Reasons not to install shorty headers on an LS1?

[NightRydaSS]

is there any reason NOT to install shorty ones on a LS1? I'm undecided on what i want to do, i want headers, but i'd like to try to stay legal. "black market" shop are all good for getting stickers, but you can't just roll up and say "hey, how much is a sticker". and just b/c they do it once, doesn't mean they will do it again.

I was looking at Passetter shorty headers with an highflow cat for my car; but, no one here runs that. i was just wondering y no one seem to use them.

[Tru2Chevy]

Well, even though Long tubes on an LS1 are technically illegal since you can't mount a cat in the stock location with them, I've never heard of someone failing inspection as long as they have a catted y-pipe.

- Justin

[NightRydaSS]

failing with what? Long tubes or shorties?

[WildBillyT]

People report minimal gains with shorty headers, enough to almost make it not worth the trouble. Are you going with coated or painted?

[NightRydaSS]

i dunno, u tell me. i dont want them to rust in like 6 months and look like butt.

[Bandit]

Depending on the year of the car the stock exhaust manifold can handle up to 420HP (bolt-ons) 2001-2002 had the same exhaust manifolds as the Z06 and other corvettes.

Shorty headers would be a waste of money on 01-02 models and would see no gains.

LT headers are great if you plan on putting in a cam in the future. Pacesetters are for the budget minded person and you could get a couple of years out of them before replacements are needed. If you have 1000-1400 then go with Kooks, QTP or Dyno Max setups.

I would love to put headers on, but can't talk myself into the almost 2K to buy them and have them installed.

[Tru2Chevy]

failing with what? Long tubes or shorties?

Long tubes with catted y-pipe.....no reason to fail with shorties - they are legal.

- Justin

[WildBillyT]

i dunno, u tell me. i dont want them to rust in like 6 months and look like butt.

That depends on your budget.

In my opinion, I would never buy a set of uncoated headers unless they were a great deal or for a rare application. Even then I'd probably send them away to get coated. They look great for a while if they are coated, plus it keeps underhood temps down which is a big deal in a cramped engine bay.

[Batman]

Shorties give you so little gain over the stock manifold it isn't worth it, IMO. Save up for longtubes if you are going to be adding alot of power, or just leave it alone if you aren't planning on at elast a cam.

[NightRydaSS]

i would like to do heads and cam down the line. SLP's L92 heads look badass. I was also thinking about a FastTake intake b/c in a couple yrs (when i get the money) i would love to have a Procharger installed. I'm just tryin to plan ahead.

I like how my Magnaflow exhaust sounds, but i want a louder "rumble", and you need headers for that. It is also a great $ per HP option also.


what do you think of SLP LT's? They're not expensive ($800+). How much lower do they hang comparied to other LT's?

[EchoMirage]

SLP longtubes hang the lowest, and get i think the least power. dont get them, theyre not worth it. pacesetters are in my opinion the best ones you can get. youre only looking at litterally a few horse more in something like kooks then pacesetters, if that. im talking 2 or 3, not 10-15. for the price of JUST kooks headers, i bought pacesetters, TSP catted Y, shipped, AND installed by a shop. take that into consideration when someone mentions kooks makes more power. take the saved money and get some other goodies.

not to mention kooks raised their prices around 10% this month.....

[Bandit]

what do you think of SLP LT's? They're not expensive ($800+). How much lower do they hang comparied to other LT's?

better flowig sets out there, plus with the SLP install kit and the extra work to install them you might as well get KOOKS or QTP setup.

[NightRydaSS]

better flowig sets out there, plus with the SLP install kit and the extra work to install them you might as well get KOOKS or QTP setup.

extra work???

[j0n]

pacesetttttters ftw

[Bandit]

extra work???
yup.. ever wonder why shops charge more for SLP header installs.. They are a PITA to put in. When the LSx motor first came out they were the best, but other places have produced a better product.

