I've had my pacesetter ceramic longtubes on now for about 6-7 months. Love them, they are non-emisssions, no cat/air/egr. running thru a hooker catback exhaust, I wish I new how to record a soundclip I would, the only problem I had was the 02's were not heating up, since they had to be moved lower down, they would not go into closed Loop. I ended up having to buy the 4-wire heated ones and wiring them up. problem solved...

 

Im in the process of putting my car back together. I ordered non-emissions pacesetter LTs to replace my macs. After getting the tranny up in place I tried to see what I was up against for the headers. Looks to me like I gotta raise the front end a bit more to get the passenger side in, and that I have to disconnect the steering column to get the drivers side in. did you guys have to disconnect the steering column? it looks like it would slide in nicely from the top.

I'll be sure to get a sound clip of it with open headers

LE3 383 + open headers =

 

Do you have any pics or sound?

 

zigroid, i posted this on z28.com.



just thought i'd share my experience with my 95 Z in case any of you may be considering installing long tubes. there are so many ways people state how there's got installed. here's my way, hope it answers alot of questions and concerns.

first of all, i did it by myself with no lift so don't laugh when i say i have thirty hours in it (including alot of breaks). i highly recommend spraying all bolts with some kinda penetrating oil. they will be a PITA. jack the car up and place on stands in the front. unbolt the stock y-pipe. i had to cut the rest of the exhaust to the rear with an angle grinder in two places (right by the cat and right by the rear axle to get it completley off, i'm installing the loudmouth catback). then unhook the stock muffler from the hangers. i did get to keep the stock z tips which was cool cause they were clamped on.

here's how my driver's side went. i first took of the stock manifolds. then came the plugs and wires (nows a good time for a tune-up). next i took off the valve cover cause the header hit it too much. finally, the steering shaft had to be unbolted and hammered off. the header dropped in from the top with no problem. i was able to run a clean set-up of my new 8.2mm taylor wires (not OTVC). i used zip-ties and still looks professional.

next, i did what most don't do. somehow i achieved it. for the passenger side, i took off the starter, alternator, dipstick tube, egr fitting and manifold. then plugs and wires. i just couldn't get the header in from the bottom with the car jacked way up. so, here's what i did that most say ain't possible, i put it in from the top. i took off the valve cover, and angled in the header right side up. it's gonna hit the head but i was so over it i just gave it one good push. it actually slipped in but hit another member below. after fighting it i jacked the car down all the way on the passenger side and pushed again. to my surprise it went in. the passenger side wires are a total pain. there's more objects in the way when routing them and your fingers and hands need to be real flexible. i did have a problem with the #6 cylinder plug wire 90 degree boot hitting the primary. the stock length is a tad too short so i really didn't have much choice to rotate it so i rerouted it and now have maybe 1/8-1/4" clearance which still may not be enough w/out frying it.

 

It depends if you install race headers or emission's headers. And the 96-97 headers have a longer AIR tube than the 94-95 so the 96-97 emission's headers are probably the hardest to install(I'm trying to make myself feel better here). There was no way to get the EGR pipe to clear from the top. I did the headers, motor mounts and some manual hacksaw blade cutting to get my setup installed so it took me an easy 19+ hours total for my 96 emission's headers.

 

I will get some sound clips with movie. It sounds AMAZING!! A problem I noticed was a groaning noise. Soooo, I took it back to the shop, and nothing is rubbing the top of the car. I have tons of clearance, so I taped some cardboard up on the bottom of the car (stay with me...not as a bump stop...) to see if the header/y pipe was being twisted to hit the floorboard.

After driving, I checked the cardboard and it was not dented, burned, or marked.

I am now thinking that the headers are SLIPPING IN THE Y PIPE???

I used the supplied C-clamps, but should I just weld the headers to the Y pipe to see if that stops the groaning??

NOTE: The 12-pts were just a HUGE PITA to get installed. It resulted in quite a few lost tempers and thrown ratchets across the shop. (startled the sleeping girlfriend at 1am, but hey, it's all good..)

the 1" Pacesetters went in like a dream, and since they were 6point, you could use the open end of the wrench incase you cut the crap out of the tips of your fingers when you shove the exhaust gaskets down.

 

I will get some sound clips with movie. It sounds AMAZING!! A problem I noticed was a groaning noise. Soooo, I took it back to the shop, and nothing is rubbing the top of the car. I have tons of clearance, so I taped some cardboard up on the bottom of the car (stay with me...not as a bump stop...) to see if the header/y pipe was being twisted to hit the floorboard.

After driving, I checked the cardboard and it was not dented, burned, or marked.

I am now thinking that the headers are SLIPPING IN THE Y PIPE???

I used the supplied C-clamps, but should I just weld the headers to the Y pipe to see if that stops the groaning??

NOTE: The 12-pts were just a HUGE PITA to get installed. It resulted in quite a few lost tempers and thrown ratchets across the shop. (startled the sleeping girlfriend at 1am, but hey, it's all good..)

the 1" Pacesetters went in like a dream, and since they were 6point, you could use the open end of the wrench incase you cut the crap out of the tips of your fingers when you shove the exhaust gaskets down.

 

Pics/sound/movie to follow next week!!

 

I got my headers in. had to remove the steering linkage, the pass side went in fine.

HOWEVER, the drivers side collector exits into the floorboard where the tranny crossmember mounts. I assume thats why the pacesetter Y-pipes are crushed there, I guess I'll have to do that with my x-pipe kit.

what about the fuel lines? do any of you have problems with them cause the tube will be VERY close to them.

 

Ditch the Pacesetter C clamps and get band clamps. Don't weld the y-pipe to the headers. What would you do if you had to remove the trans? I put some header wrap around the fuel/brake lines until I can take time to rebend them out of the way. No problems with the fuel/brake lines yet.

 

Will the band clamps solve the groaning issue? I'm debating whether or not I want to weld in those triangular exhaust flanges on to my y-pipe and headers...

The groaning is causing an exhaust leak AND it's annoying as fudge.

 

Band clamps may or may not solve the problem, hard to say with certainty. I used them on my Pacesetter install and they seal extremely well, no leaks or groans.

 

Can you see an exhaust leak where this groaning would be? The y-pipe slips onto the headers pretty tight and I doubt that is where you're getting a leak or groan. Where the y-pipe comes together or where the y-pipe meets the cat-back is probably where it would be coming from. The band clamps will help seal up some slight leaks.

 

I am positive because the Y-pipe is welded to the exhaust, but clamped by the headers/ypipe.

 

You should be able to see the carbon from the exhaust where it's leaking. I've never heard an exhaust leak that sounded like a moan or groan. It could be something else vibrating under the car. Here's a couple pictures of my Pacesetter y-pipe that I added dual cats to. I just had the local Meineke weld up the Pypes cat that is on the driver's side. They did a really nice job and I ended up with a dual cat y-pipe for under $200 and no leaks!