96.Z28.SS

Hi I am a new member to this site and I am a huge fan. I have read many topics and I finally decided to get an account. I'm still learning so bare with me. A little about my self now... When I was 14 I bought a 3.4 camaro. Slow I know. On the bright side it had a bigger cam . I got a 3.4 ONLY because my father would not let me. "Too much power and I would get in too much trouble" had allot of good memory's in highschool with that lil v6. Anyways, 5 years later... I recently sold that car, saved some money and got a little loan and bought a all original 1996 SS m6 with 54,000miles. And no it's not bought by mommy and daddy but man I love the SS. Anyways huge fan and I look forward to learning some things from you guys...

Okay so here is my question. Or discussion. I'm sorry it's long but let's have a serious talk without the long tube guys giving me s*** and saying "long tubes or go home." No hard feelings guys. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Anyways I was hoping if anyone has a pair of slp shorty headers for the dual cat. I have been looking forever!!!!!! It's a long shot but anyone have any for sale?! If no. Has anyone had any experience with shorty headers to the stock dual cat y. The reason why I want Shorty's is because I like the tone of my car with the 2otl slp exhaust. I like it quiet and comfortable when driving but loud when I want it to be. I like how the rasp is to a minimum and no drone and isn't too loud with the cats. Anyone have installed Shorty's like the pacestter 70-1337 or the bbk or hooker? Which is best if I can't find a pair of slp. Did you feel a difference in power? How about sound? There isn't s*** when people talk about Shorty's on this site and I'd like to know if they felt a gain. There has to be someone that can help me out. Secondly, anyone ever heard of white lightning coating? Some of that on the pacesetter 70-1337 would look pretty sick painted black instead of that ricer white. Would flow decent with that coating too I'd imagine. Anyways someone please help. I'm very interested thanks

Chimera96

If emission testing is not a issue, most would go long tube or mid length. As far as "sound" maybe search for sound clips various LT1 F-body headers as there are several muffler/pipe combos that all sound different

Those, like me (B-body), running shorty headers do so because of emission testing and here in Calif. it is brutal. Most agree the SLP shorty was the better performing one in terms of higher RPM HP over other shorty's. They were 1 7/8 primary vs 1 5/8. Perhaps giving up a little more low end TQ but making a few more HP up top.

Far as coating...I have only used Jet Hot on various headers I have had on several cars. You can buy direct from the headers of various brands to save some shipping $ but I suspect SLP's are not to be found "new".

Good luck in your search. Shorty headers will give more HP over stock manifolds but not as much as mid or long tubes

Injuneer

As I recall, the SLP dual-cat headers were CARB certified, meaning they keep the stock cats in their original location. As a result, the driver side header was awkward, because of where the flange is for the stock cat. As a result, gains were not as good as they could have been, and also caused a significant increase in under hood temps. This was to the extent that some owners reported melting plastic components under the hood. There was even a post about this 2 days ago in the "Which Header Type" thread in the Exhaust forum.

Do you require the CARB certification in Nebraska?

White Lightning is a Swain Tech Coatings product. Probably the absolute best coatings you can buy. I have their skirt coating on my nitrous pistons. Not sure what the white/ricer comment is all about. If the best coating is white, why would you reject it on that basis?

96.Z28.SS

Sorry I wasn't meaning to call the coating ricer. Just I'm not a fan of the bright white. I would paint them black or something. My bad on that comment. But no there isn't emissions in Nebraska. I just do not like the drone and rasp of the long tubes. I love the sound of my exhaust already. Nice and quiet and loud when I want it to be. I like a comfortable ride. Just looking for something better flowing. Seeing if anyone has had experience and would like to chime in and post their reviews of shorty headers that connect to the dual cat y

96.Z28.SS

Tdoug I can tell you are new. You have to go else where or start a new thread. Plenty people will help you out

Chimera96

OP

whatever header you get, don't paint them. get them coated by a vendor who does that. Ceramic coating greatly reduces under hood heat temps

Like Fred said typically shorty headers for the LT1 come "up" before going down (drivers side) towards the stock CAT flange connection. This puts a heat source closer to hood and some under hood stuff (plastic)

The SLP's came up on both DS & PS IIRC and there were reports of underwood stuff taking a brutal beating from heat exposure (wiper motor).

