For those of you I haven't seen in the past weeks, my headers are now in. And I like them.

The biggest issue was the y-pipe. Two ends were sized improperly and the whole length was 3/4 of an inch too long. It also had two back 02 bungs which are unused and until I plugged them up, they gave the pipe a "not-so-good" sound. I only fixed that issue yesterday, so no one has heard them with the holes plugged (and it improves the sound immensely). I still need to have a shop adjust the pipe where it is banging slightly on the floorboards though.

Despite the problems, these Pacesetter headers seem to be worth the headaches since their price is so low. For 300-600 extra dollars, I can take care of the minor issues myself. Besides, even some of the $1200 USD headers have the same y-pipe problem I found... so why pay twice the price for the same problem?

Needless to say, my opinion may change once I have dyno numbers, which I want to try to get this weekend or next week.

 

Awsome !!

On a scale of 1 - 10 how hard did you find the install ?? . . . . what does your atap say about the a/f ratio ??

 

right on chris cant wait to here them in perosn buddie!... yeah that y pipe gave you some greef

 

If 1 is easy and 10 is hard, then I would rate the difficulty as a 3 at most. As long as you have the tools, the ability to raise the car enough, a little patience not to finish in a single day (though you can easy, if there are no set backs) and a second set of hands to help lift out the old manifolds and lift in the new, then its easy. One of the biggest things is having someone help you when you are bolting things in with an all aluminum engine. If there is any side stress on a bolt, it WILL cross thread. So you need someone around to take the pressure off anything you are screwing down.

I put a pretty good description on LS1.com in the sticky thread about exhausts.

Tools I used that I didn't expect to: Blowtorch to remove a cross-threaded O2 sensor (had it); Swedge to flare pipe (Muffler shop); cutting tool to handle 3-inch pipe (muffler shop). Also handy was a WIDE range of sockets, rhino ramps, rubber mallet, a second person, beer, dremel (for weld joints) and grinder.

 

Great mod Chris. I'm looking to buy headers too. Sorry to hear about the length problem. What type of headers did you go with? I was thinking about SLP but I like the QTP headers. I look forward to seeing you soon.

 

Mine are Pacesetter 1.75 Long Tubes, based on the Hooker design. Coated, its under $600 US for everything - headers (coated), ypipe, sims, etc... No one else is even close in price.

QTPs are nice sounding - just more money, they may take 3+ months to get, and they have some of the same y-pipe fitment issues. SLPs are nice (though pricey if you get their cats), but they absolutely remove any ground clearance you have. Also since they are tuned, people get some funny results with them, depending on your set up. Some people will gain 3 rwhp and others will claim 40rwhp...

I think the big thing is when i dyno to see if I get the 15-25 rwhp that everyone else gets... that is if Harvey's machine can get me an accurate reading.

 

How could you not expect to use this?
Did you have enough to get the job done?

 

Yup , Slp's hang way too low ,you may want to look into kooks if you want a nice set . Fwiw all the header packeges seem to be a crap shoot with fitment .

 

FLP

 

congrats man, finally.

 

Thanks matt. Its turned out I didn't need you to RUSH back my coil packs... since it took so long with the y-pipe.

FLPs are nice Amit, but they are twice the cost and have the same problems. They are good quality though, so if one has FLPs, there would be no reason to switch. They are just not my first choice anymore (used to be - now maybe 4th).

 

I know about the clearance issues with the SLP headers so those are out. Too bad cause I mainly buy SLP mods. This 02 LS1 is so quite I can almost floor it in front of a cop and he wont even bat an eye at me. For next year I want more power with a throatier sound.

 

glad to hear you got them all in and all is well.
hopefully i can order a set before they raise the prices in the new year.