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What Should I Do!?!?!

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Old 09-20-2007, 02:04 PM
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ok so here is the deal...i'm getting LTs and an ORY...a tuner recommended i get American Racing or LG headers but after putting money down on a house and paying for school i'm limited to about $500-600 for headers and ORY...he suggested i go for the hooker LTs 1 7/8"...i have a pretty much stock 2000 LS1...all i got is a lid and magnaflow catback...he said the Pacesetter primary collectors suck but that if i wanted i could go with those and sell them later when i get some cash.

Oh yeah he also said i should get any header uncoated...he said they flow worse coated and that when tuned you cant really get all of the power out of them...this guy has his own shop and mainly tunes corvettes...he said he has tuned over 2000 LSX's...anyway the reason why he says i should get them uncoated its becuase the heat may cause detonation...in his experience with coated headers he has had to tune for detonation and thus cannot tune to get the most power out of the headers...any thoughts on this?? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

And one last question...I have been looking into electric cutouts and i think i might just order some soon...with my setup of most likely either Pacesetter or Hooker LTs, ORY and Magnaflow catback is it worth it?? i though about welding 2 electric cutouts to the ORY right after they connect to the LTs...what do you guys think?? would i see any difference in power and/or acceleration??
Old 09-20-2007, 02:20 PM
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For a bolt on car you need 1 3/4 NOT 1 7/8 - you will loose a lot down low. I would definately go with coated headers. The coating cuts down significantly on underhood temps. The non-coated will rust sooo fast unless they car is only driven in perfect weather.
Old 09-20-2007, 02:22 PM
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I would suggest Pacesetter coated longtubes. Im not sure why the headers would cause detonation if they were coated, never heard that before? Def pick up an ory and I dont think you would need dual cutouts, just a single electric cutout in the I pipe. Duals might net you a few more ponies but they your looking at an additional $250 or so for another electric cutout, plus unless your going large cam, heads, etc I dont think you will really notice a major difference with the dual cutouts over the single one. Hope that helps!
Old 09-20-2007, 02:33 PM
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i have never heard of detonation from non coated headers?? Wtf? go with pacesetters, they great for the money! if i was you, check the for sale section out for used LTs and a Y pipe.. then save money by installing it your self.
Old 09-20-2007, 02:34 PM
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oh yeah i dont know if youd really need those cut outs ... the ORY will make ur car plenty loud, and it will flow alot better then a catted Y pipe..
Old 09-20-2007, 05:38 PM
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Just buy a used set of headers on here. I bought mine for $150 used shipped and they are coated pacesetters and they work/look perfect a year later now. I picked up my 3" tsp ory for about 75$ on a local board
Old 09-20-2007, 05:47 PM
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This is what he says:

One of the biggest things I look for on header design is the type of collectors they use. Most of the normal header company's that have been in the business for years, like to cut corners and use the cheaper style lower flow collectors... Basically all the tubes are cut straight off at the end of the primaries before going into the collector. I'm not a fan of those because the air has no direction after the primaries, and can go any which way it wants. Nicer headers will have a "scavenger spike" inside the collector between the 4 primaries. This helps direct the air flow to the center of the collector... getting it out of the header with the least amount of restriction possible.

This is the kind of collector you'll see on a good quality header like American Racing, or LG. It's a merge collector that shrinks down right after the primaries then goes back up to the size of your exhaust, essentially speeding up the air flow in the exhaust, and in turn causing your car to make more power.

This is just my experience from what I've seen in making headers. Another thing we could go into is coatings, and how much I dislike them on headers Ceramic coated headers always seem to cause detonation. Why? Well everybody jumps on this bandwagon of wanting to keep underhood temps down. Which is great, I love it, whatever you can do to keep underhood temps down is going to help make the motor produce more power. But what we're doing by ceramic coating the headers is we are locking that heat inside the exhaust... Not allowing it to dissipate... This heat now acts as an agent in producing detonation. Almost every car I've ever tuned that had ceramic coated headers, was not able to take as much ignition timing as a car with uncoated stainless steel headers. So the power was greatly reduced because instead of tuning for all out power, I had to tune for detonation. Extra fuel, and less timing... Things that have a great effect on what kinds numbers your car will put down on the dyno, and at the track.
Old 09-20-2007, 05:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Assassin66
This is what he says:

One of the biggest things I look for on header design is the type of collectors they use. Most of the normal header company's that have been in the business for years, like to cut corners and use the cheaper style lower flow collectors... Basically all the tubes are cut straight off at the end of the primaries before going into the collector. I'm not a fan of those because the air has no direction after the primaries, and can go any which way it wants. Nicer headers will have a "scavenger spike" inside the collector between the 4 primaries. This helps direct the air flow to the center of the collector... getting it out of the header with the least amount of restriction possible.