[NightRydaSS]

yup.. ever wonder why shops charge more for SLP header installs.. They are a PITA to put in. When the LSx motor first came out they were the best, but other places have produced a better product.

hmm...never knew that

[NightRydaSS]

Well, even though Long tubes on an LS1 are technically illegal since you can't mount a cat in the stock location with them, I've never heard of someone failing inspection as long as they have a catted y-pipe.

- Justin

That is all im kinda worried about. I mean i looked up headers from Pacesetter and they look pretty sweet and are cheap. And i would def use a catted-y, but the only thing that worries me is not being able to find a shop to inspect me.

I obiously wouldn't use state inspection anymore, b/c i know i would hear **** for it. I think private shops are less likely to give you **** as long as you have cats on it and the emmisions equipment still connected.

[Tru2Chevy]

Eh, most people at the state inspections facility prolly don't know where they are supposed to be located, so as long as the cats are there and your car passes the plug in test, you'll be set.

- Justin

[WildBillyT]

Eh, most people at the state inspections facility prolly don't know where they are supposed to be located, so as long as the cats are there and your car passes the plug in test, you'll be set.

- Justin

I agree. I woudn't sweat it.

[NightRydaSS]

the last time i went through inspection in Nov, they put me on the rollers and put tubes in my exhaust...would that screw me with LT's?

[WildBillyT]

the last time i went through inspection in Nov, they put me on the rollers and put tubes in my exhaust...would that screw me with LT's?

No. Off of the top of my head, aside from catalytic converters, no exhaust component will change your emissions level.

[Tru2Chevy]

the last time i went through inspection in Nov, they put me on the rollers and put tubes in my exhaust...would that screw me with LT's?

Really? They shouldn't have done that.....

- Justin

[Bandit]

Really? They shouldn't have done that.....

- Justin

Anything prior to 1996 still goes on the roller, after 1996 its plug n play.

[NightRydaSS]

No. Off of the top of my head, aside from catalytic converters, no exhaust component will change your emissions level.

o really? i thought "higher flow" is what they check like the amount of exhaust volume that comes out?

so what changes emissions then? The size of your heads and cam?

how about "high flow" cats? I kno most catted-y's come with "high flow". would that change anything? I just want to make sure i have a clear understanding.

[Tru2Chevy]

Anything prior to 1996 still goes on the roller, after 1996 its plug n play.

I know that, but he's got an LS1 car......

- Justin

[WildBillyT]

o really? i thought "higher flow" is what they check like the amount of exhaust volume that comes out?

so what changes emissions then? The size of your heads and cam?

how about "high flow" cats? I kno most catted-y's come with "high flow". would that change anything? I just want to make sure i have a clear understanding.

I may be mistaken- don't take my word as gospel:

But in order to increase emissions, you need to increase the amount of combustion with more air/fuel- which means you get more emissions with things like a bigger cam, heads, engine size, or inefficient air/fuel ratio.

Once the mixture is burned and sent out the exhaust valves, nothing changes its makeup except for the cat- everything else is just metal or fiberglass muffling to keep noise down or redirect the gases under the car.

High flow cats will change your emissions if they are high-flow because of lower efficacy.

[NightRydaSS]

I may be mistaken- don't take my word as gospel:

But in order to increase emissions, you need to increase the amount of combustion with more air/fuel- which means you get more emissions with things like a bigger cam, heads, engine size, or inefficient air/fuel ratio.

Once the mixture is burned and sent out the exhaust valves, nothing changes its makeup except for the cat- everything else is just metal or fiberglass muffling to keep noise down or redirect the gases under the car.

High flow cats will change your emissions if they are high-flow because of lower efficacy.

u kno, that makes sense now that i think about it.:lol: Everything is already burned up.

I guess here is an analogy: Take a 2 ft long hose and a 30 ft long hose (shorty headers compaired to LT's) run 30* water through it (30* is "emissions") *NOT factoring in the sun heating up the hose* the water will still come out 30* in BOTH setups. Unless you add a water heater (heads, cam, ect).

do they have "normal flow" cats for LT setups?

