DC Sports started as a header design outfit contrived by twin brothers and fabricators Darrell and Darrick Contreras. In 1987, American Honda approached the two to build a header for an '88 CRX race car. The design was impeccable, and Honda loved the header so much that they had the Contreras brothers develop products for their other cars, thus leading to the birth of the DC Sports as a manufacturer.
Over time, the sport-tuning crowd caught on to the precision and attention to detail that DC Sports put into their products and made the company a household name among average consumers and aftermarket companies alike. DC Sports eventually expanded their product line up with a wide range of components including exhausts, chassis stabilizing equipment, and other accessories. In 2004, AEM acquired DC Sports to combine the leading exhaust manufacturer with the leading air filter manufacturer to offer the tuning market top-quality engine breathing products.
We trekked out to its Corona, Calif., location to follow along as Mitch Terry, a research and development team member for DC Sports, gave us a tour on how their headers are made.
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 As with any quality product,...  As with any quality product, DC Sport headers are first designed using the SolidWorks 3-D software. This software allows the R&D team to input the data they gathered from the measurements taken from the vehicle. This software comes in handy when designing the flanges needed to mate the header to the engine and the rest of the exhaust. Since many OE manufacturers approach DC Sports about designing aftermarket parts, a designing tool like this one is vital in catering to each manufacturers needs. |
 After the measurements are...  After the measurements are completed and the header design has been established, mock-ups are made to make the final fitting and design adjustments before it goes into production. At this point, DC Sports also created the different types of header configurations such as their famous "Tri-Y" and "4-to-1" designs used for Honda applications. After the mock-up is made, dyno testing on an in-house Dynapack is done to ensure the header is performing to its maximum potential. |
 At the start of the production...  At the start of the production phase, 304-stainless steel piping goes through this mandrel bender to form the primaries on the headers. Mandrel bending is very precise and efficient, allowing DC Sports to reproduce their headers at a fast rate and with supreme accuracy. |
 This CNC-milling machine utilizes...  This CNC-milling machine utilizes a template to make the different flanges for the headers. This is an important step in the process because proper flange manufacturing is essential to header production; after all, the flanges are what connect the header to the engine and exhaust. |
 The flanges are then hand-welded...  The flanges are then hand-welded onto the rest of the header to procure the proper orientation and placement for the intended application. It also makes it easier to weld the spots that are difficult to get to by machine. All of the welds are finished by the robotic TIG welder to provide a leak-free seal. |
 After the headers are welded,...  After the headers are welded, they are sanded down so that every part blends together and is shaped perfectly. If a certain header application calls for a polished version, a quantity of them are hand-polished at this stage of the development, and the others are ceramic coated. During this process, the header goes through an oven and is heated to 200 degrees to burn off any oil or greasy imperfections on it. The ceramic coating is sprayed onto the header, which then goes to the curing oven to be baked again and secure the coating. The headers are put into a burnishing cabinet that polishes them and gives them that shiny, satin-like appearance. |
 To complete the process, the...  To complete the process, the flanges are ground down to provide a perfectly level surface for mating the header to the head and to the exhaust. The headers are then packaged and shipped to customers. |