at the moment, all I've got are the headers/y-pipe ...

I need to plug the rear 02's in the Y-pipe (its a temp pipe anyway)... what do I use and where do I get them?

for the time being, it makes more sense to spend $40 on a pair of 02 extensions than the Bosch 13111's ($120 a pair) just to get the headers installed and ready, and then upgrade to the new O2's when I decide on whether or not I want to get cats. I can always resell the extensions later.

Band Clamps... should I get pre-fitted 3" OD/ID or just settle with a regular 3" and call it good? I need 3, two for headers/y and one for the y itself. Will be using the one I've got on currently for the Y/I

Gaskets? I've only got 21k on the car... should I just buy new gaskets or should I save that for later?

header bolts vs. header studs? Speed Inc has the Stage 8's for $30, easily $10 less than anywhere else vs. $100 set of studs from ARP

what are the torque specs on installing headers and even the plugs? most times when doing plugs I've always done slightly more than finger tight, however, they were always done on an iron block and this is my first go around with an LSx ... header bolts would be a good spec to know of course as well.

I'm not worried about AIR, they're race style headers and I'm yanking my AIR today (in about 20 minutes actually) ... headers will go on after i finish my list of parts.

I don't think I'm missing anything else for the time being, but if I am, somebody help me out.

and last... when I pull my AIR and get around to pulling the stock manifolds and Y-pipe, should I keep them in a box or should I sell them to somebody on here? I know people usually want the manifolds/y-pipe/cats but never seen much interest in the AIR system.

 

I believe it's an M22 plug?? Don't quote me on that, I know it's huge and near 20 but if someone can confirm the number that would help...

Whether or not you have cats doesn't affect your front 02s, they don't care. Personally I would just lay out the $ for the Bosch now, rather than 40 now, then more later when you want to replace them. Depending on mileage it would probably behoove you to change them now anyway, they might be getting lazy. The only 02s the cats affect are the rears.

You can just buy some online from summit I believe, that's what I did on my car when I had to replace one worked fine. (can I say that, i know they're not a sponsor) Local part stores might even have them, they do around me.

You probably COULD reuse yours, but they're not expensive might as well have peace of mind.

Either reuse your stock bolts or get studs. After the nightmare I've had with TWO sets of stage 8s I will never let one of them near my car. Ever.

Plugs I believe are 11 ft-lbs, the header bolts I just hand tightened them all, then went at them with a ratcheting wrench from the INSIDE OUT. Dont know torque specs for them

My cats sold fast, y-pipe found the trash heap. People may or may not want the AIR if it works. Good luck and have fun it's a good mod and not too rough.

-J

 

what problems did you have with the stage 8's?

and I figured I can use my stock 02's with extensions for now because I'm also considering going wideband for my own tuning, and may just want to push money into that route later instead... plus it saves me some cash at the moment anyway which I don't have a whole hell of a lot of.

no parts stores around here even know what the straps are, i figured they were all smoking crack but even after showing the people at a few different places what they were they had no idea...

 

The stage 8s in my experience never threaded well, always stripped, those damn clips never lined up as advertised, etc... I have stock 100k mile bolts in mine and they haven't loosened one bit. If anything I would do the studs next time around, make lining everything up MUCH easier.

I hear you on the 02 thing, I'm going WB02 eventually myself.

-J

 

well... AIR system is out... good and bad... put the speed inc blocking plates on, and not only was the drivers side not sealing at all, but the bolts stopped with about 1/4" left ... so I had to reuse both old gaskets from the AIR system to take up more of the gap, ended up working reasonably well and the seal on the drivers side is good... on the passenger side, they seem to have sealed, however, one bolt is maybe 1/8" of an inch off the plate so I'm not entirely sure if that's going to cause a problem... will have to get a few washers in a day or two and have at it and see what happens.

that was a reasonably easy experience, I tugged slightly harder than I should have and the little box on the manifold just popped off the bracket, so the bracket is still there, no biggie, I can take that out when I drop the engine later this year and I left the little plug thats clipped between the last two injectors as well, seeing as my flathead went missing I opted not to **** with it any more...

when I pulled those damn hoses though, man, a few of them had a bit of gasoline in them after I fired it up, there was no backfires whatsoever and I'm thrilled having done the mod.

it's just going to sit in a box until i get bored enough to try to get rid of it haha.
I'm pretty cut up though, and hungry as hell

 

I'll try the stockers, I mean, what have I got to lose? 30 bucks right? just means I need the extensions and plugs for the Y and I'm set well and the straps

 

If you are worried about the holes sealing, it's very easy to do, you know the 2 pieces that were hooked up directly to the manifold? The ones with smaller threads that went into the manifold, and then a bit bigger threads and the end that is flared. The flared end was on top, and looks similar to this:


Just ask them for a cap for it, it will look like this:


Put the cap on the ends, then put them back into the manifolds, they will seal perfectly. I know because I just got done doing this to my car this morning.

 

I also used stage 8 bolts and it took forever to get them threaded, so i would just clean off the stock bolts or buy some studs. I ended up using a few of the stock bolts anyway.

 

would NGK's bung/plug work? they're like 8 bucks a pop but they're in stainless, and i can find them easilly on summit. plus then I'd have some extra bungs... for absolutely no reason at all of course but what the hell, right?

 

make sure the back passenger plug is in BEFORE you install the header