3 Bolt Gee M Racing Headers

The Granny

Active Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2015
I originally sent this as an email to Tyler, the owner of Boosted RPS, with hopes it'd be used as a tool for him to help guide any future customers when deciding to run these headers or not. Since then, I have decided to post it here to help do the same; help anyone decide if these headers are for them, answer any fitment issues I had or would except to encounter, and just how I overall feel about these headers. Coming from TA 3 bolt headers, I will try to be as unbiased as possible and post nothing but facts.

p.s., these are their 3 bolt street headers. designed to clear factory AC and other factory components. https://www.boostedrps.com/product-page/street-headers-by-gee-m-racing

For those of you just wanting the gist of the post, and don't want to read the whole thing, here it is:
- The Gee M headers fit better than the TA Headers.

- These headers clear a plethora of aftermarket components, such as the RJC girdle, oil pan, and rear motor brace, and downpipe (all on my car).

- I did have an issue with the individual EGT Bungs, as they came with BSPT (British Standard Pipe Thread) as opposed to NPT threads, however Tyler, his partners, and the guys at Gee M have collaborated and were kind enough to pick up well over half the cost of getting the headers done right, which is more than I could ask for.

- Initially, I had ordered these headers with intentions of having them on for the Dyno Day in Houston with Bison not too long ago, and Tyler along with the Gee M guys assured they'd get me a set of their headers a couple days in advance of the dyno, even though I had ordered them roughly only 4 weeks in advance. Being a 100% custom piece and coming from Finland, I knew this would be a tough task however I trusted their word and they came in the mail in enough time for the dyno day. Following the discovery of the issue with the bungs on the headers, Tyler has been super helpful throughout this whole ordeal by always checking in on the progress, and assuring me it would happen to no one else as Gee M would now be using NPT bungs on their headers. If you were ordering a set like mine, I'd suggest verifying NPT bungs will be used.

- If anyone would like any additional photos, please let me know and I will get them taken and posted

My Notes:

Fitment, better than TA headers. The one piece crossover pipe, driver side, and passenger side all fit together so easily and sealed so well that it was as if the headers had been custom designed for my car and my car only. Ran the car on a lift after install and checked for any exhaust leaks at the vband connections, and found no leaks.

A couple details about my combo: I have a 3" RJC downpipe. If you look at the picture of the TA and Gee M passenger sides next to one another, it seems as if the Gee M headers stick out further than the TAs. This could pose some fitment issues, However with my 3" RJC pipe, I had plenty of clearance between the DP and primary tubes. Enough to where I wouldn't be worried about trying to fit a larger pipe. I have an RJC girdle, oil pan, and rear motor brace. The headers do not interfere with any of these components. Again, giving me the impression the crossover pipe was custom made for my combo. My motor mounts are OEM replacements from AutoZone, and are also less than a year old, so I assume the height of my motor to be close to stock. If you had old worn busted motor mounts, it's obvious the fitment on your car could possibly be different than that on my car. The crossover pipe is also slightly narrower than the crossover of the TA headers. Being the exhaust gases of the driver side have to travel much further than the passenger side I assume this was done intentionally to increase the velocity.

I also have TRZ control arms in the front of my car. As you can see in the pictures they do run fairly close to the arms, but then again so do the TAs. The TAs actually rubbed against the stock control arms slightly. With TRZ upper arms, there is plenty of clearance between the collectors and the arm. I cannot say for sure a stock control arm would clear these headers.

The Gee M headers don't run any closer to any of the fusible links that run to the starter than the TAs. However if you have the headers off, i highly suggest using heat wrap on the links and any other electrical connections you might have down there to prevent any issues. I didn't do it when I installed either set of headers, however I do need to do it soon.

I opted for individual EGT bungs on my headers. First off, 5/6 of the bungs were in perfect locations and cleared factory AC and everything else. One bung, cylinder #1, posed an issue. It interfered with the AC line in the back of the compressor, so i had to remove the compressor line to get the probe into the bung. If the bung was clocked more in the 1 or 2 o' clock position rather than the 11 o' clock, fitment in that aspect might be better. However i just removed the AC line on the back of the compressor and it all fit fine. No big deal to me since i don't use the AC in my car. Another thing, the bungs were 1/8" BSPT thread. The threads on the EGT kit from FAST are 1/8" NPT. An easy way to resolve this issue is to run a 1/8" NPT tap through the bung, to change the BSPT threads to NPT. This is possible because the difference between BSPT and NPT is only 1 thread per inch (26 vs 27) and the difference in the angle between each thread is only 5° (55° vs 60°). The material to be removed is so small that I believed the use of a tap would be acceptable. This was not the case and I couldn't get enough thread engagement, and the probe would not penetrate deep into the primary tube enough, per FAST and Gee M, so I would need to get the bungs on the headers removed and get the correct bungs installed. The headers are currently at a fab shop, Speed Lab inc., where they're getting corrected. Tyler, his partners, and the guys at Gee M have agreed to paying the majority of the shop fees and Tyler himself offered to pay for 100% of the parts cost, which was a really stand up thing for him to do in my opinion. This could have been avoided if the bungs welded in were NPT. But since the headers are made in Finland, acquiring NPT bungs there might pose an issue and raise production costs. Either way, when you order a set make sure they have NPT bungs or that they come drilled for the bungs and you can get the correct bungs yourself.

