Pacesetter Headers = Poor Quality & Warranty
^hookers fit best imo, but the pacesetters dont fit bad..Just the hookers slide in a lot easier.
You will be fine with the pacesetters, im just saying mine rusted pretty bad after 3 months..
You will be fine with the pacesetters, im just saying mine rusted pretty bad after 3 months..
Last edited by johnLs1camaro; Jan 24, 2010 at 11:36 PM.
I think they offered a good deal with free re-coating. 2 way shipping sould be + -150$, I guess, which is cheap for a new looking headers compared to 600-800$ for stainless steel headers...
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
DAMET!!! I jus bought some coated pacesetters b/c they were so cheap. 
where was this thread two weeks ago!! Picked pacestters b/c of price and heard fitment was very good. Did the pacesetters at least go in pretty easy b/c that was my final deciding factor to go with pacesetters b/c i heard that the fitment was very good. So besides from the shity coating did everyones pacesetters go in fairly easy??? (knew i should of went w/ LPP stainless Arrgghhh!)
where was this thread two weeks ago!! Picked pacestters b/c of price and heard fitment was very good. Did the pacesetters at least go in pretty easy b/c that was my final deciding factor to go with pacesetters b/c i heard that the fitment was very good. So besides from the shity coating did everyones pacesetters go in fairly easy??? (knew i should of went w/ LPP stainless Arrgghhh!) My cliff notes I gathered on this thread:
-Looks like they tried to make it right by coating your headers for free and you declined
-This is an EXTERNAL related topic, posted in the internal section for some reason
Moving now....
-Looks like they tried to make it right by coating your headers for free and you declined
-This is an EXTERNAL related topic, posted in the internal section for some reason
Moving now....
i have 3 sets of pacesetters total 2 i got used one i bought new the new ones came bubbled and tsp took forever waiting to hear back from pacesetter so i just installed them but i dont recomend anyone buy from them they are poor quality hookers are much better
12 Second Club
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 225
Likes: 0
From: Nashville
My Pacesetters went on easily. They have a little bit of rust on them. I daily drive my car so they get rain, snow, salt. Im not really worried about what they look like since they sit in my engine bay, under a hood that is usually shut most of the time. If I was really worried about being show quality I would have bought some Stainless headers.
on a side note since your looking at stainless headers now, i have a set of edelbrock stainless headers 1 3/4 stepped to 1 7/8 with 3 1/2 HVMC's that fit and look 100 times better than my pacesetters ever did. and these are bigger! my vote is the edelbrock headers. and they are now doing the Ti tech coating on their stainless headers for a little more money, but they look great. all the durability of stainless headers without the discoloration associated with them.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo
Kooks
I use to say I would never pay that much money for headers cause they pretty much do the same thing. I had pacesetters on my old white car.. Made good power and went in/fit extremely well.. They looked like COMPLETE **** though.
I will only buy Kooks for now on.
I use to say I would never pay that much money for headers cause they pretty much do the same thing. I had pacesetters on my old white car.. Made good power and went in/fit extremely well.. They looked like COMPLETE **** though.
I will only buy Kooks for now on.
my pacesetter headers look just fine and both headers slipped right into place in 5 minutes. there is slight rust on the bottom of the collector but nothing like your pictures, i have even submerged the headers in water in some deep puddles
12 Second Club
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,712
Likes: 0
From: Between Bowling Green/Owensboro
Wow this scares the hell outta me actually. I guess im going to have to save up for kooks or get LPP. The free coating would have been good but I would have been paranoid to have to get it done in another year or so. I have to say im disappointed because i drove through a few snow storms and lots of rain since this summer and put around 9k on my egay headers with none of this.
They've always had shitty quality, thats why there stuff is cheap. Theres alot of shops around that wont install there headers because of there inconsistancy...I had them back in 1998 on old LT1 and the y pipe for the headers didnt even come close to almost fitting.
Pacesetter has come a long way since the early days. Their newer batch of headers fit better than a LOT of other headers out there. I just installed a set of Kooks that fit like garbage in comparison to a set of new Pacesetters.
To those reading this, do not be afraid of Pacesetters. As long as you're buying a new set, they're fine. I've installed probably 50 sets, and only have 1 set sent back for fitment issues. That's not a bad ratio for $300 LT's if you ask me. I'd recommend them to anyone.
