Proofz

I've been reading up on headers, exhaust, and intake for a while now. I just bought an 02 NBM T/A and it is completely stock. For the exhaust, as much as I would love a loud one, It needs to be a GOOD sounding tone and not loud and obnoxious. I had a magnaflow on my V6 and liked the sound, but how are they on the LS1? I plan on putting in a Cam + some good Heads. What kind of headers should I get? Everyone seems to mention long tube headers...what brand is the best bang for the buck and whats all the talk about the off road y pipe etc.? Should I get a Y pipe with cats or w/o cats? Differences? Also should I run 3" piping all throughout? What intake is the best bang for buck? I hear the SLP lid is the best option. Thanks for all the input and help guys!

krazy4

iTrader: (5)

What I would do.

SLP lid
K&N filter
Pacesetter long tubes
TSP ORY
Magnaflow catback

I have that setup minus the longtubes and I am happy with it.

stockerws6

iTrader: (1)

Heard good things about Hooker (sound and flow). I am trying to decide between that and Magnaflow.

fortmyerspolice

iTrader: (7)

SLP lid
pacesetter race style lt's
CUSTOM ory with flowmaster merge
prothane motor mounts
hooker catback
!air
small tune

boola1341

iTrader: (1)

Like everyone else pretty much said:
Pacesetter Lt's
Slp Lid
Magnaflow catback
A off road y pipe has no cats

boola1341

iTrader: (1)

Oh yeah....also a tune.

fortmyerspolice

iTrader: (7)

also, if you plan on being lowered. Buy the pacesetter ORY and then hack the merge off and put a flowmaster merge. You'll have awesome clearance

00_transam_vert

iTrader: (5)

What exactly is a 'small tune'? Like without a dyno or what?

Pharm0r

iTrader: (17)

yeah, once you get the longtubes and full exhaust it will cause you to run a little rich i believe? So in order for you to get the full potential of your boltons a tune will be in order. It doesnt HAVE to be a dyno tune, boltons arnt that big of a change....a simple street tune will do you just fine!

edit: oh and for christs sake get an actual tune with ls1edit or hptuners. not that gay pretune crap you can buy off ebay.

johnLs1camaro

iTrader: (28)

pacesetter headers and ORY
any lid,slp if that what you like
id say a borla adj catback if you got the money for it and if not go with a magnaflow and put a cutout on it

chase3

iTrader: (1)

i have an off road x pipe with little one chamber flowmasters that sounds sick and isnt bad at under 2k ....a x pipe will flow a bit better than a y pipe,,,as for sound its all preference...

Mr. Brett

iTrader: (13)

I have Pacesetters with an ORY and a Hooker catback. I absolutely LOVE the way it sounds. Not too loud and it has an excellent tone. Magnaflow sounds raspy IMO. I get tons of compliments on my setup.

fortmyerspolice

iTrader: (7)

When I say small tune I mean, small things that would increase performance, as well as tuning out rear 02's, emissions, that sort of thing.

Proofz

What size LT headers should I go with? I'm hearing to go with hooker or pacesetter headers and matching Y pipe. I need to pass emissions so will I be able to with these headers and y pipe? Also I see that most are 1 7/8".. is that the proper size to get if I want to run 3" piping throughout?

Does magnaflow sound better than hooker or other way around? I want my car to be able to be heard when I drive by, but not obnoxiously loud so that I wake my neighborhood up in the morning when I start it up.

ChocoTaco369

Yeesh, why are so many people advocating this guy get stuck with a set of Pacesetters? Get something nicer. Go stainless. There are tons of stainless LT's out there that are much, much nicer and they'll last forever. Those Pacesetters will be rusted out by this time next year. I have QTP's and they're a very nice longtube. SLP just came out with an awesome new redesigned longtube, Kooks just redesigned their longtube, ARH has a good setup...they're all very nice. Some are more expensive than others. The one thing they all have in common is they'll all outperform the Pacesetters and they'll all outlast the car itself. It's worth the extra money in the long run!

