This is a post I made last year when I installed my headers and exhaust.
Ken, I was mistaken, I posted this to the Mopar Mailing list not the DML
as it was not in existence yet. I made the addition of the part numbers
at the end of the posting.
Cheers,
1994 Dakota 5.2l 5 speed (R/T in progress)
Bill Countie
e-mail wgcount@husc7.harvard.edu
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 26 May 1995 13:43:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: William Countie <wgcount@husc>
Cc: wgcount@husc7
Subject: Dakota exhaust installed (finally)*long*
Hello MML'rs,
My headers finally came and as I promised, some thoughts on
installing and results from taking it to the streets!
I got my headers from Mello Dodge in Nashua N.H. A special thanks
to "Doc" my excellent parts guy who dogged the folks to come up with the
goods and seemed to really care. I lined up a lift at my friends S***co
station and we went to work at 9 a.m. As I was videotaping the
proceedings, Andy did the work, he also had the tools. The tailpipe and
muffler were removed first after being cut 2" from the cat. Three hangers
that held up the pipe were unbolted and saved for later. The first
problem came from the cat. The clamp had distorted the pipe so as to
make removal difficult. We removed it by heating it cherry red and
worked it out. It would have been better if we had a pipe spreader that
would go to 3" but we didn't. We cut 2 breaks in the end to fit it on
the header collector. The O2 sensor was unplugged and came out. The
"Y" pipe, that has a factor installed dent, came out easily. Once out
of the truck the constriction becomes more noticeable. It seems to pinch
the right bank pipe to under 1"! Down goes the truck to get at the cast
iron manifolds. The EGR connection unbolted first then the header bolts.
An air ratchet sure came in handy here. We then took a fine wire brush
to the heads to give a smooth surface. All the bolts and clamps
were coated with anti-sieze compound. The header bolts had both
flat washers and lock washers. Although it doesn't say so, removal of
the battery makes the right header installable. The left header went in
by moving the a/c hoses slightly. Install the EGR tube with the supplied
gasket. The new "Y" pipe is 3" and comes in 2 pieces that fit together
without a clamp. We ground off the burrs and it fit tightly together.
Now it's time to rebolt in the O2 sensor just before the collector
adaptor and the cat. The crossover occurs 1/2 way between the bell
housing and the end of the transmission. This makes it the lowest part
of the truck by 2" lower than stock. You can just see the chromed pipe
behind the front wheels before it goes back up over the rear transmission
mount. Reinstall the cat. Here is a problem, if I cannot change the cat
pipe upstream according to environmental laws, why can I cut the down
stream pipe to within 2" of the housing? Ok, back to the tail pipe.
This tail pipe is a universal addition for V6 Dakotas as well as V8s, but
Mopar Performance hotline says that it is not, although it says so in the
directions. Oh well. For '94 the cat has a 2.5" outlet, which requires
an adaptor to 3" that is supplied. The '93 cat has a 3" outlet which is
the performance choice if you're starting from scratch. Next pipe is a
rather long one with a 3" I.D. on one end and a 3" O.D. on the other with
a jog in the middle. If you have a short bed/standard cab, you'll have to
cut 5" off the 3" I.D. side to fit the muffler on the truck. Or you can
use it to eliminate the muffler altogether ;-). I planned on passing
noise requirements so the muffler was installed. This is a great, heavy,
straight through design with no indications to what was inlet or outlet!
Looking through it gave a clue. In one direction, there are little cups
that open in one direction and are shielded in the other. We put the cups
in the direction of the flow. This turned out to be correct. The smoothly
bent pipe over the hump and tailpipe exits out at a 60 degree angle near
the edge of the bumper rather than 90 degrees between the trailing edge
of the rear wheel and the bumper. The tailpipe had to be angled down
slightly to clear the rear quarter panel. Now it is complete. Time of
installation, 3 hours. Extra parts, 1-2.5" muffler clamp to clamp the
collector to the cat inlet pipe. Useful tools, chain pipe cutter, pipe
expansion tool, grinder, wire brush, anti sieze compound, lift (!).
Results: A quiet engine bay, a low rumble at idle, which develops a sweet
thrum until 2500 rpm where it becomes a howl until 4500 where it becomes
a throaty raspy scream! :-D. The sound comes from the tailpipe, not the
headers/collector. The performance gains are beyond what I've expected.
The power comes on early and doesn't quit until redline (5200). Seat of
the pants feel tells me that the usual 1-2 shift where, since it is a
truck, doesn't run out of power like it used to, but pulls to 20 mph
quickly, shifts to 2nd smoothly, and pulls strong through all the gears.
I have also noticed that, by my plugs, it's not running as rich as it
used to, or it finally can use all the gas the MP computer is sending the
injectors!
Whoo-Hoo! I am a wicked happy guy now!
And the truck looks soooo sleepy too!
PS: Wipe the header pipes with rubbing alcohol and a clean cloth so that
they will blue evenly.
Here are the part numbers:
Dakota Headers 1994 4X2 V8 Auto transmission only-P5249527
Dakota Headers 1994 4X2 V8 Manual transmission only-P5249678
Dakota Headers 1994 4X4 V8 (All transmissions)-P5249532
Dakota Headers 1995 4X2 V8 Auto transmission only-P5249680
Dakota Headers 1995 4X2 V8 Manual transmission only-P5249681
Dakota Headers 1995 4X4 V8 (All transmissions)-P5249682
Dakota Performance exhaust (cat back)-P5249454
(Note: will not fit standard cab-4WD-short bed)
(also note: this will fit the 3.9l V6)
1992 and 1993 years can use the 1994 headers but you have to use the 1994
trans dipstick assembly which is covered in the header kit.
No 1996 headers available until June according to my calls to Mopar
Performance.
MP Computers
3.9l 1992-1993 Dakota- P5249521
5.2l 1992-1993 Dakota- P5249516
5.9l 1993 Truck and B Van - P5249517
5.2l 1994-1995 Ram and Dakota Manual trans - P5249542
5.9l 1994-1995 Ram Manual trans - P5249543
5.2l 1994-1995 Ram Dakota Auto trans - P5249545
5.9l 1994-1995 Ram Auto trans - P5249546
5.2l 1993-1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee - P5249518
Cheers!
1994 Dakota 5.2l 5 speed R/T conversion
Bill Countie
e-mail wgcount@husc7.harvard.edu
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