For starters, if youre not going to keep egr cut the tube off and weld that spot shut. Without connecting to the pump to secure it it will eventually snap off. Also be sure to check that the pass side does not hit the starter. I had to remove mine to get the spot welded and a primary dented so it wouldnt rub. Also, at least on mine the air ports, didnt line up with the tubes. Liek they said you may also want to get the collector bent. You will want to check all of these things and make any adjustments before you bolt everything down.

Now that being said if you make minor adjustments in the beginning they are very nice headers. The things you will need are most commonly
-Gaskets = (better off resuing your stockers, or buying gm ones. the ones they come with are very poor quality)
-Plugs&Wires = If you havent done these in a while its a perfect time to do them
-Corvette 13111 O2s = You can get these at any auto parts store and generally are much more reliable than extensions
-Band Clamps = Youve got that covered

One other thing you might want to think about is picking up is that silver exhaust wrap tape to put under the band clamps. I had a leak from my header to the first peice of my x pipe when I first put it on. I wrapped it twice and then put the band clamp over it and problem solved, almost acted like a gasket between the clamp and the pipe.

Just take your time and dont rush it and it should be a piece of cake. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

Yeah, it really makes no sense from the company's prespective to make a change like that to a part of the car that isn't going to affect sales or improve quality. You've got to realize it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to design a new stamping die for the sheet metal that the floorboard is composed of. Plus, that could simply be due to different tolerences of different vehicles or the parts being installed.

To the OP, good luck with the install... Seriously, you have my blessing...

 

Those of you with the XS y-pipe rubbing, where is it rubbing?

I am thinking about installing the y-pipe tomorrow..

 

Got the headers installed on LS1 FORMULA's '01 Formula today. Everything went fairly smoothly except that the driver's side collector pointed up skyward which made the y-pipe impossible to install. The other thing we ran into was enlarging the bolt holes on the driver's side header so as not to cross thread the threads in the head. These setbacks cost us about 3 extra hours and an undisclosed amount of money but the fit is decent now. Had a stainless steel fabricator cut the collector off and reposition and reweld it, looks great. Installed 2 new Corvette 02s, reused factory gaskets and bolts. I just wish these two things could be addressed during manufacturing, it would make install much easier. Other than that, they look great!



Sean

 

I had to address those problems with the ds collector and bolt holes, plus I had to grind the K-member and dimple a primary where it was resting on the motor mount.

 

I had the same issues as well..

I "massaged" the floor on the drivers side and have plenty of clearance for the collector..

I ground the K-Member a bit where it was trying to rub..

I enlarged the front and rear holes on the driver side header to allow it to fit better...

I've still go my custom Y from my Hookers and am trying to decide between having that reworked to fit the XS headers or just use the XS Y-Pipe..

 

question: why do people go with corvette o2's? and not o2 sims? wont the new o2 sensors throw a code with headers and no cats?

 

The corvette sensors have longer wires...

 

Thank you Sean for all your hard work. Ounce again you are da man. This is why you get all my work.

He got some pics of the finished product today. Maybe he will post some pics for you guys.

As far as the o2s. I have the rear o2s programed out of the car. So there will not be a coed problem. The front o2s fit almost were the rear o2s used to be. That is why you need the longer sensor. We put the rear o2s back in on the Y pipe just to plug the holes and make it look like it was leagal even tho they do not work.

I still seem to have a little rubing when I torque the motor good. But hell I can live with that. May be some day when I want to take the time I can pull the Y pipe and dipple the one area were it is still a little close.

Now it is time to hit the track The 14th seems a long wait.

 

I have pacesetter headers and ORY, and my Y bangs the floorboard pretty bad, especially at certain RPM's, but it's really just annoying, it doesn't hurt anything.

 

And they are supposed to have stronger heaters. Even when you use O2 extensions you can still throw codes for the heaters. The Vette O2's dont have that problem, but I have heard people say they switch slow (mine do not).