Proofz

So which ones would you suggest and what kind of price am I looking at? I figure I'll be spending approx $2000 on intake/exhaust/headers. So what combo do you think will net some good solid gains for intake, headers, exhaust? I'm so torn for everything I don't know what to buy!!!

02WS6_TA

iTrader: (1)

You can get the 1 3/4" primaries and run 3" exhaust all the way back. That is what my setup is and fitment is fine. If you need to pass emissions then you need to get the standard longtubes (not race versions), and you won't be able to get an Off road Y pipe. Your best bet is to get a nice set of longtubes and some high flow cats to accomodate them, because the stock cats will restrict the exhaust flow. As far as the lid goes that is solely preference. No lid out there gives you anymore or any less performance than another, go on price and what you think looks the best. As ChocoTaco was talking about above yeah there are nicer longtubes avaliable if you have the extra dough. Pacesetters are the best bang for the buck, just make sure that you get the coated ones and not the painted ones. Texas Speed also has a new set of longtubes that have 1 7/8" primaries that look really good for under $500. The intake that is on your car is an LS6 intake that is extremely good straight from the factory, you should be good for a while modding without having to worry about it. All I can say on the exhaust is to ride in and listen to as many different exhaust combos as possible before deciding on one for definate. Sorry for the long winded post, but hope this helps.

02WS6_TA

iTrader: (1)

I had the Borla adjustable catback on for the longest time, and I loved it. It was loud and throaty and never woke the neighbors up. You can switch the plates in it to make it as loud or as quite as you want it.

ChocoTaco369

Well, that depends. IMO, QTP has the best LT's out there for the money. They're quite a bit cheaper than the competition and you get all the goodies with them (stainless steel, merge collectors with a velocity spike, polished primaries). They have a poorly designed y-pipe, however. The y-pipe isn't stainless steel and has a reputation for bad fitment and ground clearance. If you go QTP's, you'll want to get a custom y-pipe made.

If that is not an option for you, Kooks, SLP, ARH and Dynatech make stainless steel kits for our cars. They're all roughly ~$1350, give or take a few dollars. The Dynatechs, I believe, are a little bit cheaper, but they don't have merge collectors. Out of all three of these kits, IMO, the SLP's are the best deal because you get STAINLESS STEEL HEADERS AND COATING! People on these boards seem to have a vendetta against SLP for some reason, so I haven't seen any pictures of their headers on customer's cars, but I can tell you that they look excellent from their website's pictures.

Kooks just redesigned their header, and it just may be the best longtube on the market right now because of the redesign. MarylandSpeed is offering free JetHot coating on them right now, so you may really want to check out that deal.

Another header to look at is the XS/LPP stainless headers. They just got redesigned and are considerably cheaper than any other LT. However, I don't think they are ready for shipment yet and they seem to be taking quite a while, so if you want them right now, you may not want to wait.

Edelbrock and Hooker also offer stainless headers. The choices are endless

Give all those brands a look. Check out prices. They're all good headers and they all have good fitment and finish. They'll all last many, many years, so time isn't an enemy.

If you want to send me a PM with a price range you're willing to work with and what your current and future goals for your car are, I'll be happy to help you build an intake and exhaust system for your car.

foreverzero

iTrader: (5)

well if you want the 440 dollar ebay headers and ORY combo (the infamous "blue tarp" headers) are great. I just put mine on and I couldnt be happier, they are stainless too Ground clearance is amazing, the trans actually looks like it hangs lower. They are also race style so no emission crap. As for the intake just get a lid, you alrady have the ls6 intake, I got a lid off here for 50 bucks in the for sale section. I went with a LS1 motorsports lid, because I liked that the air path was actually rounded instead of edged like the slp lid. I have flowmaster catbacks to supress the loudness, and when I feel like disturbing the peace I have a E-cutout to bypass the mufflers. Also when you do it buy some poly motor mounts, trans mounts, and some good plugs and wires. You might want to look into the "free mods" if you havent already like free ram air and port and polish your throttle body