This is the kind of collector you'll see on a good quality header like American Racing, or LG. It's a merge collector that shrinks down right after the primaries then goes back up to the size of your exhaust, essentially speeding up the air flow in the exhaust, and in turn causing your car to make more power.

This is just my experience from what I've seen in making headers. Another thing we could go into is coatings, and how much I dislike them on headers Ceramic coated headers always seem to cause detonation. Why? Well everybody jumps on this bandwagon of wanting to keep underhood temps down. Which is great, I love it, whatever you can do to keep underhood temps down is going to help make the motor produce more power. But what we're doing by ceramic coating the headers is we are locking that heat inside the exhaust... Not allowing it to dissipate... This heat now acts as an agent in producing detonation. Almost every car I've ever tuned that had ceramic coated headers, was not able to take as much ignition timing as a car with uncoated stainless steel headers. So the power was greatly reduced because instead of tuning for all out power, I had to tune for detonation. Extra fuel, and less timing... Things that have a great effect on what kinds numbers your car will put down on the dyno, and at the track.
I understand what he is saying about merge collectors. One of the better flowing headers are the QTP's with high-velocity merge collectors, but honestly you will not notice the difference on a bolt on car between the QTPs/LG's/American Racing and the pacesetter headers. Hell even on a Heads/Cam car they arent going to matter all that much, maybe 3-5 rwhp at the most. As someone else said you def dont need the 1 7/8 primary headers as the 1 3/4 are more than enough for the stock 346, and unless your going with a radical heads/cam package, nitrous, supercharger, or larger CI in the future the 1 7/8th are going to be overkill for your setup. As for the coating, I have never heard that before in my life. I see what he is saying but it doesnt make much sense. The hotter the exhaust gas the better/faster it will flow out of your exhaust, so I dont see how that would cause detonation unless he is saying that since its not allowing it to dissapate through the headers that it is causing the engine to run hotter, but again I would like to see proof before believing that statement.
Old 09-20-2007, 06:21 PM
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sweet...coated pacesetters it is...anyone know where i can get a cheap electric cutout?? i'll even take a used one...thanks!!
Old 09-20-2007, 06:25 PM
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Personally, I wouldn't even bother buying mods for your car right now. You just got done putting money down on your house and paying for school, and you're obviously low on money since you can't afford good headers. My financial advice to you is to save up and wait until you can afford a good set of headers, not throw something cheap on because you can't afford anything better at the time. I think getting headers right now when you're low on money after spending a bundle is putting your priorities completely out of order.

However, if you don't like my advice (which I expect you won't ), I would get a set of the XS stainless headers. I wouldn't put non-stainless headers on my car, so I'd NEVER buy Pacesetters. Even though the XS headers are not the best headers on the market, they're above and beyond better than the Pacesetters, will last a lot longer, will never rust, will show the same if not more power and are about the same price.
Old 09-20-2007, 06:26 PM
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anyone have a rough estimate as to how much power i will be putting to the wheels with the Pacesetters, ORY, magnaflow catback and Lid?? and how much more power would i gain when i open the cutout?? 4-5rwhp maybe??
Old 09-20-2007, 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Assassin66
anyone have a rough estimate as to how much power i will be putting to the wheels with the Pacesetters, ORY, magnaflow catback and Lid?? and how much more power would i gain when i open the cutout?? 4-5rwhp maybe??
Something like that, but you'll probably lose power overall with an open cutout. You'll probably run a better time without a cutout even on your car. I ran back to back 13.60's on a hot summer's night with just a lid and my Corsa catback, but after adding an aluminum driveshaft, the Fast Toys Ram Air kit and running an open cutout on a significantly cooler night, I couldn't beat a 13.79. The open cutout KILLED my ET because while you may gain a few rwhp up top, overall, you lose a lot under the curve.
Old 09-20-2007, 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by ChocoTaco369
Personally, I wouldn't even bother buying mods for your car right now. You just got done putting money down on your house and paying for school, and you're obviously low on money since you can't afford good headers. My financial advice to you is to save up and wait until you can afford a good set of headers, not throw something cheap on because you can't afford anything better at the time. I think getting headers right now when you're low on money after spending a bundle is putting your priorities completely out of order.

