BBK or pacesetter headers
I just thought it was funny he said kooks are worth it in quality and horsepower gains. Horsepower gains would be little if any in comparison to other headers. Then he said, installation is a pain in the ***. Why pay the extra money, then?
BBK's fitment is excellent and the flange that bolt's to the head are real thick. I've have had mine for almost 3 years, the chrome is blueish/purpleish but they are not rusted and still look good. I installed them by myself and bought them from jeg's and if you have a racer discount number you'll save some more $. BBK's y-pipe also comes with 4 bungs, so if you delete the rear 2 you still have a bung for your air/fuel 02 sensor and put a plug in other, the ball flange connection between the header and y-pipe nets you no leak what so ever. BBK's with the 3" borla adjustable on the car now sounds really good! Hope this helps!!
This is what my chrome headers look like when I pulled the off my wrecked car. They had been on the car for a little over a year.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/attachmen...icture-065.jpg
https://ls1tech.com/forums/attachmen...icture-065.jpg
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I was thinking the same thing- the difference that made my mind up was that the BBK are thicker being 14 gauge and the pacesetter being 16. Probably dont mean much... the welds all looked perfect to me, and the fitment couldnt get any better. Everyone always said they have a lot of clearance and they were right- they tuck under the car really well.
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 98
Likes: 0
From: Lavista, NE
I helped a friend put pacesetters on his trans am. We had to unhook the steering shaft, or the drivers side would not go in. We still scratched up the paint on the headers working them into place, but they went in. The headers looked really nice out of the box, they were shiny and black. The y-pipe looked like absolute dogshit but it had a flange that mated to the collectors on the headers, just like the BBKs so it fit fine. This guy never drove his car in snow or rain, but the headers looked like crap after a few months. They retained their structural integrity, but the black paint was mostly gone and they had rust all over them. He had already replaced the y-pipe because it was garbage.
I got the chrome BBKs with the ORY for about 100 less than what he paid for the Pacesetters. After a few months of decent weather and regular driving they're starting to get that rainbow color if you look closely; at a glance they still look new. The installation was the easiest job I have seen or heard of.
I always thought ceramic coatings were more of a heat insulation measure than rust protection. I can attest that coated headers will still get rusty. In any case even the cheaper chrome plate on the BBKs will hold up better than no coating at all, which is what you get on the pacesetters. The black paint smokes right off and the bare metal rusts.
I would only recommend against the BBKs if you:
A. Have or plan to do engine work where the 1 3/4 primaries and 2 3/4 into 3 y-pipe may be a significant limitation
B. Need to have AIR, EGR or cats. (Not possible with the BBK without serious modification)
C. Drive your car in the elements.
I got the chrome BBKs with the ORY for about 100 less than what he paid for the Pacesetters. After a few months of decent weather and regular driving they're starting to get that rainbow color if you look closely; at a glance they still look new. The installation was the easiest job I have seen or heard of.
I always thought ceramic coatings were more of a heat insulation measure than rust protection. I can attest that coated headers will still get rusty. In any case even the cheaper chrome plate on the BBKs will hold up better than no coating at all, which is what you get on the pacesetters. The black paint smokes right off and the bare metal rusts.
I would only recommend against the BBKs if you:
A. Have or plan to do engine work where the 1 3/4 primaries and 2 3/4 into 3 y-pipe may be a significant limitation
B. Need to have AIR, EGR or cats. (Not possible with the BBK without serious modification)
C. Drive your car in the elements.
^ great post!!
i have made up my mind and am gonna go with bbks ceramic, solely for the heat insulation purposes.
my tuner told me that pacesetters is the better performance, but i am not willing to sacrifice quality for that, plus i think with bbks i am comfortable of installing the headers myself, which should save some costs.
cant wait for the ls6 intake and bbks installs then, i am off to get a retune!
i have made up my mind and am gonna go with bbks ceramic, solely for the heat insulation purposes.
my tuner told me that pacesetters is the better performance, but i am not willing to sacrifice quality for that, plus i think with bbks i am comfortable of installing the headers myself, which should save some costs.
cant wait for the ls6 intake and bbks installs then, i am off to get a retune!
Just installed bbks and their y pipe onto my 02 z28 friday with one other person and it being my first time the only hard part was getting all my old **** off....the headers slid right up with no modification at all and it was a breeze....make sure you either get new mounts or play with the y pipe a little though because I still have some banging and vibrating I have to fix
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: Oxford, CT
Just installed bbks and their y pipe onto my 02 z28 friday with one other person and it being my first time the only hard part was getting all my old **** off....the headers slid right up with no modification at all and it was a breeze....make sure you either get new mounts or play with the y pipe a little though because I still have some banging and vibrating I have to fix
On The Tree
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 165
Likes: 1
From: Uniontown,pa
A. Have or plan to do engine work where the 1 3/4 primaries and 2 3/4 into 3 y-pipe may be a significant limitation
Would you consider a D-1sc enough of a power adder to have the bbk headers become a restriction. The car is lowered so I like the fact the bbk headers tuck up better but I don't want to choke the flow too much
Would you consider a D-1sc enough of a power adder to have the bbk headers become a restriction. The car is lowered so I like the fact the bbk headers tuck up better but I don't want to choke the flow too much
Dude the 2 3/4 y pipe will not be that much of a restriction it still comes in at 3 inch at the merge the only thing that might be a lil better is if you get headers with the 1 7/8 primaries those will help out when you get h/c but the bbk y is an awesome budget y pipe it wont restrict it that much and there should be no hp difference between any header you buy unless you are h/c and you are comparing the 1 3/4 to the 1 7/8
Last edited by Cstone812; Jul 28, 2011 at 01:25 PM.