Overall I'm very glad I got these headers. getting them installed was so easy, the fitment was great, and my car has a slightly different exhaust tone. I plan on hanging onto my TA headers and doing testing between the two, primarily on the exhaust pressure and spool up, to determine any differences. Just by looking at the design, I anticipate the Gee M headers to have a lower exhaust pressure and spool up faster than the TA headers.

I want to say thank you again to Tyler and the guys at Gee M for working on getting me these headers, and for being so helpful following the bung issue.
 

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Great write up, those headers looks awesome. The fit is very well thought out. I like the workmanship...... a lot. I notice our Xover pipe that runs under the car usually has some sort of flex pipe incorporated in it. TA uses the slip fit to join the two, stock uses the rounded flange on the factory headers. These use a one piece with a V-band. By far it definitely looks like the best sealing headers out there, but will that create any extra stress on the headers with it not having any flex component in the X over?
 
Great write up, those headers looks awesome. The fit is very well thought out. I like the workmanship...... a lot. I notice our Xover pipe that runs under the car usually has some sort of flex pipe incorporated in it. TA uses the slip fit to join the two, stock uses the rounded flange on the factory headers. These use a one piece with a V-band. By far it definitely looks like the best sealing headers out there, but will that create any extra stress on the headers with it not having any flex component in the X over?
Thank you, yes they looked amazing when I pulled them out of the box!! One thing I forgot to mention, with the TA Headers after my initial install I did not think to check the bolt/nut that tightens the slip joint on the crossover. A couple months later, I was underneath the car and could wiggle the bolt/nut assembly! Damn thing must've came loose after all the heat cycles. If it happened to me I'm sure it could happen to anyone else..

As far as creating any stress in the headers, I don't believe that will be anything to worry about and here's why.

My install went like this: I torqued the headers to the head, then went underneath the car and dry fitted the crossover pipe. The v-band flanges on all of the connections mated up perfectly, and I then went to install the clamps and loosely tightened one side while my father held the other side of the crossover to the primary collector. After getting both loosely tightened, I went to snug them up and that was it.

I don't recall anything looking or sounding abnormal during the install process, and given how well the crossover pipe fit when we dry fitted it I truly believe the attention to detail during the manufacturing of these headers is top notch. Not sure what all they do when they fabricate a set but it would seem as if they make a set without the crossover pipe, install it on a car, then fabricate a cross over pipe that mates perfectly. Now I'm not sure if that's exactly what they do, I didn't ask them, however that's what it seems like based on how perfect the surfaces mated.
 
Did you take any pictures of the port sides of the headers?
 
Did you take any pictures of the port sides of the headers?

i haven't yet... but they're off the car getting the correct bungs welded on for the EGT kit from FAST, so i can take them one i get them back from the fab shop. should be tomorrow sometime


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That'd be great to see some detail on the port shapes, where and how they're welded
 
They look really nice. On the passenger side, it appears there's no chance for a port-merge obstruction. That is, there's no way the port coming off the head will risk hitting an internal wall on the larger pipe where the manufacturer cut it(the larger pipe) open to make the transition. All the ports on the Gee M headers blend and funnel into collectors. Really slick
 
Hard to see from the pix but I assume the crossover would clear the trans front cover on the stock trans?

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They look really nice. On the passenger side, it appears there's no chance for a port-merge obstruction. That is, there's no way the port coming off the head will risk hitting an internal wall on the larger pipe where the manufacturer cut it(the larger pipe) open to make the transition. All the ports on the Gee M headers blend and funnel into collectors. Really slick

Yes, that was one huge difference in the design between the two. Not sure if it'll make a huge difference, but since the exhaust gasses should be able to get out smoother, then in theory wouldn't exhaust pressure would be reduced? That would reduce our back pressure ratios, and for the all out racer or for the guy looking to get the most out of his combo this design would be the clear choice.

I got my dad to take a couple pics, just got the headers back from Speed Lab Creations getting the new bungs welded on.

Hard to see from the pix but I assume the crossover would clear the trans front cover on the stock trans?

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Good question, I don't have any reason to believe it won't clear but luckily I have a cover laying in my garage and can find out once the headers are back on the car.
 

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Awesome write up! Did Gee M take your feedback on the #1 bung location? These are on my future wish list as well and I would want bungs. I would also pay extra for a high pressure bellows in the cross over if they would do it.