 

Here are a few pics of Mike's headers after the collector was cut off, repositioned, and rewelded. Had no clearance issues with the k-member at all. Original motor mounts are still in the car.


Sean

 

In the 3rd pic, it looks like somebody already notched the k-member. That's what I had to do to mine.

 

I installed a set of used XS headers 2 weeks ago and had no problems with fitment. The collectors were cut a little short because the previous owner had to cut off the dual exhaust that was welded to the headers. But the driver's side header was not aimed up like a lot of people have said. I left the header bolts loose and adjusted the header the best I could before tightening them and that may have helped. I think I'm getting a little bit of contact with the header hitting the k-member on a really cold startup.

 

You're confusing the rear O2 sensors with the front O2 sensors. O2 sims can be used with rear O2 sensors - or in my case, I just had the codes deleted. You NEED your front O2's, and your options are to get a set of Corvette O2's or get O2 extensions.

A lot of people are going to chime in the the Bosch 13111's because it's the convenient solution. However, if you do some research, you may see this isn't the best situation.

I would not advise anyone to get 13111's.

Again, you're gonna get a lot of people saying to get them, and a lot of the people that vote for them don't have them - or don't even have headers. One thing you'll notice if you research ANY Bosch product is that most things Bosch make are junk. The O2's do not escape this. Some people have had good luck with them, but they have a much higher problem rate than other O2 sensors. A lot of tuners hate the Bosch 13111's. Go search posts from Slohawk, for one. The Bosch 13111's frequently have switching issues - they switch very slowly and tuners have trouble tuning with those O2's. Most tuners recommend you either buy AC Delco's or Denso's and buy O2 extensions.

Guess what I did? I kept my stock O2's, bought 2 24" O2 extensions and I have no issues. When it comes time to switch out the stockers, I'll be getting a set of Denso's. Denso makes fantastic products. When I switched out my spark plugs at 45,000 miles, they looked practically brand new. I almost regretted doing it. Bosch, on the other hand, is known for having quality control issues. I've never heard anyone recommend a Bosch spark plug, I'll tell you that.

To the OP: please, go into the PCM Tuning & Diagnostic section and search "Bosch 13111." There's a multitude of tuning issues that result from using them in many cases. Before I got my headers, I wanted to know what my best option was for O2's. I was originally going to go for the Bosch 13111's. I was all gung-ho on getting a set until I actually researched them. The numerous complaints scared me away.

 

Then why not get the Denso version of the 13111's? They are just LS1 Corvette rear O2's, so I would think that Denso makes a version for that application and that AC Delco surely does. It is more than just the wire length, these also have stronger heaters. When I had extensions on my stock O2's they would throw heater codes. I replaced them with new Delco sensors and they did the same thing when it was cold out. I did have one of my 13111's fail after a few months, but since then they have been fine. When it is time for replacements I will probably get Delco Corvette rears just to see if there is a difference when I log data.

 

^^^You can try. Bosch is the brand that everyone has experience with. You may be taking an even larger risk going with a brand with little to no testing. Denso is a great brand in my experience, but I don't how know their Corvette rear O2's will work in an F-body.

As for the "stronger heater" argument, everything I've researched leads me to believe that is a rumor started a long time ago. Everyone repeats it, but I believe no one has ever come up with any data showing the Corvette rears have a stronger heater. In the case of the Bosch 13111's, everything I've heard leads me to believe the heaters are the same or even weaker than OEM sensors since they seem to throw more codes more often.

Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, but I've never seen a lick of data showing the Corvette rear O2's have a stronger heater than OEM F-body front O2's.

 

I had a problem with the bosch's also. I bought a set of used oem ones for 20 bucks shipped off of the for sale section, a 12 and 24 inch o2 extension and haven't had a problem since.

 

So can anyone tell me what the Corvette 02 Part number is? Or the car they come on stock. 97-04? 2005-Current?