I am trying to decied which of these shorty/mid length headers I want. I do not want longtubes, before everyone jumps in with that and I dont need to hear how I will regret it. Price is a factor, but all of these are relatively cheap so which is the best? Best meaning: longest lasting, plug access is a plus and most hp gain.

MAC (mid-length):
1 5/8" primaries
not ceramic coated which is a downfall (does have HTS coating, what is that, is it like ceramic coating??)
$400

RK Sport (mid-length):
1 3/4" primaries
ceramic coated
$600

Pace Setter (shorties): anyone ever heard of these?
1 5/8" primaries
ceramic coated
$400

BBK (shorties):
1 5/8" primaries
ceramic coated
$500


The car will have Loudmouth exhaust, XE 224/230 cam and K&N CAI all done at the same time. If that helps any. I am leaning towards the MAC's, cause they are mid-length and appear to have good plug access, but no ceramic coating worries me. Thanks for all of your help.

 

MAC (mid-length):
1 5/8" primaries
not ceramic coated which is a downfall (does have HTS coating, what is that, is it like ceramic coating??).. Pretty similar stuff
$400................Nice Header, good price, I would opt for something 1 3/4"

RK Sport (mid-length):
1 3/4" primaries............ A very big plus
ceramic coated..............Coating rocks.
$600...............................These headers are the same as the Arizona Speed and Marines.. IMHO the BEST shorty out there.

Pace Setter (shorties): anyone ever heard of these?
1 5/8" primaries
ceramic coated
$400h............Good budget header..

BBK (shorties):
1 5/8" primaries
ceramic coated
$500................These lick monkey nuts

 

My order of emmisions legal headers:
FLP, As&m, Rksport, MAC, Edel, Hooker, SLP, Pace and then BBK dead last

Personally, i have at one point in time..The as&m, rk, edel, bbk, pace and in my possesion. I loved the quailty of the RK/As&m..
But when i had them, i couldnt decide if i want to mod the car or not. When i did decide to start modding, i had the edel's in my hands, so i went with those. No problem with mine thus far

 

oh yeah.. if you are 96+ switch to OBD1 style exhaust...

 

I thought I read somewhere HTS stands for High Temperature Silicone but I could be mistaken. It is definately not the same as ceramic coating--the ceramic is much better.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. How is the install of the RK Sports and what about plug access?

 

anyone?

 

ttt. I want to know plus how is the plug access on SLP


Thanks


Tim

 

I just put the MACs on with OVC wires. Plug access is 100 times better than the stock manifolds. Install was fairly easy too.

EDIT:
Get the MACs with ceramic coating. The HTS stuff is crap and chips off if you look at it wrong. My headers are ceramic coated but the y-pipe is HTS. Huge difference. Check out Jet-Hot for some already coated.

 

I have ASM's, but they're essentially the same thing. Driver side plug access is OK, passenger side is not so good because of that #2 primary design. Nothing some practice can't take care of though.

Of your list, I'd go with the RK Sports. You'll probably see the biggest gains through those.

 

I dont know if you know this or not, but going with a 1 5/8" primary will give you more low end torque that a 1 3/4" primary. There isnt a huge difference, but there is a little bit. And the MAC's are pretty good. Just make sure you get them ceramic coated.

 

That is true.

I love my MAC's. Plug access is the best of any header I've seen, and you can get them Jet-Hot coated directly from www.jet-hot.com. I think they are $550 shipped to your door.

You can see my dyno results with the MAC's in the sig. I have a single cat in place, so that hurts my numbers a little, but to me, 318 SAE rwtq is pretty dang good.

All I have is a CAI, catback, headers and cat.

If you are going to port your heads, a 1 3/4" design might be better.

Dan

 

Is this for a single cat vehicle?

I had Mac's that I had coated and the plug access and installation was great - wonderful, super!!! but the product is a bit shoddy - they bolt up on the outer bolts and mine tended to leak.

I just installed SLP 1 3/4 - they are a better product - they bolt up on the inner bolt hols and have a thicker flange - i recommend 1" bolts.

Power wist the slp are noticable better than that macs - plug access is not neatly as good - I had to go OVC and plugs 5 and 6 are just a huge PITA

SLP's for a dual cat, from what I've read, are not the best but power wise they rock on a single cat.

 

I know you said that you dont want LTs but you can go to www.redlineperformanceenginering.com and you can get Pacesetter long tubes coated for $399.

Aaron

 

Well I swapped my Hooker LT's for RK Sports...just finished the install two nights ago. ALOT easier than the LT's, however bolting up the collector and trying to get the dipstick to fit with the RK's will drive you to drink. Be patient and take your time. My's RK's were used but had a fresh coating by Jet Hot so they looked killer, quality seemed really good with thick flanges. I have a Flowmaster exhaust and the sound with the RK's + high flow cat is alot differant than the Hooker's with no cat. The car sounds alot deeper and less raspy....in fact I love the way it sounds now. Performance?? Well the car has much more on the low end now and the middle/top is about equal to the LT's. I'd recommend RK's big time EXCEPT I hear their ceramic coating isn't so great stock. Of your choices I'd pick RK's if you are gonna mod more, and Mac's (direct from Jet Hot-that HTS coating is junk) if you are just looking for a 12 second type street machine. BTW heed this advice. Do NOT install any header on an LT1 that hasn't been ceramic coated......PERIOD. I had my Jet Hot coated Hooker LT's on my car for two years and it was impossible to have them not touching SOMETHING underhood. I had cables that were laying against the headers for two years and they just melted a bit and function wasn't affected. At the track with my hood up I could touch my headers after the car was sitting for a few minutes. Also I was working on my buddy's car-he still has manifolds. You can feel the differance in underhood heat....his felt like a blast furnace even though his car's temp guage read cooler than mine. The underhood area of an LT1 is too tight and there's too much crap in there to risk having uncoated headers.