EBAY 1G 2G Tubular Recirulated Stainless Steel 2.5" o2 Housing

this particular piece works for both 1g and 2g vehicles, but it is being installed on my 95 GSX.

well i was in the process of upgrading to a forced performance race manifold, i figure i should upgrade my o2 housing while I was at it.

off to ebay i go to see what my options are. I see there are nice tubular o2 housings available for around ~$50 shipped. Before I commit, I check here and other DSM sites to see what other people had to say. Unfortunately not too much information. Those who said they were all good failed to really show any pictures or in depth reviews. With my recent success of a full turboback exhaust seen here: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/art...bay-3-turboback-downpipe-catback-exhaust.html
I said if they can make something that good for cheap, the o2 housing shouldn't be a big deal.

So I decide to go with this seller:
eBay My World - eworldsales1

They have buy it now auctions for about $65+shipping. But they also have a few that says you can make an offer. DSMTUNERS TIP: I offered $40 and they accepted it. Shipping was $14.90 from Michigan. Here is another tip, keep an eye out for auctions where it is straight bids. I've seen people win them for $20!!

From the auction:

# Stainless Steel with beautiful tig welds
# Flanges are stainless steel, not chromed regular steel like others
# Flanges are a full half inch thick
# Tig welded o2 bung with plug
# 2 new bolts with washers and nuts to connect to your down pipe
# This will connect to stock and after market downpipes
# Does not require after market fans or radiator
# Will bolt to any after market or stock turbo
# 100% bolt on kit
# Both outlets combined create amazing flow
# New gasket for turbo
# New gasket for downpipe

Applications:

* 1990-1994 1g Talon
* 1995-1998 2g Talon
* 1990-1994 1g Eclipse
* 1995-1999 2g Eclipse
* 1990-1994 Laser Turbo
* 1991-1992 Galant VR4

So the package comes in, and I get exactly what is pictured in the auction:

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The gaskets were thick and sturdy. The piece is made of 304 stainless steel. It felt very solid. As you can see it included new nuts, bolts, and washers to attach to the downpipe. Obviously this is necessary since the stock o2 housing uses studs. So everything is included for a bolt-on affair.

Now lets take a closer look at the inside of the piece:

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Not as nice as the outside. The outside welds look fantastic. Inside could be better obviously, but I remember how much I paid for the damn thing. Now there is the Megan o2 housing. After seeing pics they look nearly like the same thing if not identical. Except of course they put the Megan Racing badge on it, you probably get customer service, and it's double if not more the price. You can see some pics of the Megan Racing version here:
STMDSM - Megan Racing DSM o2 Housing - Swain Tech

Now on to the install...

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

Unfortunately I cannot tell you how the install went while the manifold and stock o2 housing are on the car. I had everything out so it definitely helped with the install. To be honest based on how it looks when installed, I would say it is harder and take up more time in the long run while trying to install it with everything on the car still. Mainly trying to maneuver and find tools that would allow you to reach the bolts. Not to mention finding enough leverage to loosen and tighten them.. yikes!

Anyways here are pictures of it installed on my PTE 50 Trim

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You will use/need your o2 housing bolts that were on the stock housing. If you are still on the stock turbo, you probably have 1 nut because of the stud on the exhaust side of the turbo. For those who upgraded, you should already have an additional bolt.

The holes on the ebay o2 housing matched up perfectly with my turbo. Same with the gasket. Didn't have to slot or file any of the holes. Installed just fine. Just to note I used the cooper anti-seize on all the bolts.

Also the o2 sensor screwed right in with no problem as well. DSMTUNERS TIP: I got my Denso o2 sensor here http://www.oxygensensors.com/ it's $49.98 SHIPPED, and it's not the splice type, it is the direct harness plug in like OEM. It even comes with a small tube of copper antiseize.

Now the hardest part of the install..

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It was a major pain getting the downpipe on. If you look at the design of the o2 housing in the previous pics you can see that one of the holes that line up with the downpipe look difficult to get to. Well you bet it is.

I have a RRE downpipe. The "easy" hole (the one you can actually see in the picture above) was no problem. However i could not get the other hole to line up. What I did was loosen the bolts that connected the downpipe to my high flow cat. This allowed me to pull the downpipe forward. Even with that done, it is still a major pain trying to tighten the nut to the bolt. I didn't but if you wanted for the "easy" hole you can have the bolt coming in from the top. However, the "other" hole requires it comes in from the bottom. So while I'm pulling the downpipe to line up the flanges, and then holding the bolt from the bottom because if not it would fall to the ground, then BLINDLY trying to get the nut to grab and tighten. You cannot see it from the bottom or the top. It is all by touch... and luck. And as you can see in the pic there is just enough thread to tighten. If you want you can use a longer bolt for the "easy" hole, but the difficult one, the one provided is just the right size. Any longer you use will make it difficult to install the nut, any shorter and it won't be any thread left.

So after you manage to get the nut to thread on the bolt, you will have more fun trying to get a 14mm wrench to in that small crevice so you can tighten the bolt from the bottom. I barely found a spot to allow me to do this. Try different types of 14mm wrenches. After I tightened it, I went back to my cat and tightened it with the downpipe and it probably pulled the rest of the exhaust system to it. Remember it's on rubber hangers so it should have some play.

Also just to add, once the downpipe was pulled forward enough to meet with the o2 housing, the holes matched up perfectly. And the gasket included also was no problem. This might vary for you depending on what downpipe you have. Slotting the holes of either your downpipe or this o2 housing might be needed for you, but as far as RRE downpipes go it lines up fine.

BTW, my radiator and fans were removed so it helped. I would say forget about it or face a lot more agony if they are in there while trying to install this.

Here it is again installed..

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Oh what's that you ask? Does the lower heatshield still work?

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It sure does!

So how does it perform? I can't say yet because the car is still in pieces. I will add to this review once I get the chance to do some quick tests. But keep in mind I'm coming from stock unported 2g manifold and o2 housing. So I'm sure it will be a big gain either way.

As far as this part goes, only time will tell how far it holds up. So far for the price, it's a pretty darn good piece despite the difficult nature of how the downpipe is installed, but I'm sure many other tubular o2 housings are the same. You really appreciate those studs once they are gone. Overall I'm satisfied with the piece and cannot wait to see how it performs.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

I attached additional pics from the ad what you see is what you get--compare to the ones I took above. They are obviously much better photographers than I.