just put a header and new exhaust on my 87 and now i am getting a bad ticking noise. thought it was the gaskets so put new ones on it still have the noise. only when accelerating sounds fine at idle

 

How close together are the ticks timed and have you tried to locate where it is the loudest along the exhaust line? Also do they continue once the car is off as well?

Sounds like it could be metal expanding/contracting from the heat. I have headers on my 87 and I am getting ticks around the end of the tailpipe after custom exhaust. I am pretty sure that headers tend to run hotter so it will only make it more apparent. Could be a crappy weld.

Make sure the flange bolts around the cat are tight, could also be the gasket. Also try checking for any leaks, they are usually pretty easy to spot when the car is freshly on (not super hot) by putting your hand close to the exhaust. I discovered one just yesterday, the muffler shop hadn't tightened the flange bolts all the way

 

One reason I don't like the headers. Sounds like a weed eater with wire strings whacking the pipe. That has been my experience.

 

You're right, it sounds terrible without adequate dampening. High flow cat and high flow muffler? Forget about it, sounds like a rice rocket.

I solved the raspiness problem by installing a resonator after the cat & muffler, now it has that low deep rumble at low rpms and stays quiet like it should! Sounds like a truck again. I like being able to hear the intake over the exhaust.

 

I second that^ I have a Doug Thorley on mine. Tried running a glasspack sounded like a damned Honda. Ended up putting a canister type super quite muffler on and it's still kinda growly. No cat either.

 

I haven't had that problem with my yota but on my 06 F150 I was getting a similar sound. My exhaust manifold was warped and there was a leak between it and the block. Maybe your header isn't installed properly and you are having a similar issue.

 

"Sounds like a weed eater with wire strings whacking the pipe."

Haha yeah that's my experience too. Thought I had pinging the first time I put a header on one of these. Nope! That's just the sound they make.

 

For anyone struggling with the honda sound, I fixed my issue by adding a resonator after the muffler. The resonator took away all of the rasp at no expense of flow/performance. Also, it still has that really nice deep tone at 1000-1800 rpm- quiet the rest of the way I'm a happy camper now