Humm im done with my suspension/brakes setup(see sig) and im looking to put a little punch under my right foot

My car goal is 330/350whp.I want it to be reliable(peace of mind),fun to drive and i dont want to put too much cash in it since i got other priority...

Since i got the cai and th cat-back ,the only parts that it missing right
now in the exaust section is the headers and y-pipe.

I know that all the headers(short/mids/long) are a pain in the *** to install.

I want something that will give me good power,i want quality product ,good plug access and good clearance.

So i came up with the mac mids with ceramic coating, y-pipe and copper gasket for about 560.00$ at rk sports.

I ve seen a lot of thread about long tube that tells that they give more hp...but how much?Ive seen lt running 11sec with shortie so...

For my goal is my choice good or should i look something else?

Thank you

 

Mods are in my sig. The Macs are VERY EASY to install. Driver slide slips in easily from the bottom, and pass side goes in easy from the bottom as well, just remove the starter. With CAI, macs, and when I had the auto, I dynoed 275hp. Also I'm sure my current setup is capable of 350hp as my opti was dying when I did 341hp.

 

You can pick up brand new, coated pacesetters and Y pipe for about the same price. Check the Group Purchase section of the board. I believe Speed Engineering has them on sale right now.

 

I have been running these headers for years, as way back when, the only options were JBA, Edlebrock, AS&M, or Mac (no long tube versions). While I dont drive the car that much, I can say that the plain HTS coating holds up very well. It is cheaper too than the ceramic coated. Call MAC up directly, and see what you can get them for. I have heard that up to 400 rwhp, the macs are not a "restriction" vs. long tubes

 

ive had both mac mids and pacesetter lt's. In my experience, the pacesetters were better in every way. quality, install, plug access, and power.

To start out with. Mac didnt make the headers right for the part number on the box. The emmisions fittings were not right for my car. The part number on the box didnt match what was inside it.

Pacesettes looked good, and had no problems with them, good welds, good coating, good packing

Next to install. They have a stupid primary slip fit joint, which sucks. I already mentioned the problems with the emisions hookup which slowed down the install by a day or two trying to get ahold of mac's customer service and get the fittings shipped to me, which ended up being weld on, which i didnt have a welder. I had to go find some fittings that would half *** fit and j b weld them the rest of the way. We had a hell of a time getting them in, tried from the top, from the bottom, side ways, upside down, inside out, and thought there would be no way they were going to fit without jacking up the motor.

Pacesetters went right in from the bottom, no jacking, no grinding, less than 5 minutes per side to get them in and the bolts started.

Now to plug access. It wasnt very good compaired to the pacesetters

Power wise, I noticed a little bit of a difference between the stock manifolds and the mids, and another bit of difference between the mids and the lt's.

so there you have it. in my experience, which could be 1 in a million. LT's beat the macs in everyway that matters. Oh and i think my uncoated mac's actually ran more than my ceramic coated lt's

 

What about ground clearance and also body clearance?Does the headers or y-pipe bang on the floor or something(i remember reading this on a couple of threads).

Thank you.

 

I think the Mac's are a decent header, I had them on my old Mustang. But for that money go to Speed Engineering and get a set of ceramic coated Pacesetters. They are very nice quality and I have had no problems at all with them. I'm not saying that Macs aren't good but you can get the Pacesetters for the same price and they are a longtube. If you every decide to build your motor they will be better than the midtubes.

 

So no clearance issue?(bang on the floor,hit the sterring linkage,slip fit leak)

Thanks

 

I have had no clearance issues whatsoever, but of course I took some peoples advice and replaced the motor mounts while I did the longtubes. As far as leaking I have a tiny leak but when I do the clutch install I am going to put some band clamps on that will more than likely fix it.

 

How do you get better plug access than the MACs? I've seen pictures of the Pacesetters installed and they are not as good as the MAC's for plug access.

The MAC's are a great header, and I've yet to see a direct comparison where LT's beat out midlength headers, up to 400 rwhp.

The MAC's install nicely. The slip joint is a bit of a pain, but it's nice that you don't have to remove the steering linkage.

I made 285rwhp/320rwtq with the MAC's, through a cat. Only mods were CAI, Hooker catback, and MAC mids. The cat probably held me back at least 5 rwhp. Plus. my low rpm TQ is great due to the 1 5/8" primaries promoting scavenging at lower RPM.

Dan

 

I have good plug access on my Pacesetter's. But I have never seen MAC's on a F body. I wouldn't call the plug access GREAT on my headers though.

 

having the MAC's, I agree that the plug access is awesome. If you take off the air pump/tubes and it isnt in the way, you can change all plugs from the top in less than 30-45 mins. They do fit, and no banging, clearance issues. Keep in mind, they are also emissions compatible, and you can swap things on and off (ie. cat/air etc) in no time. I think you would be happy with them. A lot of people like to preach how much better the long tubes are, but the dyno numbers around indicagte the Mac are cool up to 400 rwhp. After that mark, it aint like you are going to find a bunch of hp by going to long tubes

 

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...highlight=plug

There is one of my old posts where I post pictures of the MAC plug access.

Dan

 

Wow thats what i call good plug access

But now im all mixed up.I ve got a quote from speed engineering for pacessetter lt coated with y-pipe plus shipping and it cost a lot less(like more then 60$) then a set of mac mids.

Wow i always thought that buying a set off headers for a 350 would be damn easy.

From what i know:

-Mac mids coated:good quality,good/best plug access
:kinda tricky primary slip fit,cost more

-Pacessetter LTs coated:seems to be good quality,good/fair plug access,really good price
:Slip fit can leak,maybe clearance issue

I was going to order today but i will re think again,if you have any comment or experience feel free to speak

Thanks again

 

I made 280rwhp with my MAC's, through a cat, and it's an A4. (dynojet) Now I have a heads and cam so I'm going to see what it does with them on there. I can't imagine them being all that big of a restriction, but a lot of people seem to think so. I'm hoping to make somewhere around 400rwhp with my new setup. The MACs are a great all around header. When my car was stock and I put them on I noticed a huge difference. They're worth it but from the standpoint of what you plan to do with the car in the future will tell wether or not they are the best choice for you.