I have stock headers on my 97 z28 v-8. I am interested in upgrading them. I saw a few interesting ones but a friend told me that I could just get my stock ones bored and polished for cheaper and it would perform as good as the aftermarket ones.

So, I am wondering:
1.)Would boreing and polishing the stock headers do much and how much would it cost?
2.)If i get aftermarket, should I get coated or does it not make much difference?
3.)Do i need a new Y-Pipe or will the stock one be just fine? I already have a corsa exhaust installed. And do i need anything else such as o2 sensors?
4.) Do headers affect the noise or loudness of the car?
5.) I am planning on getting long tubes, but does anyone know any certain brands that perform well and are on the cheaper side?
6.) Approximately how hard is it to change to aftermarket headers with the correct tools?

 

well you have dual cats now... one cat is stuffed into the engine compartment almost directly under the driver side manifold, and the other is furhter back under the passenger seat area almost. you have a few options... one being sticking with dual cats, and getting SLP shorties which are around $500 and connect to the stock y pipe, or you can get a random tech dual cat y pipe for another $500 to connect to that... or you can convert to single cat headers from a 93-95 car since they are much better designed than the dual cat headers that come up above the valve cover and do all these loops to retain the stock location of the driver side cat.

http://www.cardomain.com/id/loadre

those are the dual cat shorties down there.

 

If you say so... Although I doub it PIC


2.)If you coated them they will not rust, and they would stay cooler (which in this situation will be better)
3.)depends what you get
4.) you can bet at it!
5.) I pay $577 with the o2 bugs weld it and jethot coated
6.)depends on the headers..

leo

 

Im pretty sure increasing the bore of the stock exhaust manifolds (they are not headers, they are manifolds) would do just about jack****.

Headers are special because the tubes from each cylinder are approximately the same length creating less turbulence and a scavanging effect.

You will most likely want to go with coated long tube (see: pacesetter, hooker, jethot, SLP, or FLP) or mid lengthheaders (see: MAC, edelbrock, AS&M), as shortties headers will not be worth the cost.

You will need a new y-pipe either custom made or bought header specific (both are about the same price).

If you take out your cats you will need O2 simulators for the post cat sensors on both sides.

If you leave in your cats you will need to lengthen all the O2 sensor wires (cut, strip, soder. Not a big deal).

If you remove your cats your car will be significantly louder, will blow black smoke, and smell funny.

If you leave your cats (or get hi-flow units) the noise will be different, not neccesarily louder, but different.

For coated long tubes on a budget PACESETTER LTS are the way to go. I bought my set coated for under $400 shipped from redlineperformanceengineering.com.

A Y-pipe (no coating) was 150 from them, but I went with a custom y-pipe from a shop for 100.

The headers have improved performance, under engine noise (valve train, intake) have become noticibly loud under load (2500+ rpm cruise, at WOT you only hear exhaust).

The difficulty of the install is totally up to your skill and experience with the LT1 engine. I opted to have them installed because of a good deal through my Dads friends muffler shop.

 

Do coated headers really make any difference? They are a lot cheaper.

 

I think i will go with the pacesetter longtubes and I would like to keep my cats. Is it possible to just bend and cut the stock y -pipe to match up with them? Also, does the coating really make much difference? The uncoated ones are a lot cheaper.

 

The coating is going to make a big difference in both looks and underhood temps. The coated ones pretty much won't rust since they are coated inside and out. Also, they are shiny which looks nice anyways. The cooler underhood temps will help out with power as well.

As far as modifying the stock Y pipe, you can do it, but I wouldn't run it for any length of time. No sense in having LT headers with 3" collectors dumping into a 2.25" pipe.

 

good choice on the pacesetters

as for cats, i would search around for cheap hi-flow cats. i think i've seen new ones sell for $30-50 on ebay.

and if you don't have to pass emissions...why worry about it?

and yes the coating is well worth it, much cleaner look (no rust), keeps engine bay temps down, and helps prevent melting of wires and things.

 

What brand headers are those?

 

I was in the same situation as you. I also live in MI, and don't have to worry about emmisions. I switched from stock dual cat setup to single cat headers. Best thing I ever did.

In my opinion, Pacesetters are good, but also keep in mind the midlength headers. MAC's and RKsports are great choices. I could go on and on why I think MAC's are better than LT's, but that's already been beat to death, and you could search on it. You can get the MAC mids Jet-hot coated, with the headers and Y-pipe for about $560 shipped.

Things to keep in mind. With LT's you will need a special, expensive Y-pipe if you want to keep cats. With the MAC mids, you can have a high flow cat made for $80, and the Y-pipe already comes with the headers. The cat simply bolts up after the Y-pipe and doesn't need to be welded in. The great thing about this is that you can bolt in a straight pipe or a bullet muffler in place of the cat if you want to. Myself, I have one bolt in high flow cat, and one bolt in bullet muffler. I love the sound and performance of the bullet muffler, but if for some reason I ever needed to pass the sniffer, I have the cat to bolt in. It's a matter of 5 minutes changing from one to the other.

Dan

 

hooker Lt (got them from JEthot)

 

I like that design over my AS&M.

 

is it true they dont make FLP headers for LT1s anymore?...

if not id vote Jethot hookers with custom catted y -pipe if u want catts

 

I appreciate all the help for explaining a lot of this stuff to me. I will decide soon. I also have another question, how hard would it be to convert to true dual exhaust with the new headers. I know i would need a new exhaust but It seems easier than messing with a y-pipe and all..

 

if you have all the tools to fabricated the true dual yourself... great! if not, you're going to need someone do them for you.

leo