Project Autocross BRZ: Keeping Her STX Legal With Nameless Performance And Whiteline
With the arrival of the BRZ/FR-S platforms here in the Autocross world they have taken hold as cars to have and enjoy. Everyone saw that the twins with very minimal preparation could do the job as good as or better than many cars that have had years of time money and tuning to the rules of the STX class. Going into the 2014 season we knew that that the car was going to need to step up to the plate as the SCCA Solo national level competition in STX was going to be bigger, badder and tougher than 2013.
Since this car was bought with SCCA Solo Competition in mind it does not get to enjoy the winter months resting here in Wisconsin. Winter becomes the down time for building, planning and installation.
Having started working with Nameless Performance on the build at the end of 2013 things had been arranged to work forward with them through 2014. Nameless had been working on a perfecting a competition legal header for the twins in 2013 and had perfected the design of it at the end of year. In March of 2014 Nameless released their stepped long tube 4-2-1 header. It’s design is what would help the BRZ gain some large mid range grunt where it was really lacking from the factory. Nameless went above and beyond to get us the header in time shipping it out 2nd day Air. It arrived March 13th one weekend prior to leaving for the first SCCA Pro Solo of the season in Blytheville Arkansas on March 22nd/23rd.
Nameless stepped long tube 4-2-1 header aka “The FaceHugger”.Installation day for parts took place March 15th. We had time, but not much. Thankfully we had a BendPak QuickJack portable lift on hand to get things done with ease. For those of you who haven’t seen one yet it is one of the most useful tools for the garage. I know every gear head has the dream of a lift the garage but this is for those of us with limited space or want a lift they can bring to the track with them. It is great portable unit that when powered by a 12v car battery will lift a 3500lb car up to 20 inches in less than 10 seconds.
BendPak QuickJack 12 volt portable car lift.The BRZ had been hibernating for the extended winter and this was the first time I had major parts to install. The Nameless header was going in to replace an early Nameless prototype unit they had lent us to use for the balance of the 2013 season. So it became an out with the old and in with the new swap. Installing the new header does require some common sense and some finesse. First would be that you do need to unbolt the passenger side engine mount to allow movement of the motor as it will need to be lifted slightly for clearance at the front passenger side of the engine. You will need to take your time to insure the proper fit and may need to adjust the header prior to bolt it up to the head of the motor. This would also be a great time to install your over pipe/ front pipe if you don’t have one installed already.
When connecting the New Nameless 4-2-1 long tube header which has a 3 inch outlet you will need to make sure you have the correct alignment when bolting it to the overpipe. If not aligned correctly you may be creating a bad seal or cause the overpipe to rub, rattle or otherwise interfere with the fit of the exhaust through it’s designated route. If you do have fitment issues ie noise you also may want to loosen your engine mount and shift the engine slightly to allow clearance.
Prototype Nameless Header prior to removal.