However, if you don't like my advice (which I expect you won't ), I would get a set of the XS stainless headers. I wouldn't put non-stainless headers on my car, so I'd NEVER buy Pacesetters. Even though the XS headers are not the best headers on the market, they're above and beyond better than the Pacesetters, will last a lot longer, will never rust, will show the same if not more power and are about the same price.
nah you make a lot of sense...besides im not looking to go all that crazy with this car...maybe somewhere around 400rwhp or so...i plan on getting a 5th gen camaro and modding the **** out of it...n this will be my DD...but where can i find the XS headers??
Old 09-20-2007, 06:32 PM
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Originally Posted by ChocoTaco369
Something like that, but you'll probably lose power overall with an open cutout. You'll probably run a better time without a cutout even on your car. I ran back to back 13.60's on a hot summer's night with just a lid and my Corsa catback, but after adding an aluminum driveshaft, the Fast Toys Ram Air kit and running an open cutout on a significantly cooler night, I couldn't beat a 13.79. The open cutout KILLED my ET because while you may gain a few rwhp up top, overall, you lose a lot under the curve.
so are cutouts worthless then?? i will be taking my Z to the track soon...and i do the occassional street race...so should i just go ahead and ditch the cutout?
Old 09-20-2007, 07:17 PM
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i did a google search on the XS headers ChocoTaco recommended and all i could find was ricer forums who are running these...i looked on ebay and just the headers alone are close to $800 from some dude in england...anyone actually heard of these XS headers?? If so would you agree with ChocoTaco that might even be better?? i don't plan on dishing out $800...in that case i would just go QTP.
Old 09-20-2007, 07:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Assassin66
so are cutouts worthless then?? i will be taking my Z to the track soon...and i do the occassional street race...so should i just go ahead and ditch the cutout?
Cutouts aren't worthless, but they essentially are as a performance mod as long as you have a good catback. Chances are, a cutout will hurt you more at the track than it will help. They're more of a "fun" mod. My cutout is not a performance mod. If anything, it's hurting me. Having the cutout open makes me lose A LOT of low end power and closing it causes a flow disruption. If I was ALL about performance, I'd remove the cutout completely and just run a straight pipe into the muffler as my cutout right now does nothing but cause my exhaust to flow off balance. However, I'm 21 and have LT headers on my car, so my cutout is a "hey, look at me!" mod. It's obnoxiously loud, scares women and children, sounds mean as hell albeit not a very nice tone...I love it

Last edited by ChocoTaco369; 09-20-2007 at 07:34 PM.
Old 09-20-2007, 07:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Assassin66
i did a google search on the XS headers ChocoTaco recommended and all i could find was ricer forums who are running these...i looked on ebay and just the headers alone are close to $800 from some dude in england...anyone actually heard of these XS headers?? If so would you agree with ChocoTaco that might even be better?? i don't plan on dishing out $800...in that case i would just go QTP.
Go here:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...ight=stainless

black2002ws6 is a sponsor and sells both the y-pipe and race version of the headers for $550 SHIPPED. They're VERY NICE for the money, ABOVE AND BEYOND the quality of Pacesetters. They're stainless and will last a lifetime assuming the welds hold up. This is the route I'd go if money is tight.

However, it's also important to note that MPH Motorsports is running a sale on QTP headers. QTP's are one of the best if not the best header on the market (I run them), and they're on sale for $685. Now, this is a very good deal, but it's a lot more money than what you alloted to spend, plus their y-pipe doesn't fit well and a custom y-pipe is really necessary IMO.

In case you decide to spring for QTP's, here's the link:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/sponsor-sales-specials/780773-quick-time-performance-headers-y-pipe-sale.html

If not, I strongly recommend the XS over the Pacesetters since the quality is substantially higher for about the same price.

I didn't want to sound like a jerk or anything with my "financial advice" up top Hey, I'm just a 21 year old know-nothing know-it-all myself. I just get bothered when I see people dump their life savings into these quickly depreciating cars. I guess what I'm saying is you sound like a young guy getting started with life, and having a fast car is cool and all, but having a fast car isn't so cool if that's what you're living in
Old 09-20-2007, 07:50 PM
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cool...thanks man...by the way i'm only 22...so i guess we're kind of on the same boat...financially i'm stable...my girl just graduated from law school and now we just bought the house...so i know we'll be well off lol...only reason i stated i was short on cash was becuase people immediately start throwing out names likt American Racing and LG...headers that are upward of 1K...i'm not willing to spend that much for an extra 5-6 rwhp...but anyway im just looking to make my car run faster than it is right now and sound pretty mean doing it...thanks for the links by the way.
Old 09-20-2007, 08:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Assassin66
cool...thanks man...by the way i'm only 22...so i guess we're kind of on the same boat...financially i'm stable...my girl just graduated from law school and now we just bought the house...so i know we'll be well off lol...only reason i stated i was short on cash was becuase people immediately start throwing out names likt American Racing and LG...headers that are upward of 1K...i'm not willing to spend that much for an extra 5-6 rwhp...but anyway im just looking to make my car run faster than it is right now and sound pretty mean doing it...thanks for the links by the way.
No problem, always glad to help. If you're interested in QTP's or anything, you can always shoot me a PM
Old 09-20-2007, 09:21 PM
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no prob...thanks




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