I heard after installing LT headers my car may run alittle more rich, is this a bad thing? does it affect performance or will i just burn through more gas? i have an a/f ratio gauge so ill see how much more rich ill be running.

 

It will hurt hp a little but its not bad for the car. You can get it tuned after headers if thats all you plan on doing but if your getting a cam just wait till after you get a cam, useless to tune twice. Just my opinion.

 

explain getting the car tuned

 

having the car run on a dyno (optimal) while hooked to a computer to read the info then adjusting the computer to optimal specs so that your A/F is perfect or as close to perfect as possible..

gets the most out of your engine.. usually at least 10rwhp gain...

if you get headers, it should even up with the lid and intake stuff to help balance out your A/F some .. but it still wont be perfect...

 

This should answer all your questions...interesting reading.

http://www.vetteguru.com/mods/howto/#air_fuel

 

so i need to bring my car to a shop with a dyno? or can any automotive repair shop do it?

 

You'll need to be able to log AFR vs. RPM. You can do this by visiting a specialty shop with both a dyno & a wideband setup, or buy an AFR interface which mounts in your car and you can do the tuning yourself on the street.

Doing it yourself on the street is more cost prohibitive, but might be money better spent if you plan on changing your setup often. Ideally you'll need a laptop, programming software (HPTuners, LS1-Edit), scan tool (EFILive, Ease, HPTuner, AutoTap), and wideband setup (Innovative is recently popular).

If you use a dyno to tune, use one which properly loads the car. Some shops offer unlimited free tuning once you've paid for it. I've read that MTI does that.

 

Umm..running too rich for too long can do some damage..it can wreck o2 sensors and kill cats and possbily wash down cylinders and cause engine problems if extreme enough.
Also buddies car with headers was slow as heck due to no tuning.
Get some tuning or buy and maft or predator so you can lean it down..