Stock Headers and HP/ other Q too.
Do the LS6 cars have totlay different headers stk?
They make 400hp.
I have a 01 Camaro SS with a 6 spd and stk 3.42 gears. Would you spend 800.00 on new headers or 3.73 gears?
I'm going to do other things soon, Just looking to used my money wisely. I have read all the other wonderful articles on here and I have become somewhat confused and about certain things to do first. I have ideas but my wallet cannot keep up. Any help or suggestions would be great.
This put my at my limit for money. I have been told the factory headers can handle all this with a little cleaning of the mounting flange for the d shaped ports on the LS6 heads. I will have a few dollars left, I'd like to hold on to those for the little things that add up.
Am I on the right track or am I a de-railed train?

You can potentially make close to 400 rwhp on stock manifolds, but it will take a properly setup and tuned heads/cam package intended to do just that.
Search and read up on Patrick G's car. He, at one point, made 396 rwhp on stock manifolds/cats with AFR heads and Thunder's CheaTR cam and it should have passed emissions anywhere. It also drove basically like stock.
You could still, however, make quite a bit more power with longtubes and a little larger of a cam.
I have a 01 Camaro SS with a 6 spd and stk 3.42 gears. Would you spend 800.00 on new headers or 3.73 gears?
QUOTE]
What are your goals? To right now run some better times at the track? Probably get the gears.
If your goal is HP, and you definitely plan more mods in the future, I would go with the headers.
I mean putting the LS6 heads with the cam with stk Manifolds? In Indiana where I live we don't have the best roads, My drive way is 1/4 mile long gravel. I don't want to loose any more ground clearance. I'm going to check into Patrick G's car.
I'm looking to reduce my 1/4 mile times. We have a lot of fast 4 and 6 cylinder cars around that are pretty fast and I can't let them out run my good old fuel drinkin GM product.
I have seen a lot written about changing gears and Torque Converters in Auto's but not much on 6 spds. I did't know if 3.73 in a 6 spd would be overkill.
But there would be no harm in installing the heads & cam with stock manifolds.
Decent headers aren't going to sacrifice much clearance-I have a 1/4 mile long grass/dirt driveway myself that is heavily rutted.
You can throw about anything on your car - gotta love these cars- but if you have a specific goal you are going to dump some money into, you need to formulate a plan for mods that will compliment each other to reach your goal.
The early things I did were subframe connectors and STB, as I wanted to tighten up the car (but I think all F bods need these anyway).
Read this board and separate the wheat from the chaff, there's a lot of info here, and make a plan that your wallet will handle.

Now where did my money go........
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I mean putting the LS6 heads with the cam with stk Manifolds? In Indiana where I live we don't have the best roads, My drive way is 1/4 mile long gravel. I don't want to loose any more ground clearance. I'm going to check into Patrick G's car.
I'm looking to reduce my 1/4 mile times. We have a lot of fast 4 and 6 cylinder cars around that are pretty fast and I can't let them out run my good old fuel drinkin GM product.
I have seen a lot written about changing gears and Torque Converters in Auto's but not much on 6 spds. I did't know if 3.73 in a 6 spd would be overkill.
LS6 head are nice, but you can find better ones out there. Just be sure to get your LT headers before you do your cam and heads. And 3.73 gears are most certainly NOT overkill for the track. Many people opt for 4.10's instead, which will hurt your gas mileage but definitely help out your 1/4 times.
I love my computer, I has the window to knowledge..
I'm sorry about all the questions. I'm about done with my parts list though and ready to start working on my Tire Smokin, Gas Guzzling, Speeding Ticket Gettin Hot Rod. That my wife only let me drive on Weekends...
Last edited by blkZ28spt; Nov 10, 2005 at 11:36 PM.
Patrick is a smart guy, very nice fella, take his advice to heart, he knows what he's talkin about. Skip the rockers. Just go for headers with the heads and cam, put the lid and ported throttle body on, get the gears put in, and a good tune. She should be good to go.
Headers are a non moving non stressed item. Espeically the big ol cast iron lumps used as stock. It would take more than a highly tuned engine to brake them.
Now if you're talking about HP output that's slightly different to "how much they can handle".
If you wanted you could run a forged 408 with every bolt on NOS and a blower and push 1500+bhp. Stock headers would still work. They certainly would not be ideal however.
Personally if you're going supercharger then a catback + blower will get some good numbers even with stock headers (420-440rwhp) so in manys ways you can argue that it is enough for your purpose.
HOWEVER
Headeds are a good modification as they not only increase BHP, but the will improve the throttle response of the engine too. And as a bonus it will make the car sound different.
On an Fbody I now of no good reason not to get some long tube headers.




