97camaro30th

I just got pacesetter longtubes for my 97 camaro ss and have to deal with the cats being replaced with an ORY pipe. Without the O2 sensors I know that will trigger the check engine light. To keep that off I heard of O2 simulators or a tune to get the light off?? Any suggestions on this setup before I put the exhaust all in. Thanks.

02v8ta

iTrader: (8)

Welcome, You're still going to retain your front 02 sensors. They will plug into your header collectors. You will need to purchase at least one extension even though they're sold in pairs alot. The ORY will not have the fittings for the rear 02's (even if they did you'd still probably get the SES light) The simulators are worthless imo since a tune will eliminate the rear 02's and you'll have a better performing car. I personally would recommend looking into lt1pcmtuning or madz for your tune.

Are you doing the install yourself?

97camaro30th

Hey thanks for the feedback clears things up, yeah a tune sounds like the way to go and the car will need a tune after the header install I figure. I do not have a lift so I plan on having a shop do the work.

02v8ta

iTrader: (8)

Try to shop around alittle before you decide on a place. A majority will over charge you for that kind of labor. I got lucky and found a guy on my street with his own car shop in the back yard that always helps me in a pinch for a price.

Just so you know you can get away with a header install, ORY and exhaust of your choosing without a tune right away or for first start up, no damage will be done. The tune will maximize your power gains and get rid of any trouble codes. Speaking of, are you keeping your emissions junk?

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

You don't need a tune in order to drive the car on the street or track. What I'd do is once the track opens, take it there to get a baseline, get it tuned, go back to the track and see what the difference is to see if the tune was worth it.

97camaro30th

I do have the headers with the EGR/Air valves for the emissions and would it be best to have a local speed shop to put it on a dyno and have the car tuned or get a tuner for the car?

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

As long as the tuner knows what they're doing, it's always better to have a dyno tune.

bufmatmuslepants

iTrader: (3)

A shop is going to try to bend you over to do headers, mostly because nobody wants to do them. Its not that hard to do them yourself, and once you see the price of what a shop will want to charge you, you may find that you can spend that money on a nice set of tools, and do it yourself in 8 hours.

ZFreie

OP, I didn't see where you were from, there might be local members who would do it for a much reduced cost over a speed shop or give you a hand in installing them if you go that route.

97camaro30th

Yeah it looks extremely tight in the engine bay. It would be nice to use a lift to do the job and would be great to have someone with experience with the lt1 to help install them.

Steven Manson

I just did mine 4 weeks ago by myself and first time ever doing them.

No lift either.

Went pretty easy. I pulled the Steering shaft off (5 min) and the left one dropped right in then reattached the shaft.

Right side, I pulled off the Alt, the PS Pump and yanked out the A/C (it WASN'T going back in). Then yanked the ACC Bracket off.

Removed the Manifolds (you'll learn new cuss words) and SawZ-All the pipes. Pulled the Oil Dipstick out (2 min) and the Right side dropped right in from the Top. Bolted everything back together.

Usual time is about 6-8 hours to do the Headers which is why you might WTF at the bill.....

SilverSS07

iTrader: (1)

It's really not that bad to do the headers by yourself. It seems like it would be harder to do them on a lift because I had to jack the motor up a bit to squeeze them in there- mostly for the passenger side. Went ahead and put in new motor mounts too. I pulled the alt but not the ps pump or a/c. I got rid of the egr/air though so that made some new room on the driver side.

97camaro30th

Yeah I'm Leaning towards just doing the job myself with a buddy. I was wondering what all needed taken out so thanks for the info on that. From what I heard a tune will eliminate the rear O2 sensors as I want the cats gone to put in an ORY pipe?

02v8ta

iTrader: (8)

Correct, if you don't want the engine light on for your missing cats and rear 02's.

When i did my headers on my 97 I almost didn't swap out the stock PCM for the tuned one i had because how much better the car felt with just the header updrage, and that car was never going to see an inspection station.

Doing it with a buddy is a good way to go. Both of mine went in through the bottom. Driver side will be a ton easier than the passenger side because of the space you have to work with.

97camaro30th

Well thanks guys for all the info and help, answered all my questions I had going into this.

Codytaylor90

Either extend your harness and plug them in if you have them on your pipe if not turn it off by going to a tuner or if you have a hand held chip CPU u can do it also