So I've finally decided to move ahead with Dadsz28's old car. I'm looking at replacing the 1 3/4" Pacesetters and Bassani cat back with TSP 1 7/8" stainless headers and their TSP rumbler true dual x-pipe exhaust. Tying in the suspension will be a Midwest Chassis short cross brace mounted TA designed specifically for the TSP duals. For a few clicks over a grand this seems to be the best bang for the buck. Anyone have experience with this set up? I'm not at all worried about the noise. Those who are old enough or have been around me or my old Formula know that noise is no big deal. Still going to keep Dadsz28 sleeper vibe going up top and race car it underneath.

--Alan

 

Sounds like you have some great ideas for mods, but you will definitely be losing the sleeper effect with the TSP true duals. It will sound great, but its going to be relatively loud.

 

I have the same set up in my car. It is loud but sounds great. Clearance with the mwc bar is pretty good as well

 

I was hoping the MWC TA would work well since they say its designed specifically for the TSP duals. And not too worried about the noise. It'll still look sleeperish. Going to install all of it as a package. You have any pics of your set up?

--Alan

 

Not to crash your party but I doubt your going to feel a difference with a 1 7/8 swap and true duals from a car already running LT's and catback. Hardly worth the effort and the money for zero feel in the result IMO.

depending on your mods there are other things that can be done that would provide noticeable gains and be far less intense. SSRA (less expensive) or FAST 102 ( more expensive) for example, but hard to know without knowing what you have already done.

 

I do not have any pics at the moment. But my I noticed a pretty large SOTP difference with the bigger headers and duals vs 1 3/4 with a y pipe and catback

 

Although I'm relatively new to LS builds I'm using a similar formula that I used on my old LT1 build from years back. That car was a beast and surprised lots of folks. And I know that the LS platform breathes way better than the LT1. I'm just looking to add to a foundation that I can grow into if I decide to move farther ahead with the car. The car currently has a nice 218/234 601" custom sleeper style cam, stock heads, LS6 intake, ported TB, FTRA, 30lb SVOs, Pacesetter 1 3/4" rusty LTs, Bassani cat back and and a built trans with a Vig 3600 and 3.42s. Stock TA with poly mount, BMR LCAs, PHB, and QA1 12 way adjustable rear shocks. All tuned by Jeremy Formato by original owner. Best in cool weather by original owner was 11.40s at 118 through a cut out and skinny fronts. I added the poly TA and trans mount and the QA1 rears. Car already hooks way harder on the street with those few additions.

I know that the car wont lose anything with the 1 7/8" headers and the TDs, and if I'm going to replace headers I might as well upgrade. I'm big on adjustable suspension and TDs were the way to go on my old '95 so I figured Id use the WMC TA, which I know works well and is designed for the TDs. The goal here is to run the same ETs and speed without switching to skinny fronts. I think I'll pick up a bit of power with the headers/exhaust and the TA will help the 60'.. Either way it lays the foundation to upgrade other areas of the car if I want to. The next big purchase will be a 12 bolt with 3.90s..N/A builds with 26" tires love 3.73s to 3.90s... Going to try 3.90s on this build. My old car ran 4.10s but with a 28" tire. The nice part is all the parts will be $1200 and weekend in my friends shop. I remember paying almost that years ago for my stepped 1 7/8" Kooks fir my LT1..

--Alan

 

Well, I ordered the stuff today...TSP 1 7/8" stainless headers, exhaust gasket set, NGK TR-55 plugs, TSP rumbler TDs, and an MWC TA specifically designed for the TSP true duals. Techs at TSP think I should pick up 10-16 rwhp over my current set up. We'll see and I'll report back how the install goes.

Next big upgrade will be a Strange 12 bolt with a spool and 3.90s.

--Alan

 

Consider some sound deadening material for the inside. I'm was running tsp's with their true duals and while I'm accustomed to them, and mostly deaf anyway, not a lot of other people like riding inside with them dumped below the rear seat.

 

Well all the stuff was delivered on Friday and all I can say is that the TSP headers look fantastic. Quality welds and craftsmanship I'd expect from a much more expensive set of headers. And the TSP duals look great too. The MWC TA looks plenty beefy and is a quality built piece. Installing it all this weekend. We'll see if it all fits and works as good as they look.

--Alan

 

Got the tsp true duals as well, sound great. I've got nothing but compliments from friends and coworkers. Just don't be afraid of drilling into your car for the exhaust hangers.

 

How much clearance do you have?

 

Well we installed the upgrades last night. Took me and a meticulous experienced LS mechanic about 5 hours including removal of old cat back and headers and TA. We didn't rush and ate some disgustingly good subs for dinner in the middle lol...

My initial impressions of the TSP 1 7/8" stainless headers are fantastic. Fit is better than the Pacesetter 1 3/4" they replaced. We had the car on a lift so the install was more of a breeze than on jack stands. We ended up dropping the trans cross member to lower the rear of the motor a hair to help slide the driver's side header into place. The passenger's side almost installed itself. Unbolting and sliding the coil packs out of the way made top side access easy too. We used factory GM manifold gaskets and Totally Stainless locking header bolts. The Totally Stainless locking bolts were worth every bit of the $65. They use ARP bolts and a proprietary pair of locking washers which lock together as you tighten them up and won't loosen. Way easier than fooling with the Stage 8 stuff I've used before. The only slight mod was trimming about an 1/8" off the driver's side K-member ear to prevent a primary tube rub. This is probably not needed if you install poly motor mounts, which I meant to do but forgot to order. Getting old sucks...

The TSP Rumbler X true duals were a breeze to fit under the car. Its a nice exhaust especially for $409. It tucked up nicely and we secured the hangers onto the car with threaded inserts which are basically threaded rivets. This avoids having to pull the back seats to add a nut to hanger bolts inside the car, and makes for a very clean and easy install.

Tying it all together is the MWC TA designed specifically for the TSP true duals. Its a very nice piece and install was easy. I did buy a set of longer TA bolts for the rear from UMI at Carlisle last week and that was a good idea as the mounting flanges for the MWC TA are obviously much thicker than the stock stamped steel TA. We set the pinion angle at -2 degrees for starters.

Also while we were there we replaced the iridium plugs of which a few had very worn (gone) electrodes with NGK TR55s gapped at .050"...

The car sounds sick! On the test ride back home at 10:30 last night I heard a couple little rattles and buzzings from the exhaust which probably just needs a slight tweaking, but that's to be expected as the stainless expands and contracts with the heat cycles. Overall I'm extremely happy. Its rare that everything fits and works as well as advertised. Kudos to TSP and MWC. And big thanks to Bryan (Pharro Performance) for all your help. I owe you big time. Pics and sound clips to follow this weekend. All in all for a total of $1200 its an impressive package for sure.

--Alan