General LSX Automobile Discussion - header solution?!?!

So I bought some crap headers before hoping for a deal and it sounds like the merge finally split and i'm hearing a massive exhaust leak. I need to replace these asap but I don't really have money to spend.

For a temporary 2-3 year fix.. would it be better going with pacesetter or hooker headers? As of now i'm looking at uncoated.. will these last atleast 2 years?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Do you drive in the rain or snow/salt alot?

Right now it's my daily driver, never drive in snow.. I'm moving to southern california in September though for my job

If it's just rain, then you will be more than fine to have them last 2-3 years. The heat from the headers will burn off most of the moisture anyway.

Really it's the salt that just eats up uncoated raw steel headers.

Sounds good,

can anybody comment on the quality/performance of the Hooker comp headers?

What I wonder is, why if you're so broke you don't just
figure out the real problem and fix it ("sounds like" is kind
of weak).

Long tubes ain't gonna cut it in Cali unless you have a
buddy on the down-low in the inspection business. So
I wouldn't get too excited about replacing like with like.

Already have figured out what to do about emissions stuff in cali so thats NOT an issue. and I have figured out the issue, called the shop where the car just was (highly reputable shop), they determined that the merge did split, but they can't see it.. the header would have to be pulled off and welded.. a lot of time and money wasted on a crap product to begin with. They already are bent in quite a bit for fitment..

Look into some BBK headers.

as said, cheapest right now while im in college is best. i start my job in 3 months and will save for a better system.. BBK is pretty good, but hooker for 286 shipped from one of the sponsors here seems to be the best..how are the overall performance on these??

I have the hooker headers and it's my dd, 4 years and no problems still look good.

Did you have any coatings or were they just painted black?

Stainless steel.

Ive had a set of uncoated Pacesettter on for 3yrs and made good power w them for the money there a real bang for the buck

I'd consider Ebay headers if I were you. They're stainless steel and last time I looked they they were $200 shipped.

I had hooker headers and one of the pipes split on the inside of the merge where they all meet plus the headers sounded like shit, and my where coated.... Long story short I got a set of kooks and never looked back

as said, cheapest right now while im in college is best. i start my job in 3 months and will save for a better system.. BBK is pretty good, but hooker for 286 shipped from one of the sponsors here seems to be the best..how are the overall performance on these??

Is that with y-pipe? The BBK comes with the y-pipe.

In response to the Ebay headers, I think thats what I had from a guy from texas here who was starting his own company and screwed a bunch of people over on not delivering parts... can anybody else comment on hooker problems?

and I didn't see that the BBK came with the Y pipe, how is the quality/performance of BBK??

In response to the Ebay headers, I think thats what I had from a guy from texas here who was starting his own company and screwed a bunch of people over on not delivering parts... can anybody else comment on hooker problems?

and I didn't see that the BBK came with the Y pipe, how is the quality/performance of BBK??

I have the chrome set. Which I think the are pretty good for the price. I have had them for about 4 years on 2 cars. The performance should be about the same as the hooker headers.

I love my Pasesetters, but they already have rust specs after two years, no snow, minimal rain, and they're coated.

I also have the chrome BBK headers with the ORY and haven't had any problems out of them whatsoever and they also leave a ton of ground clearance. I bought mine from Byunspeed which is now Coloradospeed? Awesome deal and mine have been on my car 3 years now.

Yeah the chrome BBKs obviously won't last the same as stainless, but I've had them on 2 years now, even got caught in surprise rain a couple times. They have started to turn colors a bit but NO rust. Painted headers rust almost immediately. Combine that with the fact that they come with a Y-pipe and are easier to install than any other header and they are a pretty good deal.

What about this idea. But back on a set of the stock exhaust manifolds and save your money until you can afford what you want. My first set of headers did the same thing, split where they couldn't be fixed.

Yeah the chrome BBKs obviously won't last the same as stainless, but I've had them on 2 years now, even got caught in surprise rain a couple times. They have started to turn colors a bit but NO rust. Painted headers rust almost immediately. Combine that with the fact that they come with a Y-pipe and are easier to install than any other header and they are a pretty good deal.

My headers look like a rainbow now, but no rust. My car is a DD.

my hookers are holding up well. the y pipe they sent needed some work and bumpstops. made good power with em, and to me they sounded awesome. i got painted ones haha. i just keep spraying rust shit on em to slow the process down, and brush em up every once in a while. it is possible to take care of them.

I have SLP Headers and they make great power. Sound, and they still look brand new 5 years later.