Headers for 1.8 Engine
 

Anybody know if there's a header out there for the Protege ES with the 1.8 liter engine (1999-2000) that does NOT eliminate the catalytic converter? I'm in California, and if the cat is gone, my car won't pass inspections... which sucks. Any info would be awesome, thanks in advance.

i dont think so. but you could just add a second cat into your exhaust and rig up a o2 bung. but for the trouble and cost theres many other upgrades you could do. im not sure of your setup but how about a intake and exhaust. or have your current exhaust and intake manifold extrude honed. on a normal tubular header extrude hone would do nothing but on a typical exhaust manifold i think it would do wonders. your intake manifold would love you for it. well good luck

I was afraid of that. One of my buddies thought that the catalytic converter on my Protege was just behind the stock exhaust manifold, so its probably gotta go to fit any sort of aftermarket headers in. As to your suggestion on intake and exhaust, I've got an AEM short ram intake and a Flowmaster muffler (80 series, I believe). The car feels hopelessly slow, I was told headers are one of best bolt-on improvements you can do to improve a vehicle's performance. I'd already thought about hooking up an aftermarket cat behind the headers, but I think this is probably illegal in California too, because almost all mods must be CARB (California Air Reserve Board) approved.

By the way, what is honing?

extrude hone in simple terms is basic porting and polishing your intake and exhaust manifold. rather then romoving material threw the old way which would be grinding and polishing the extrude hone puts a puddy type material threw the ports of the intake and exhaust manifold causing the removal of material resulting in more air to be able to flow and much smoother for more information google search extrude hone porting..i would recommend going to extrude hone the actual company they are pretty reasonable as far as pricing goes...its not dirt cheap but the improvement is worth its weight in gold. i think they claim 10-15hp from the intake alone dont quote me on that though. also if you are driving a 5 speed pm roddimus about the mp3 reflash he will be offering thats 5-6 hp for $100 plus the mods you have may be worth checking into.

ps the header would make you car lose low end tq but you would gain on the high end plus it makes your car buzzy sounding..thought about just going turbo?

Kargoboy sells Thunder headers .. but I dunno if they eliminate the cat or not. Here's a link.

https://www.mazda3club.com/vendor-section-88/thunder-headers-43534/

good call fox i forgot about kargoboy!!

I support our fellow vendors man!!

its good to have support. we can always use the help to get our names out there. you scratch my back i scratch yours..lol

The Thunder header will fit the 1.8L engine but will eliminate your first cat, as will most headers (and all available ones for the Protege).
If you want one, the price is $320.00 shipped to Cali.

About the turbo... as far as I know, there isn't a turbo kit for my particular car, which has an automatic transmission. I suppose it's possible to get creative and do a custom turbo system, but I'm no mechanic, and I don't have a large budget. Plus, I'd probably have to replace the transmission altogether if I went turbo, I doubt the stock auto can handle the power gains I would want if I went through the trouble to install a turbo.
What about upgrading the exhaust pipes behind the catalytic converter back to the muffler? Increasing to 3" or 3.5" pipes? Would this be just a waste of money with the restrictive cat still in place?

Even 3" is serious overkill with the amount of whp you are putting down.

turbo
 

well i sell a kit for the 1.8 and 2.0 motors as far as the auto goes you can handle 5-6 psi safely..i also sell a performance upgrade for the auto trans.. if you would like more details please email me at sales@allgoperformance.com

by the way there is quite a few people with auto proteges running around..im soon to be one of them..