference is the length of the various pipes. Which is interesting, because I'm also considering getting a Greddy 4th gen header (generally considered to be much better than the DC) and having the collector modded to fit on my SH. Looks like it might be pretty simple.

I'm sure any decent muffler shop could do the mods that might be required. Welding pipe is their bread-and-butter.

vwong · 01-21-2003, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GP.45
From the Helms drawings, it does look like the base has a shorter header collector (B-pipe) than the SH, and the base's cat is shorter as well. Weird, I wonder why they did that?

Well, the header collector/secondary/a-pipe for the Base is shorter than the SH, probably true for the cat too. And because of this, the b-pipe of the exhaust is longer. I said I got the exhaust (not the header) for the Base model, therefore the muffler shop had to cut off the b-pipe.

LaZy CrEaTiOn · 01-21-2003, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by silverbullit2K1
I know there is a difference in the header design because of the SH's ATTS and I'm 90% sure there is a slight difference in the exhausts because I remember something about the GReddy EVO having some sort of extension pipe for the base I believe that the SH did not need.

Lemme look around and see what I can come up with.

EDIT: I came up with one post that said the extension is for the SH, not the Base. So I guess theres somewhat of a slight difference between the Base and SH models exhaust. What is it exactly? I don't know. Sorry.

It's the other way around, base needs extension

h22 bb6 · 01-21-2003, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LaZy CrEaTiOn

It's the other way around, base needs extension

Otay, thanx for clearing that up.

Dotay · 01-23-2003, 04:12 PM

Anyone else have any info on this?

The main reason I want to know the dimensions is because I am thinking about getting the GReddy header from the 4th gen for my 5th gen base. I also want to do the install myself. If I would need to get it altered I want to know how much to chop off or extend the header so I can take it to a shop and have them alter it and give it back to me so I can install it.

Another idea I had was if I new the exact length of the GReddy headers A-pipe I could maybe get a smaller high flow cat from a different type of car to maybe compensate for the difference. Or if I knew the size maybe I could have a test pipe fitted for that length.

Does anyone know the length of our cat or what a smaller cat would be from another car?

Hopefully someone somewhere has this info so we can all share the knowledge.

--Dotay