[NightRydaSS]

nvm, pacesetter has them and so does magnaflow. They also have highflow that meets CARB requirements as well.

[NightRydaSS]

who else has a full catted-y setup? passetter and magnaflow only have the cats, and off-road y-pipe. i guess that means i would have to have it shortened? does anyone sell the full setup besides Kooks and hooker (they want 700)

[Savage_Messiah]

is there any reason NOT to install shorty ones on a LS1?

Because you have long tubes available.

[Batman]

I've had SLP, QTP and Kooks headers, Go with kooks, they come with magnaflow cats and have by far the best fitting Y-pipe, you lose next to no ground clearance. IMO That alone makes them worth the extra money

[BigAls87Z28]

First of all, I wouldnt put shorties on anything but a 305 engine....
second of all, as far as emissions, unless you remove the cats, you will have no problems. The cats from the factory are located very close to the engine is because it allows the cats to heat up faster, helping to lower emissions. Moving them down the line shouldnt be a big deal.
C) they should not put anything up your tail pipe. You have an LS1 car, that is OBDII. All they have to do is plug in the little scanner, check for engine codes. No codes? No problem!!
Hell, you could go in there with heat shields welded to an offroad y pipe to mimic catsk, put o2 sims in there, and the comptuer would read A-Ok, and the DMV gorillas wouldnt know the difference!!!
Just make sure the exhaust doesnt exceed 100dB.

[NightRydaSS]

thanks for all the advice and input guys. I think ill go w/ kooks once i get the $$$. and as for inspection, i will just go to a private shop b/c i have never seen them w/ rollers or any of that crap.

[V]

my local private shops have the rollers, but like i think someone said, OBDII does NOT get the probe/roller test.

[EchoMirage]

im fairly sure that every private shop, to do the new inspections, has to have rollers. if they dont, then they dont have the new equipment.

[Tru2Chevy]

im fairly sure that every private shop, to do the new inspections, has to have rollers. if they dont, then they dont have the new equipment.

Yes, they have to have the rollers, or else they aren't actually certified to be doing inspections.

- Justin

[NightRydaSS]

ok, well i guess im just blind and didn't notice them. In any event, i still think private shops will give me less b/s then state ones. I just feel as tho the state will give me a hard time where as local private shops will just want to see that the cats and emissions equipment are hooked up.

next yr i think im going to install Kook's LT's ($1,800+). i only want to do it once so i might as well not skimp on quality. Also, ill have my tuner by them so i can tune the car.

thanks for all the advice guys

[Jared1970Chevelle]

my buddy just orderd the Krooks LTs....

[98tadriver]

i think Thunder Racing usually has a good deal on pacesetters and a tsp catted y

it wont be obnoxiously loud during normal driving with the LT's and magnaflow, i have that setup. when you really step on it, your presence will be felt! http://thumbs.vidiac.com/ea60141d-44f2-4f22-bb0d-430a24ad2635.jpg (http://videos.streetfire.net/video/ea60141d-44f2-4f22-bb0d-430a24ad2635.htm)Click here to see Video (http://videos.streetfire.net/video/ea60141d-44f2-4f22-bb0d-430a24ad2635.htm)

[NightRydaSS]

i think Thunder Racing usually has a good deal on pacesetters and a tsp catted y

it wont be obnoxiously loud during normal driving with the LT's and magnaflow, i have that setup. when you really step on it, your presence will be felt! http://thumbs.vidiac.com/ea60141d-44f2-4f22-bb0d-430a24ad2635.jpg (http://videos.streetfire.net/video/ea60141d-44f2-4f22-bb0d-430a24ad2635.htm)Click here to see Video (http://videos.streetfire.net/video/ea60141d-44f2-4f22-bb0d-430a24ad2635.htm)

:drool: :leghump:

Thats it, that is the EXACT sound i'm looking for!


nice....

[BonzoHansen]

im fairly sure that every private shop, to do the new inspections, has to have rollers. if they dont, then they dont have the new equipment.

Correct. Been that way at least 6 or 7 years now. Not so 'new' anymore. lol