Just thought I would capture a few thoughts about the new headers and catback now that I have them on.

The new exhaust system:
'94-'95 Jet-Hot Coated MAC headers and Y-pipe=>3" High Flow Carsound Cat=>'94-'95 Hooker Catback

The system sounds MEAN!!! It's much louder than I thought it would be, but it is a great sound. No rasp. No hollow sound. It's a VERY deep rumble as soon as you touch the gas. At idle and crusing below 1900 rpm is almost the same as stock. No drone below 2000 rpm. As soon as you touch the gas to accelerate though, the system comes to life. Big time. No one will mistake the system for stock. I'm surprised at how deep the stock Z28 can sound. It's an awesome sound around 3000 rpm too.

Performance is great. I haven't taken it to the dyno yet, or the track, but I can tell you it's much more powerful. I've been driving my car for 7 years, so yes, I can feel differences.

I also just changed my tires to 275/40-17's and I spin more between 1st and 2nd now than I did before with less sticky 245/50-16's.

This system will definately turn heads. It is pure muscle car sound through and through with no rasp and no hollow sound.

I do have an exhaust leak that I have to track down, but that's just a matter of time until I find it and seal it.

Dan

 

Congrats Man! It's good to hear a header sucess story. Hope you enjoy them. Now get us some track times.

-Dustin-

 

Oh I will. I just need the track to open around here.

Dan

 

I am not completely set on LT's if you can pull some sweet numbers out of your..tailpipe..

-Dustin-

 

oooh you got me all excited now! I think mine is going to sound absolutely wicked with the loudmouth mated to the carsound cat and mac midlengths and just CAN NOT WAIT. thanks for posting all the info about your install before, I'm sure it will be very helpful when I finally get to install mine!!

 

I just finished installing mine today too!

I spent about 12 hours total on the project, instaliln the headers and new plugs and wires. Mine are not coated and I only ran into a few problems during my install. I actually had everything bolted up yesterday, but I bought my headers used and didnt realize there were spacers that were supposed fit into the air connections on the mac headers. As a result my air tubes didnt seat inside the collector and exhaust leaked out of them. I just dropped some washers in the tube and everything worked out fine.

The headers are awesome, I couldnt have asked for more and I'm glad I chose Macs. Unfortuneately I havent had a chance to f fully test them yet because I'm waiting on a flange to come from Mac so I can hook the cat up to the y pipe. Starting the car with an open y pipe is pretty fun though.

Hopefully tomorrow the flange will come and everything can finally be buttoned up.

 

SteveO,
I'm putting MAC's on my 94 right now. I also bought them used. What kind of washer did you have to put in the AIR fittings to make them seal?

Thanks,
Glenn

 

Congrats on the install, it was a great feeling when I finished installing the 94/95 SLP's on mine. It felt and sounded like a whole new car. Then came the gears, then the cam, then the..... it never ends

 

Thanks guys.

Yeah, it feels like a totally different car now. It's like a step above what I felt when it was stock. Now the car seems seperated from the stock cars that you see running around. Most of the Z28's are stock in my area, so it's nice since I don't feel "like everyone else anymore" Not in a cocky kind of way, but more of a "proud to be driving my car around" kind of way.

Like Greg said, now comes the cam... My only plans for additional work is a cam kit and maybe gears. I do a LOT of highway and interstate driving and my 3.42's are just too convenient.

For my exhaust leak, I did try to tighten down the header bolts a little better and it helped a little. It takes a little more throttle to get the pfft pfft pfft sound. I think I'm going to use Permatex ultra copper around the header gasket ports and the collectors. I'm thinking that will solve it. I still don't know where it's coming from, but I suppose I'll find it eventually. That's the only bummer from the entire install.

Dan

 

Sounds like you have a good attitude about yourself and your car. Glad to hear the Camaro pride too.

Ever wonder what the 1 3/4 inch Rk's / AS&M's/ or SLP's you considered would have been like?

I like the LT's cause of the gains in the 1/4 but I am consistantly drawn toward the mids time and time again. Any comments?

Why did you finally picked the Macs? Was it cost? Function? Convenience?

-Dustin-

 

congrats on the install

-Mike

 

I chose the MACs for a few reasons, vs. the RKsports or AS&M's or SLP's.

I actually wanted a 1 5/8" primary instead of the 1 3/4". The smaller diameter primary helps a lot with low end torque. Since the diameter of the primary is smaller, the gas has to travel faster through than in a bigger primary. This helps with scavenging, producing great low rpm power. I do 99+% of my driving below 4000 rpm so I wanted that low end torque. My car is a daily driver, and I wanted to keep it fun to drive.

The smaller primary can hurt the peak HP rating, since peak HP is normally made at higher rpm. The smaller primaries don't allow the shear volume of flow that a 1 3/4" primary would, but it takes a LOT of HP to make this a big concern, and it's not until a fairly high RPM that the bigger primary is better.

The track numbers that guys are getting from MAC mids with a medium sized cam can't be argued with. Running 12.0x on stock heads is good enough for me. It takes full bolt-ons and cam, but low 12's is PLENTY fast for my goals.

Plug access is awesome with the MACs. It really opens up the engine bay.

The price is GREAT considering you get the great Jet-Hot coating, Headers and Y-pipe for $540 shipped(I had a $25 X-mas coupon)_

Dan

 

stereomandan, did your EGR valve reach the EGR fitting on the header with no modification? Mine EGR valve is about 1/4 inch to short.

 

Yes it did. It was not the easiest thing to get in place, but it did reach.

I think that EGR tube can bend a little. (not the part on the headers, but the actual EGR tube itself.)

Dan

 

Exact same setup i have... except i went one step further and punched a hole the diameter of the collector on the y-pipe through the catalyst in the convertor. I pulsates a lot harder and sounds really DEEEEEP with no hollow sound. i wish i could get a sound/vid clip of mine so i could post it. A friend of mine did a drive-by in it for me a while back and i was amazed at how good it sounded.

Some people say the mustangs sound better.... but personally, i prefer the sound of a SBC. Mustang sound = smile on my face.... LT1 = smile AND chills up the spine