Are headers actually worth it?
I know the fast answer for most on here is yes!!! But, if have to put the pita poly motor mounts in and go with a catted y into my existing catback, is it worth all that work. These cars a pain to install headers on from what I hear. I don't want a bangin' Y pipe. How much would it wake my car up and anyone have ideas about cost of purchase AND install. I'm running out of time and don't have access to a lift right now.
Thanks guys.
Thanks guys.
right in place with lots of room, so NOT a PITA. Installing poly mounts is a lil work, you have to drill out the spot welds to seperate the stock shells but its not that hard if you have the proper tools. Some say you dont NEED them, my stock mounts were shot so I went with the polys, & I did them AFTER the headers.
Cant beat the sound, I totally agree. Sounds even sweeter with a cam
What are your costs for stainless (or ceramic-which is better?) set and do I have to worry about burning my car down lol? Ie: heat problems and banging would suck. I plan on going catted 3" y pipe while keeping the o2s (don't know if I'll need them down the road for emissions?). I want to keep the SLP catback I have since I love the sound. Pm for prices sir. We'll talk.
I heard that on some 98 & 99 LS1's the engines came with tube style exhaust manifolds, almost shorty headers from the factory, not cast like big clunky manifolds, just like shorty factory headers and on these cars header install isn't that bit of a difference, maybe 5-15 hp max, can anyone comment on this?
Last edited by 99'CajunFirehawk157; Jul 22, 2009 at 08:38 AM.
One of the first mods I did to mine was the motor mounts and ARH 1-7/8 headers. Never installed them beforeand did it by myself in the garage.
I wasn't going to do the motor mounts after reading everything on here, but I figured they are 8-9 years old now and I am getting ready to add more horses in the near future so I swapped them.
The Passenger side motor mount was swapped in about 20 minutes, the engine shifted a little when I was doing the drivers side and I had to get some buddy's to help manhandle the engine and get the mount in...took a couple hours.
Headers went in real smooth after that. Took about 2 more hours.
Everything I read made it sound worse than it was...
Picked up 35rwhp and 30rwtq once it was tuned.
I wasn't going to do the motor mounts after reading everything on here, but I figured they are 8-9 years old now and I am getting ready to add more horses in the near future so I swapped them.
The Passenger side motor mount was swapped in about 20 minutes, the engine shifted a little when I was doing the drivers side and I had to get some buddy's to help manhandle the engine and get the mount in...took a couple hours.
Headers went in real smooth after that. Took about 2 more hours.
Everything I read made it sound worse than it was...
Picked up 35rwhp and 30rwtq once it was tuned.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
They are worth it. Don't cheap out, and the problem I had was clearance on the K-member. Each car is different, so you will have to play with it. Don't install without someone's help, and try use the Kooks or similar design.
Good luck and have fun.
Good luck and have fun.
yes, worth it however you need a tune or i believe you lean out if you add headers on a stock car with a stock tune. i also believe the most rwhp gain with tune would be 20. a mag article showed 22rwhp. 01 & 02 stock manifolds are better flowing than stock 98 & 99 so most people say dont bother with shorties on the later models. if your state has emmissions then you have no choice. shorties plus non stock Y pipe should gain 10-12 rwhp. vs long tubes 20. save your stock cats, they have platinum and are worth money. A/F air fuel (tune) should be around 13:1.
BOL 
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 113
Likes: 0
From: DFW
So from what I read here kooks and american racing are the best...what about a y-pipe. I was looking at the kooks y-pipes on thunderracing and they have two...the catted one for 600 and the non-catted one for 300. Do the catted ones rob a lot of power and are they really worth it for trying to keep the car street legal and do they really change the sound?
We offer a Pacetter coated header and TSP catted-y for $689.99. The Pacesetter headers don't have any fitment issues and our newly redesigned catted-y tucks up much better than the previous design. We have installed them on stock height and lowered cars with zero ground clearance/body clearance issues. Let us know if we can help!
Jon
Jon
First off you don't need a lift to put headers on, simple jackstand's will do. Second, if you don't put Poly MM's, that doesn't automatically mean your going to have ur y pipe banging against the floor board. I am using the stock mounts and have kook's stepped style headers (1 3/4 - 1 7/8) to a 3in y pipe and my Y pipe doesn't bang, its all about the fitment. Last but not least, headers are the **** /end thread
I paid $379.99 shipped for my "race style" Pacesetters and off-road Y-pipe. Install wasn't bad at all; you just have to get the car up off the ground a good bit. We flat backed it, so I can't imagine how easy it'd be with a lift.
The economy was good then, so I got $140 for my old cats. Mine bang a little, but that's just something I haven't fixed. Whether or not you'll think they're worth it is all you, however, I've enjoyed mine every single time I get on it.
Gains? Went from consistent 13.4s @ 104 to 12.9s at 106-107 without a tune and on 245mm Kumhos.
The economy was good then, so I got $140 for my old cats. Mine bang a little, but that's just something I haven't fixed. Whether or not you'll think they're worth it is all you, however, I've enjoyed mine every single time I get on it.
Gains? Went from consistent 13.4s @ 104 to 12.9s at 106-107 without a tune and on 245mm Kumhos.
what brand headers did you have K-member clearance problems with?
