I am looking for headers for my car this spring, and can't really narrow it down. I need it to pass emissions. I have thought about the 96-97 SLP shorties which retain the stock y-pipe. Also the Mac mid-length headers that come with a high flow dual cat y-pipe. There is also the Edelbrock and the BBK which also retain the stock y-pipe I believe, and not sure that those are very performance oriented. I have to keep cats, due to an inspection for emissions, so O2 sims are also out of the question, pretty much eliminating LT's, until I spend enough for collecter plates. I don't want to spend over the price of mac's, which seems to be 700 dollars for the headers and dual cat y-pipe. Help me decide!

 

Forget all of thoes and go with AS&M's. HPC coated in and out with full emmissions connections. They are extreamly well made. JMO

 

best bet is the slp shorties...think the mac mids relocate the cat which makes mid or LTs illegal here in NJ, not sure if its the same there

 

The mac's keep the cats in the stock location, the driver side primaries are goofy looking. The AS&M's convert it to single cat, so they aren't emissions legal. What about the TTS headers on Tbyrne's website? They are 1 3/4" primaries, 16 gauge steel etc.. shorties like the SLP. Not sure if they are coated?

 

The SLPs are your best bet for smog legal headers. I too, have been looking at the macs, but they don't have any of the need emission #ers to pass smog. Yes, they do have all of the hook up and do retain the cats. In CA you need the CARB # in order to pass smog test. In other states I believe you need the EQ #.

here is a reply from the MAC web site on this issue: http://www.macperformance.com/garage...s.cfm?Forum=13

 

You cant move the cats to a single cat right? If that is the case I'd spend my $700 elsewhere. Where in NE Ohio are you? Perhaps you can relocate to a PO box where there arent emissions

-Dustin-

 

The cats need to be in their original locations for that model year.

 

I live in Lake county, they look under the car, and then connect it to the scanner. When I took it there when I got the car, the a******s thought it would be funny to rev my car up and chirp the tires a lot. Needless to say the guy lost his job. I was really surprised by the unprofessionalism at E-Check. Oh well.

 

I have a pair of new 96-97 Pacesetter LTs with all emission connections on them. PM me if interested.

 

I have the Edelbrock dual cat headers, they retain the stack ypipe and do not move the cats, they also have a CARB number. The passenger side header requires you to cut the ypipe to fit but does not move the cat. I am happy with them even though they are not the best performance header but they fit your emissions requirement and are good quality.

 

Absolutely correct.

 

do they have a book that tells them the cat location for every model year for every car? I don't remember them looking up anything, just looking under the hood, checking the gas cap and doing the sniffer.

 

California does. Most guys don't care about where the cats are - as long as it has them and it can pass the sniffer with no codes. Mine have always just asked: "Does this car have all the emission equipment in place, and are the headers legal?"

 

Do you have to take your test in Lake County, or can you go to Cuyahoga? I've been passing on the roller with FLP's since I bought my car new. Where I go they just put a mirror under the car about where the stock cat is, and with the FLP's the pass. side cat is in the same spot as the stock cat position. They've never opened the hood, so they don't even know I have headers. I even have a cam with a slight lope in it. My emissions come out way below max. I took off my EGR also, because with my 112 cam I don't need it.

 

IMHO none of the above. OBDII style headers are pointless. Regardless of primary size they have to choke back down to the stock Y-pipe and the drivers side has no collector. Waste of money.