I finally got some motivation after wanting headers for awhile to get some money saved for it. I was trying to decide between going the cheapest route possible..Pacesetters with a TSP or Pacesetter ORY, or the BBK kit or going with TSP's newly revised headers. After some thought I decided TSP was the best choice..stainless steel and 1 7/8"....both goods things. Along with the kit I got some gaskets and O2 extensions which worked out nicely.
As for the install though...
The passenger side as most everyone knows goes in like a breeze, for my install I took off EVERYTHING. Coil's, plugs, wires, etc. Since my hands are quite large and I'm a pretty big guy at 6'7" I needed some room. I would HIGHLY reccommend to anyone attempting this install to get a 10MM ratching wrench. It helps A. LOT. The drivers side is a bitch. You are better off unbolting the steering linkage, and jacking the motor off of the mount and taking the mount off. I chose not to do motor mounts while I was in there, I'm punching myself in the nuts now. DO. THEM. After you get all of that off the header literally glides into place.

So far I have yet to attach the y-pipe simply because I want to enjoy some loudness since the install sucked, I'll be putting the ORY on tonight to my SLP LM2 and see how it sounds, which will likely be raspy..

 

Sweet deal!! i should be ordering a full TSP setup here in the next week or so, Headers, ORY, and their Rumbler, so i'm stoked to read this, question, i don't think many people have covered, i already have solid motor mounts, is there a possible fitment issue because of this? alsoooo, might they make the install easier? anyway, good luck with the rest,

p.s, where are the pics?

 

texas speed finally got some more 1 7/8s in?? FINALLY... Good info OP

 

hell, i hope they have em in haha, i'm going to order them by the end of the week. . .

 

ORDER ORDER ORDER THEM!!! 98 LS1, I took my motor mount OUT of the car completely...well almost, I unbolted it from the K Member and it made it easier, you also need to undo the bolts of the alternator to get the center bolt out. I'm not sure about the solid mount however. I'd just do plugs, wires, cleaning and the whole 9 yards while you are there though.
The Y-pipe is a bit of a bitch, the drivers side has a pretty funky bend to it, so I havent left it on, from my experiences so far its best to probly put the cat-back on FIRST, then put your tunnel brace in, and THEN attach your Y-pipe to the headers, then you know the angle you will need!! Ask any questions and I'll try to keep an eye on this thread!

 

sweet deal, thanks for the heads up, yeah i'll use this one for my build also to kinda keep it up and fluid, but i hope that those solids add to the clearance for installation, either way, taking the bolts offa the solids is easier then goin in on the stockers, also, my ac is gone, i have all sorts of room haha, but yeah, plugs, wires, cleanup, those are kind of a given anyway, and i gotta delete all the EGR and AIR garbage, that's just my opinion, it cleans it all up. anyway, thanks for the insight!

 

The AIR pump is sort of a bitch, there are a lot of bolts down there, I used a few different "how-to's" on here to do my install, but a lot of it I just winged it til I got into a jiffy, the AIR pump has a few bolts, I honestly just undid them all, it was still not coming out so I just snapped the brackets.

 

i might end up doing the same, i just know it has to go, did you get any of the stuff deleted (tuned out) or are you running untuned, if so, how is it running? i hate dropping the 250 just to tune out some stuff, and "sharpen" up the car, i'd rather wait for other mods, but i dunno. . .

 

Did you get your ALL exhaust back on? How much louder is it? Obnoxiously? Or does it just sound meaner?

 

I meant SLP, stupid autofill.

 

yeah man, you needa put up some pics, and possibly a vid or two

 

Agreed.

 

FWIW, they are now selling the matching stainless steel ORY pipe too, the website may not show it but if you call and ask they have them.

 

I received the stainless steel y-pipe. I'll ask a buddy to make a vid or two with me...I have one of an open header rolling flyby, and the whole exhaust is on now. It sounds MEAN. I'm still running the SLP LM2 resonator. I'll shoot some pics of the AWFUL ground clearance tomorrow when I leave work. The y-pipe install was rough, definatly need two people and some patience for it.

 

And no, it is not tuned yet, I'm getting a few bills paid off, and hopefully getting a tune within the next 3 weeks. It runs okay, definatly can notice a gain in power across the rpm range. I'm also holding out on a tune until I port my throttle body and maybe get a new lid setup.

On a side note, I ran a 460 whp (dyno sheets agree with the statement) 2000 Camaro Z28 with a bad bad bad clutch...LS2 bottom end, 853 heads with valve-work stock LS1 intake, Stock MAF, 12 bolt, lid, and filter, from a 20-80 roll and hung with him even with me spinning the tires badly on the 1-2 shift. I'm guessing after the clutch slip included he is at 380-390 rwhp, which I think should place me at least near 350-360, he is a big guy (300+lbs) and had a passenger in the car.

 

OP - You could probably manage with just a mail order tune for now. Congrats on the TSP headers, I've heard good things about them.

 

anyone got any vids of their new headers?

 

Why did you have to go through so much work to get the headers in? If you slide them in from underneath, they go in no problem without removing anything. Just get the car jacked up as high as you possible can, I had my jack stands on the third hole (highest) and on top of some 6x6 blocks of wood so there was room. Didnt have to remove anything except the old exhaust obviously and the oil filter but only because I was changing the oil at the same time and it gave me a lil more room to work with.

For me, the collectors on the headers did have a slight slight lip on the very edge tho which caused the ends of the ory to not fit over them to clamp down. I had to file down the ends of the collectors some and then also cut slits into the ends of the ory pipes that connect to headers to get them to fit over. I also had to cut off two 2'' pieces of the ory in order to get the setup to fit correctly under the car. It ended up being too long in certain spots. Def was not a bolt up and go setup IMO.

Pissed they came out with the stainless y pipe like a month after sending everyone who had their headers on back order an aluminized steel one with their order. Had I known it was only going to be a month more wait, I prob would have since I had these issues with mating the aluminum ory to the stainless headers.

 

I have to wait for a few more weeks until this deployment is over before I can order mine. If you all buy them out of stock before I get the chance I'm gonna be pissed!!!

 

Im wondering if part of the problem is people not getting car high enough. The higher the car is the more choices you have as far as angles to hold teh header at to snake it in.