Today at Atelier Kaz - ex-Honda R&D, F1, Indy/CART engineer

As reported earlier, there was no gasket used at the
connection points between the test pipe and back box
resulting in exhaust gas leakage.

Also, there was trace of carbon at the donut gasket at
the swivel joint of the header suggesting that it was leaking
from both the front and rear joints although
I couldn’t feel it at the idle rpm.

Initially, I thought I should not install the triangle gaskets
and charge the task to the owner as these should have been
done by the previous installer but at the same time,
I felt like it’s not the level of standard for my service by
returning the car in this condition.

So, after spending some time for consideration,
contacted the owner and asked him allowing me installing
the gaskets.






The stocked one was the correct size so
now they are installed.

Unfortunately, whenever I loosen the bolt/nut at the
exhaust area,
I must loosen all of the bolt/nut up to the swivel joint in order to
align the back box so had to do the entire process
all over again.

You should tighten the bolt/nut from the rear section and
move forward.

Also, it looked like they used stainless botl and nut with washers
for fixing the pipe.
Same stainless material for the bolt and nut at the place
where they are exposed to the heat and vibration.
This is a big no-no and must use different material otherwise
it is 100% guaranteed to seize.
I applied copper grease on installation but when installing the CAT
back in place, please replace all of the nuts to the standard
ferrous one.








Compression check

The full data has been sent to the owner.

[psi]
#1: **3, #2: **8, #3: **5,
#4: **9, #5: **2, #6: **0

The data got much closer between each cyl but still
showed the same tendency of higher reading on
#1 and #4 cyl but all of them well above the spec.

Probably carbon deposit at the valve seat or
ring wear but these can be checked using the
leak down test.

Having said this, with these figures,
I’m not that concerned and as recommended to every owner,
please take the compression once a year to
monitor the health of your engine.









Silicone grease applied to the IG coil and also
to the new gasket on the IG coil cover.







The spark plug at the front bank already showed
slight black deposit compared to the rear ones.
From the right, #2, 3, 4 and 5.

I only used them for the fire up before/after the service.
Once the CAT is back in place and checked for any leakages
especially at the swivel joint, please check the A/F ratio and
if required, please consider replacing the front O2 sensor.

Both sensors were already replaced in the past but the front one
looked older than the rear one.







New air filter.