Hey. I have a 95 camaro Z28 and I want to buy some shorty smog legal headers. Everywhere I look it seems that there are two different types, a single cat package, and a duel cat package. I am not sure which one to buy. On my car now after the manifolds I have a collecter/cannister thing on the left side. The pipes then run together into the cat, and finally into the muffler. I assume I need the single cat header package, but what about the cannister/collecter thing? Is this deleted bythe Y-pipe? Is it needed for a California car? Any help is appriciated. Thanks

 

It sounds like you have a dual cat car, which I believe was the norm for California cars. If you want to keep it smog compliant, then I would go with the dual cat header setup, although they will not flow as well compared to the single cat setup.

 

mac has a real nice dual cat header kit,its costly due to the cats but if you wish to remain E-LEGAL its a must.i have seen many guys in cali use longtubes with cats installed and they have legit smog certs.especially with an OBD-2 car no(ses) light no problem,true visual may pose to be a hassle but the equiptment is still there

 

You could convert it to single cat. I don't think they'd have a way of knowing if it was a dual cat car originally. I believe the 95 dual cat cars are still obd1.

 

don't buy shorty headers,they're a pita and nothing but problems!!!

 

Get longtubes or don't even bother. Shorties are a waste of time and money.


And for which ones to buy? Coated Pacesetter longtubes, I hear nothing but rave reviews of them. Plus they're cheap (in comparison to other coated/non-coated headers for LT1s)


Summary: Get LTs.

 

Ill tell you what stay away from longtube headers pacesetters i ended up taking mine off the car and put shorties on they are so much better now. when i had my longtubes on its caused so much leaks in the manafolds and vibrations it was crazy i evan replaced all my motormounts and trany mount and still was banging on my floorboard and rubbing up on the passanger motormount never again am i going with lt headers. the thing is i didnt evan notice a diffrence from longtubes and shorties

 

Someone hacked up the install then. Dont blame longtubes or Pacesetter, they didnt come and install them on your car. And I am surprised that you didnt "evan" see a differance between longtubes and shorties. Dude, if you are in Cali, find a shop that does work on Camaros/Vettes, whatever and they should be able to tell you what you need to remain legal. Or for that matter just call Thunderracing and they can tell you what you need.

 

sounds like you just didnt properly space the driver side header which commonly hits the floorboard. I pushed my floorboard up a half inch and used a 2.5" y-pipe and i have no problems. and as far as leaks go, chances are they werent installed right. mine have been on for nearly 2 years with no leaks. headers have NOTHING to do with the trans mount so im not sure where youre getting that.

 

Just curious: what makes you say that a single cat flow better than dual cats? And what makes you say that shortie headers are no better than no headers? Very interesting observations.JMHO

 

stock manifolds are junk.

just look at this comparison

 

What kind of headers are those in the pic? Pacesetters?

 

yep.

 

Those look pretty nice coated. I've heard a lot of people say that pacesetters are junk, but they don't really look like junk.

 

mine have been on the car for nearly 2 years now and this is how they look now.

now granted, my car is a weekend car that rarely sees rain, id say theyre in pretty good shape. definitely happy with them for $385 i paid. the small trickle of rust on the passenger side is compliments of the AC dumping condensation on the header without my knowing.