AS&M shortys come over the valve cover so it requires removing the header if yu need to pull valve cover

You may find a used set of SLP's or Edelbrocks on various forums or ebay. Just get them coated. They both will offer some performance gains over stock manifolds but not as much as long tubes. If you don't have to deal with emissions might want to consider a set of mid length headers if you feel long tube gives a end exhaust note you don't like.

96.Z28.SS

Thank you very much on the reply ^^^^^
Has anyone had any experience with the pacesetter 70-1337 or the bbk or hooker headers that are still on the market?

Injuneer

You have to start your own thread. Tacking an unrelated topic onto someone else's thread interferes with their attempt to get help. This is called "high jacking a thread" and is not acceptable.

Injuneer

Painting them black would be a mistake. The reason for using these ceramic or ceramic-metallic coatings is to keep as much heat as possible inside the headers. The raises gas velocity and improves scavenging, which gains a small amount of HP. The other benefit of keeping the heat inside the header tubing is reduced under hood temeratures. Given the fact that the dual-cat headers are known for melting things under the hood, you want to minimize heat loss from the headers.

Black surfaces have a very high emissivity - they radiate heat easily. White surfaces have a lower emissivity. They radiate less heat. Swain picked white for a purpose.

If you are so sensitive to changing the exhaust sound, why not leave it stock?

96.Z28.SS

I have not thought about the whole color idea. Makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up for me. But I have always liked the sound but I am always wanting more power. The slps are rare and I can't find them. I guess I like the ideas of shortys because get maybe 10 hp. Improve sound a tad, ease of installation. If I could find a set for say 200-300 bucks it sounds like a win to me. With my ss with so few miles I would like to keep it mostly original and semi untouched. Usually when things are messed with price goes down. Original nicely taken care of lt1s are so hard to find. Find a rare set of slps shortys to complete the slp cat back exhaust I have? I could only seeing the car becoming more desirable. Idk just my .02

96.Z28.SS

Then swap in a lt4 cam that came in the 97s. Sounds like a pretty nice weekend cruiser to me. Pretty disireable and rare to come by. Like I said earlier, everyones intitled to their own opinion and I respect that. That's just my .02

Chimera96

96

sounds like you got a good low mile Z. read and search for 411 on these cars/LT1 before you jump into anything and then ask ?'s on the forum.

Make the car what "you" want but understand what you may want others won't so take what you find with that in mind

For example the LT4 Hot cam was the thing back in 97 as there were not nearly the aftermarket stuff for this platform. Cam technology has grown in the last 20 years so the LT4 cam is not the best choice now. Is it OK, sure.

Intake, headers/exhaust, gears are common "early" mods. PCM tune on a otherwise stock motor will also wake the car up. beyond that you get "in" the motor with head 7 cam packages (and revised tuning). H/C then ripples into larger fuel injectors, larger TB...well you see how it all escalates

do google search on things you think of...several videos come up, especially in the header/exhaust category

Injuneer

The stock LT4 cam - used in the 96 Corvettes, and the few 97 F-Body LT4 SS's and Firehawks - is not much different than the LT1 cam. The cam portion of the extra performance was gained by increasing lift with the Crane Gold 1.6X full roller rockers. You can do that with the LT1 cam.

On the other hand you may be thinking of the LT4 HOT cam, which is more aggressive than the stock LT4 cam. Available in a complete kit with the rockers and other parts from GM Performance Parts. But there are better cams available for moderate power gains.

96.Z28.SS

Thanks for the reply and I couldn't agree with you more. Once you start building a car, one can't stop. One part leads to another. Then all the sudden you get so much power and the dumb 10 bolt can't take it. Everything you do has an effect on the car in some way. My goal is to keep the car mostly original with a few disireable mods that don't effect driveabilty and reliability. It's so hard to find low mile lt1 that haven't been abused. Thank you guys for all the advice. Meanwhile I'll keep my eyes peeled for some slps or as&ms.

Injuneer

In the other thread I suggested, I mention the problems a buddy of mine had with the AS&M dual-cat headers. On his 97 Z28, even after we covered the firewall and everything under the hood we could with heat reflective sheeting, stuff like the plastic parts of the dipsticks started melting. Looked ridiculous with all the heat reflective material.

He ripped the AS&M's out. He had a buddy at the SLP corporate headquarters here in NJ, and they just happened to have a set of the extrude honed manifolds laying around. Unfortunately, that was about 15 years ago.

With SLP now owned by Roush, not likely we'll ever see them making LT1 parts again.