Hey y'all,
First time on here, sorry if I posted in the wrong place..
To keep things short and sweet:

99 z28 that I rarely use that I keep saying I need to sell but keep putting that off, unfortunately have to keep it street parked as I live in NYC, under 90k miles. Beautiful car but it's starting to show it's wear as I don't have money or time to really take care of the car as I wish I could. Just turned 27, still a student, and using this car in NYC is not really feasible so it sits on the street most of the time. Interior is in great shape except the seats are starting to tear outside starting to show rust in certain areas..
Anyways, I bought the car as is, which has pacesetter long tube headers, texas speed 3" catted y pipe, into SLP loud mouth tips. The headers and y pipe are pretty damn rusted to **** cause of the snow we get combined with the salt and me not washing it immediately after to keep it from rusting....sooo I hit a steep curb which pretty much hit the exhaust pretty bad and it was making noise so I knew i messed it up. Took it to the shop and the headers have a hole in it so I'll pretty much need new headers and a y pipe cause both are rusted bad anyways. I'm looking for a simple replacement that will cost me the least amount of money without having to worry much about fitment, modding, etc, because I'd most likely be selling it soon anyway so I do not want to put in a thousand bucks for the job. Does anyone have any recommendations on a simple swap with least amount of money spent? I also don't mind getting a used set if anyone knows anyone selling a set. Thanks everyone~

 

Speed engineering headers and Y pipe. Y pipe fitment will likely be a pain but less so if a muffler shop puts it on. Due to the vast amounts of variances in catbacks and Y pipes there arent many that provide a perfect fit. I'm assuming a shop is doing it because you park in the street of Cuomos slumhouse.

 

lol yes it will be done by a shop, i'm nowhere near that level of doing it myself, thanks for suggestion

 

I might end up going with the a similar setup: texas speed long tubes + off road y pipe (no cats this time), decently priced at 600 ish for both. Do you guys recommend 1 3/4 or 1 7/8 headers? The engine/motor is pretty much stock except for some cold air intake, its only about a 30 dollar difference between the two. What's the better route? I won't be modding the engine at all

 

1-7/8 for sure. No downsides. I had to take out steering linkage to fit seamlessly and jack it up as high as you can because headers go in from bottom at an angle. You will have to kind of mess with it until you figure out the right angle then they suddenly slide right in. If you have a second set of hands it will help a lot when it comes to bolting header to the head. My tsp 1-7/8 fit better than my 1-3/4 pacesetters.

 

Consider taking it to an exhaust shop to fix the hole. Maybe the can weld a metal sheet over the hole to get it sealed up.

 

Agree 100% any good muffler shop should have a piece ove scrap pipe to cut and 'shape' over the problem area. Then scuff around area to be welded. Finish it off with some weld and hit it with a coat of vht header paint. Got any pics ove how bad it is.. just to get an idea. And if it is a total rusty pile of crap then I'd go with what B SPEC suggested.......

 

Moving over here

 

so the issue is the hole is on the TOP side of the left side header right before it connects to the Y pipe, so they;d have to completely remove it anyways to get to the hole photos attached now



. Also which part do you agree with, the brand of headers he suggested?

 

I also asked my go-to shop this as an easy fix however they suggested a whole new header and y pipe because it's so rusted that if they try working on it it'll just crumble (his words) maybe I should take it over to an exhaust shop for their opinion?

 

Yep, gonna agree with B SPEC. On brand and primary size. That looks pretty rough. On a positive note that will make a good selling point when it's for sale . I'd maybe consider spending a day under there and scuff as much underside as you can, then use some self etching primer and spray in bedliner or vht roll bar and chassis epoxy paint to that underside. That would really help with the look under there if you plan on selling anytime soon. I know it's a pain in the ***. But it would really look better.

 

Thanks for the suggestions!
I came across some BBK headers and it looks like the y pipe is even included for just about 450 ish dollars on here https://www.ebay.com/itm/1998-2002-C....c100290.m3507
What do you guys think of BBK?
I also came across a listing on craigslist for a like new american racing set of headers and y pipe for just $700, I know it's a bit more up there but i'm pretty sure $700 for an american racing set is a steal which would also help me resell for a good amount being that the set is nearly $1.8k, this is what he's selling https://americanracingheaders.com/pr...nt=33008339268

 

I found the speed engineering set you guys suggested and can see why you did, it's a pretty great price! https://www.speed-engineering.com/sp...e-version.html
If i go this route are there any downsides versus TSP or BBK? Or even the used set of american racing? Also should I add any of the add ons like the spark plugs? Gaskets?
Really appreciate you guys helping me out here

 

No need for arh. The bbk set is actually not a bad deal. Been around forever. Never used it myself so fitment is up in the air but you can certainly try it. Anything that is not 304ss I would scratch up and paint with 2000f header paint to protect from rust. If it was me I would get this:
Not sure if sponsor

 

gaskets yes, you should already have 02 extensions and plug wires if you had headers in the past. I would run steel gaskets. Shouldnt be any downsides in your situation. Cheap, effective, stainless.

 

So I was looking at the set as well but the 1 7/8 set is out of stock until later this month and i can't wait that long, however if i add the 1 7/8 headers with the y pipe separately it's in stock, then again the 1 3/4 set is much cheaper and is also in stock but at this good of a price i'd rather go with the 1 7/8!
Thanks for your suggestions i have a much better understanding of what to get now.

 

I went ahead and purchased the 1 7/8 headers w/ gaskets and y pipe from speed engineering separately as the combo was sold out but I couldn't wait. Thanks everyone for their help! Will send photos of the aftermath

 

Hey BSpeck, do you have any experience with the SE set btw? The site says they're both 304 SS just wanted to make sure, do they hold up over the years? Anyone here have actual experience with them?

 

they are stainless. I'm sure they are cheaper for a reason maybe thinner guage tubing and seams. I live in the desert so they dont rust. Even aluminzied wont rust often here so I cant help you in that regard.

 

Back for some more advice! A shop quoted me 1400 to get the headers and y pipe installed!!!!! what would you guys quote a job like this to come out to in your experience? I didn't expect it to be anymore than 500 really, maybe more in the 300 range...really wish I knew enough and had the space and tools to get this done myself