ZDADDY92

I purchased a set of SLP headers for my 92 Z and when I went to put them in there was a clearance promblem with the steering, so I contacted them and what they said was that it was my motor mounts had flattened and if it still hits that some third gens require a flat spot to be rolled in them to clear it-so I contact them and they say to mark where it needs to be rolled and they will take care of it. I send it back clearly marked by a black box where it need to be rolled with a black marks all marker. I get it back and the roll in the header is beneath where it needs to be rolled for my application. I contact them again and he says that they have a jig made for this sort of promblem and that EVERY third gen that has this problem , requires a roll in the exact same spot. And that I also need to check out my subframe bushings???? FIRST off he told me to mark it where I needed it for my car before I sent it back, and said nothing of this jig or the fact that this supposedly occurs in the same spot on EVERY thirdgen??? That is a little hard to believe- then he brings up another bushing that has to do with my subframe? When I look at the setup, the only thing that could possibly affect this is the motor mounts, which are new, and I have never even heard of these subframe bushings before? He said that hitting a curb or something along those lines can really throw this off, but I have no alignment problems and the body on my car is straight? I dont know everything though, this is why I am asking-I just feel as if I am getting smoke blown up my azz-ANY info is APPRECIATED! Thanks in advance!!

aklim

It could be that your engine mounts are flattened out. I never had that problem because when I did an R&R of the engine, I replaced the mounts with poly ones. I have no problems with my install. I installed a few for people with no problems either. No dinging or what.

ZDADDY92

I replaced the mounts before I dropped the motor back in though with new poly mounts....

AutoRoc

A friend of mine had 1-3/4 SLP's and they touched the steering shaft. He dented the tube accordingly.

I also have the same 1-3/4" SLP's and they touched but it was so minor that I just left it for about a year. Didn't feel any steering bind of hear noise or notice anything bad. Now i have new heads with "slightly" higher exhaust ports and it helped with clearance by the steering shaft.

A ball-peen hammer could be your only good friend in your case, sorry. It's hard to tell someone that their product is wrong and have them believe it. Maybe try a turch also but be careful obviously.

OH! and after 2 years of replacing header gaskets(yes, even copper ones...) I finally took my SLP's to our shop and Milled them after putting a straight edge on the flange. ALL of the tubes were off. It wasn't sealing to the head well AT ALL. Took about 1/8" off of the flange and now I have no leaks I'd check that out also before putting them back on. Goodluck!

Duke

Actually Denny, they were 1 5/8" SLP's. They touched because my motor mounts had sagged and brought the headers too low, so they touched. I heated the primary tube that touched with my MAPP gas torch until it was red, then lightly hammered it with a ball peen.

onefastgta

SLP's do suck on the quality. Just hit it with a hammer where it needs to be clearanced. Also check them with some feeler guages on a flat surface cause they do leak like a bastard. I had to get mine belt sanded to make them stop leaking, and a friend did also.

Rice Killer87

im not tryin to be a smart@ss,but i sure do feel sorry for u guys that paid around $400-$500 on a set of headers that fit like garbage. u couldve bought a set of new Hedman's for what u can buy used SLP's for probably.

ZDADDY92

Im going to have to side with Ricekilla 87 on this one, cause now that I have looked further into it, I could have got a sweet set of long tubes for far less than I paid for these damn SLP's - I feel like a dumb azz everytime I think about these headers and what I could have got instead of them, but I got them like 2 years ago when I first started this project and I really didnt know much about much, and at the time SLP seemed to be the header of choice - HAA -lesson learned!
'

AutoRoc

I bought mine new from a board member for $300 brotha. Stainless Steel is nice to have, as are beefy flanges and a Y pipe that actually seals and is 3". I said mine actually fit well without modification also. SLP shouldn't be making headers to fit worn out mounts should they?

Buying Headmen headers 101? I had them on my 85 IROC...They suck in a whole different way altogether. Thin flanges, blown header gaskets but that wasn't the bad part. The bad part is how they use a cheap 3 bolt flange on the Y pipe area which ALSO distorts easily and blows collector gaskets. Goodluck with your next purchase

Kevin91Z

Its better to move the steering shaft then dent your headers. There are two bolts holding the steering shaft in place. I dont remember where they are, just do a search here or in the Exhaust board at www.thirdgen.org

Yes it sucks to have headers that dont fit right, but they're the only smog legal 1 3/4" headers out there for our cars.

slimdawson

I bought my SLPs a couple of years ago and I thought the same thing of them. Everyone was saying SLPs were the way to go. I get them here and quality sucked. There was weld all in the collectors which I couldn't grind down. You have to buy 1 3/4" just to get the flow of a 1 5/8 header.

And I had the clearance problem. I just ground down the shaft a bit. As far as making them for worn out cars, I disagree. Slp could have made a set of headers that fit 99% of our cars. Their engineering dept. needs help. I don't know if they were rushing, didn't care, or were just ignorant to the fact.

If I ever made a part, it would fit with no modification.

Luckily, I haven't had a problem with the flanges or blowing gaskets.

aklim

I did mine about 4 yrs ago and they have fit on just fine with plenty of clearence so I don't know what the problem is. Could it be a recent thing? Around that time, I helped a couple of installs and there was no problems either.

Kevin91Z

This statement right here proves you've never done any fabrication. The tolerences on the assembly line for any mass-produced car are horrible. You're dealing with human beings, and we all make mistakes. What fits perfect on one car will not fit at all on another car. Face it, our cars are old, and stuff shifts, wears out, or just degrades over time. Their headers have been around for a very long time. Some allowences have to be made here, for SLP and for any other parts for our cars. You cannot expect one part to fit 100% of the cars out there, because every one is different.
My father, and my friend Jerry, have done some fabricating of parts for our cars. From subframe connectors, to LCA relocation brackets, to 1LE brakes, to the SLP siamesed runners, they tried to make each part fit as best as they could. But remember, we're working with our own cars as test mules for these parts, not all 50 billion thirdgens that are out there. Those SLP siamesed runners for instance, fit perfect on Jerry's 92 Z28, had to be massaged a bit to fit my dad's 92, and fit almost perfect on my 91 Z28. Its not an exact science.

slimdawson

That statement right there proves you don't know me or what I do. I am sure that the one primary that ALOT of people have problems with could have made in such a way as to not be a problem at all. I am also sure that whatever car or cars they r&d'd these headers on had a small clearance as well. They should have said, we need to test more to be sure.

Look at the quality of the welds. And the bolts for that matter. Mine broke after one use in the collector flange. If the other parts of the header are crap, what makes you think they really put an effort into the fitment? I can't believe I actually didn't send them back after I got them. Now THAT, is my fault.

Marc 85Z28

Edelbrock seemed to have no trouble whatsoever doing it. Their headers fit perfectly, without coming close. Now if SLP had any clue, they would design the #5 primary better to help compensate for all those production tolerances. If the headers did fit the original R&R mule car, they MUST have been extremely close. Hell, they even dented the tube on the Firehawk!


BTW - changing the motor mounts will not fix the problem. I went through the same BS as everyone else. After changing the mounts (a PITA BTW), the headers still did not clear. Moving the steering shaft helped, but in the end I ground the steering shaft down.