I'm looking for a cheap Long tube header.. Thinking about the hookers (painted). does anyone have any experiance with painted (and cheaper) headers... how was the engine bay heat buildup vs. stock?

 

i would opt for pacesetter headers then, i would still get them coated if not for heat, and also a little longer life

 

man, anymore, ive heard too many horror stories about pacesetters. Your best bet would be to try to find a group sell on some jet-hots IMO. I had no problems with the pacesetters though

 

Hmmmm.....
Best?.....I'd say from what I've seen on here, Kooks.
Cheapest?......Pacesetter.

Your options for long tubes (not in any particular order):
Kooks
TPIS
Hooker
Jet Hot
Pacesetter
Dynatech
FLP (discontinued?)
....and i believe Stainless Works and Hedman also make long tubes for 4th-gen LT1. Your best bet is to do a search - guaranteed gold mine of information on here.

 

Pacesetters here, kinda rusty and on car for two years. Werent coated though.

 

Coated Pacesetter LT's for 3 years and no problems.

 

love my hookers

 

pacesetters here. coating still looks new after a year and a half.

 

My pacesetter's are great and was going to recommend them to you as well, best bang for the buck headers in my mind...

BTW, what bad things have you heard since I haven't heard or had a complaint about them???

 

Coated Pacesetters, holding up well. Although the car sees no rain let alone winters. Small fitament problem, but well worth the money. If you can't afford coating hold off until you can.

 

Our #1 headers sold is pacesetters for the LT1's.. If you need some prices on some headers let us know...

 

good tips!

What have your experiences been with un-coated headers.. My old 1978 firebird has had them on for 13 years and no issues.. but some people say the LT1's run so hot that if the headers are uncoated it will cause damage to underhood electrical components and cause the cabin to be scorching..

 

I have no underhood damage with mine at all. Underhood temperatures will be hotter by the way, I am not sure to the extent they affect performance (coated vs. uncoated) but coated headers will look much better and last longer for sure.

 

im running uncoated pacesetters but dont have much run time on them due to parts breakage. all the paint boiled off in the 1st 5 minutes of run time. Id suggest getting them coated. one thing I really like about the pacesetters are they have no slip tube to leak. my old MAC headers had a slip tube that I just couldn't seal. spark plug access is worlds ahead of stock and even better than the macs.

 

Pacesetters hands down. Great price, look sexy, and perform on par with the more expensive brands.