depending on where you live depends a lot on how fast they rust. Take me for instance, i live in Mississippi and never drive my car in the rain, so im sure my will last a while (cross fingers)

 

Coated headers WILL rust too..(as you can see from the pictures) The only thing is...they wont rust up top..but more where they are exposed to the dirt. So your going to have wasted money on half coated headers. So it will be more cosmetic than actually helping. Also..i think the coating is free..but its a pain in the *** to have to take the headers out..send em out..WAIT, get them back then have to put them back in..just to have to do it again...6months..1..2 years down the road. kind of a pita if you ask me.Not worth the money.

 

Also helps not burn plug wires..........but i do see what you are saying

 

OK, so concluding that coating is nice if I don't mind wasting money potentially.

Pacesetter long Tube RACE APPLICATION are the way to go.

AIR and EGR delete won't affect car's performance or the way it runs.


Any other tricks like locking header nuts or 1" studs?? I really want to do this right.

 

Didnt read all the other posts... but I did just install my Pacesetter LTs this weekend and due to it being a pain in my *** I ended up blocking the EGR pipe fittings off, and removed my AIR pump. The pump mostly because I got a catless Y-pipe and didnt see a reason to keep the pump with no cats. It cleaned up the engine bay quite nice too. I got the coated LTs and wish they would have came without the EGR/AIR due to the time it would have saved me. I guess Ill figure something out when it comes time to smog it, but for now Im not worried about it. I am OBDI though and I think I do need a tune. The car hits the rev limiter very fast now and I cant even floor it under 30mph anymore without it bouncing off of it several times. Im very happy with my Pacesetters, now that the install is over.

 

For bolts I just used ARP bolts and they have kept tight so far. (2 days) But for tricks... lets see... I pounded up the floor pan on the dirvers side... Pressed a dent in the header to get it to clear the steering shaft (after I took out the center section of it).. I removed the starter, and took the bolts out of the motor mounts... I shaved off 1/2 of the head of the bolt that goes through the steering shaft on top ( i couldnt turn the wheel very easily)... thats about it I think...

 

dude summit racing sells the non coated with out air provisions for 285

 

Im considering doing away with my AIR setup also. My car is good for the next 2 years before I have to have it emission tested again. Just wondering if I can get away with moving the cats also. They do the plug-in smog test here in Az ao i dont know what effects it will have on my car when they test it.

 

i just took out the conventional things..................starter, alternator, steering linkage, oil dip stick, LH coolant sensor. And after all that was out they went in EASY as PIE.

 

As long as they don't look underneath your car, which in most cases they don't, you should be okay with the cats being relocated. If you do remove your AIR and EGR for example, you will have to also have the codes deleted from the PCM. The tricky part is that these codes will just post as a "Not Ready" status and you can still fail emissions that way. Your best bet is to call your local station and get the details.

 

For $90 more it's easily worth it to get the coated headers. Remember, they're coated inside and out so there's heat reduction and less chance of the headers rotting from the inside out. Here in NJ they do a visual inspection so you have to have the cats to even get past that part. They also check under the hood for the smog stuff. Run O2 sims and you should be good to go.

 

For the $285 I would get them plated like Jared said. Coating is just an external hi temp powder coat that can rust off because THEY DONT COAT THE INSIDE OF THE HEADERS! That's kinda a problem when one of the results of combustion is H2O.

Guys all though steel headers are cheap, unless you like changing and fixing them, oh and repairing those HP eating leaks don't waste your time.... If you don't believe an exhaust leak is worth 30-40hp easy go ask Denny McClain. His 480rwhp was down to 440rwhp just due to a TINY exhaust leak.

GOOD HEADERS ARE MORE THAN WORTH WHAT YOU PAY FOR THEM.

Bret

 

Oh yeah, one last thought. If you're thinking of running NOS then you might not want to get the coated headers because the exhaust temp goes way up with NOS and I've seen quite a few coated headers lose the coating thanks to the NOS.

 

304 stainless headers never rust.

Bret