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These use a one piece with a V-band. By far it definitely looks like the best sealing headers out there, but will that create any extra stress on the headers with it not having any flex component in the X over?
That one piece design will work perfectly , as I did this with my ATR headers & 2 piece cross over . There shouldn't be any flex in the X-over because both sides are connected to the motor and the motor would have to flex between the heads :confused: . I could not get the 2 piece design to seal and the joint is less than 3/4" from the flex plate . I fitted the headers to a spare motor on the stand flipped it upside down and made it a one piece x-over , just made sure the V-band ends slipped in with no forcing . No leaks or problems going on 3 years now . Gee-M headers will be in my future if I do a max effort motor , nice work and great write up !
 
Awesome write up! Did Gee M take your feedback on the #1 bung location? These are on my future wish list as well and I would want bungs. I would also pay extra for a high pressure bellows in the cross over if they would do it.

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Thank you! I relayed this to Tyler and i'm 99% sure they got the message, however with these new bungs the overall height appears to be about half an inch lower so they might clear the factory AC lines now. If not, ill try to find a clear spot where they can fit and make sure Gee M gets relayed the info.

What we're trying to do is get a part number for the bungs that Jose at Speed Lab Creations used, that way the guys at Gee M can order a bunch and install them on future sets.

That one piece design will work perfectly , as I did this with my ATR headers & 2 piece cross over . There shouldn't be any flex in the X-over because both sides are connected to the motor and the motor would have to flex between the heads :confused: . I could not get the 2 piece design to seal and the joint is less than 3/4" from the flex plate . I fitted the headers to a spare motor on the stand flipped it upside down and made it a one piece x-over , just made sure the V-band ends slipped in with no forcing . No leaks or problems going on 3 years now . Gee-M headers will be in my future if I do a max effort motor , nice work and great write up !

Ah, just as i expected then! Nice to know lol. Thank you!



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Wow, these are some well made headers. Ports look great too. Those guys really have a nice design. Thanks for sharing those pictures
 
Awesome write up! Did Gee M take your feedback on the #1 bung location? These are on my future wish list as well and I would want bungs. I would also pay extra for a high pressure bellows in the cross over if they would do it.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

Yes, we addressed the issue with the owners of Gee M.

Right now Im just waiting for the part numbers Johnny used for the egt bungs so that Gee M can use that exact part from now on.

Thank you! I relayed this to Tyler and i'm 99% sure they got the message, however with these new bungs the overall height appears to be about half an inch lower so they might clear the factory AC lines now. If not, ill try to find a clear spot where they can fit and make sure Gee M gets relayed the info.

What we're trying to do is get a part number for the bungs that Jose at Speed Lab Creations used, that way the guys at Gee M can order a bunch and install them on future sets.



Ah, just as i expected then! Nice to know lol. Thank you!



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Hey man do you think you could see if your dad might have the receipt that has the part number used please?

Also, please let me know if the new location clears the AC so we can send the info to Juha to modify the location of the #1 primary bung. Id just need your dad to measure how far away from the flange it is, and at what position it is at ( 1 o clock, 2:30 o clock, etc)

I actually found these bungs that I think would work perfect: http://www.c2motorsports.net/index....mart_product_id=335&virtuemart_category_id=88


I have to say Johnny has been so helpful in making sure we address these issues for future orders. If it wasnt for his and his fathers patience and assistance we wouldnt be able to rectify these issues and ensure future customers have a seamless purchase and install. They are the best customers a vendor and personal friend could ask for!!
 
sorry for the lack of updates guys, been busy with a couple other things.. but i got the passenger side back on last night, finished up the install this afternoon. just gotta get the probes and downpipe put on and it'll be ready to fire up.

i tried getting the stock shield to fit after i put the crossover pipe on, but couldn't get it to squeeze between the pipe and flywheel but i think if i were to get the shield on before the crossover pipe, i really believe it'd fit fine.

Tyler, i asked my dad and he said he had no clue what kind of bungs they are. Jose at Speed Labs got with one of his buddies and got the bung nailed down. We ended up not being able to clock the bung at all, after looking at it more there wasn't any room to move it in the direction i needed it... but the overall height is less than what it used to be with the old bungs, so i'll try getting the ac lines to fit maybe next weekend when i get back in town to work on it some more.

Thank you for the kind words Tyler :)


Yes, we addressed the issue with the owners of Gee M.

Right now Im just waiting for the part numbers Johnny used for the egt bungs so that Gee M can use that exact part from now on.



Hey man do you think you could see if your dad might have the receipt that has the part number used please?

Also, please let me know if the new location clears the AC so we can send the info to Juha to modify the location of the #1 primary bung. Id just need your dad to measure how far away from the flange it is, and at what position it is at ( 1 o clock, 2:30 o clock, etc)

I actually found these bungs that I think would work perfect: http://www.c2motorsports.net/index....mart_product_id=335&virtuemart_category_id=88


I have to say Johnny has been so helpful in making sure we address these issues for future orders. If it wasnt for his and his fathers patience and assistance we wouldnt be able to rectify these issues and ensure future customers have a seamless purchase and install. They are the best customers a vendor and personal friend could ask for!!




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