It's the guys running those $150 Ebay headers that need their 'noggin checked for cracks.
To those reading this, do not be afraid of Pacesetters. As long as you're buying a new set, they're fine. I've installed probably 50 sets, and only have 1 set sent back for fitment issues. That's not a bad ratio for $300 LT's if you ask me. I'd recommend them to anyone.
It's the guys running those $150 Ebay headers that need their 'noggin checked for cracks.
12 Second Club
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,712
Likes: 0
From: Between Bowling Green/Owensboro
Pacesetter has come a long way since the early days. Their newer batch of headers fit better than a LOT of other headers out there. I just installed a set of Kooks that fit like garbage in comparison to a set of new Pacesetters.
To those reading this, do not be afraid of Pacesetters. As long as you're buying a new set, they're fine. I've installed probably 50 sets, and only have 1 set sent back for fitment issues. That's not a bad ratio for $300 LT's if you ask me. I'd recommend them to anyone.
It's the guys running those $150 Ebay headers that need their 'noggin checked for cracks.
To those reading this, do not be afraid of Pacesetters. As long as you're buying a new set, they're fine. I've installed probably 50 sets, and only have 1 set sent back for fitment issues. That's not a bad ratio for $300 LT's if you ask me. I'd recommend them to anyone.
It's the guys running those $150 Ebay headers that need their 'noggin checked for cracks.
Mine look the same after 2 years. My car has seen rain maybe a hand full of times since I installed them. I knew what I was buying and other than the discoloration and some rust, I have no issues with them. They went on and fit very nicely.
First question: Should a set of coated headers really need to be recoated in 2 years and after only 900 miles?
Second question: I know Jet Hot's coating is intended to trap heat within the exhaust tubing and thus reduce underhood temps by not having it radiate into the engine bay. But is it not meant to keep the headers looking nice and to be a protective coating as well?
Third question: Does anyone have any pictures of their coated Stainless Steel headers that have been on vehicle for some miles? I would like to see if the coating on these pieces have any rust.
Second question: I know Jet Hot's coating is intended to trap heat within the exhaust tubing and thus reduce underhood temps by not having it radiate into the engine bay. But is it not meant to keep the headers looking nice and to be a protective coating as well?
Third question: Does anyone have any pictures of their coated Stainless Steel headers that have been on vehicle for some miles? I would like to see if the coating on these pieces have any rust.
If the O.P. is going to go to all the trouble to uninstall the headers from his ride, spend more of his cash to ship them to AND from Pacesetter (this makes the recoat not at all free), and wait patiently, with his car unable to be driven (it doesn't sound like this part would be much of an inconvenience, due to the limited number of miles on the car, but nonetheless...) for them to be recoated and shipped back to him, then reinstall them, only to have them possibly rust again and have to do this all over again, (here comes the question) why would he bother having them recoated?
Here is my answer to this question...
I would say he made the responsible and mature decision to decline the recoating offer.
If these headers were coming off of my car, they'd have no chance of ever going back on. So why bother with the hassel of shipping them out and having to wait to put your ride back together. I would put the money I would have spent shipping them toward the price of a better quality part.
The O.P. may be a little off base with the "Poor Warranty" claim, due to the offer to recoat (although, without shipping costs included, is a lame offer, at best), but I would agree the point of his posting (he actually states this in Post #8) is to show the actual quality of these performance parts. And for anyone interested in them, to take this into consideration before purchasing a set. As many of you have stated, there is a reason these headers are so reasonably priced. Its as simple as "you get what you pay for".
This is simply my opinion and everyone is entitled to theirs.
Very good thread, snorris. I applaud you.
I have had Pacesetters coated by Pacesetter, then I had another set coated locally, and then Jet Hots...they all rusted. Why? Because coatings are useless for rust prevention. I live in Florida and there is no way to avoid the highly humid air taking a toll on the coating. So I wouldn't blame Pacesetter, I've had three different coatings rust out on me in the EXACT same way as yours. I eventually went to stainless headers on my Camaro and they looked great...they hit the floor, but they looked great and stayed that way after the normal heat discoloration. I have stainless on my GTO and I will never use anything else again.