Pacesetter Headers Question
 

I just ordered longtubes for my ls1 and was wondering if i should wrap them. They are armor coated but i figured with the wrap it would lower temps under the hood and make them last longer. Another question is should i order better gaskets then the ones that come with them??

i hate pacesetters. good luck. my gaskets fit fine and haven't leaked or blown yet. i would upgrade to locking bolts or something because like all headers, they work loose all the time. if you really want, you could wrap them, not needed with ceramic coating though. mine cool down very, very quick! everyone on hear will say jet-hot and some other gaskets, i don't think its necessary. oh and mine fit like crap, thats why i despise having them.

re use the oem gaskets

oem is a good idea, just mine were blown out.

ls1 manifold gaskets are metal........i put my pacesetters on with their gaskets and had leak issues, re-installed the oem metal gaskets and no problems for 3 years

yeah, i believe the lt1's are too. its been awhile though so i could be mistaking. never-the-less the gaskets they send you are inferior. i guess getting different gaskets would be a good idea.

header wrap on a daily driven car isnt worth it in the slightest. I have actually heard that by insulating the heat inside the header (with a wrap) will cause them to deteriorate faster.

Yeah, don't use header wrap on a daily driver. It holds the heat in too much and will rot out from the inside. I went with Stage 8 locking bolts and haven't had any problems. I have stainless headers with no coating and heat isn't as big an issue on LS1 cars. You might want to grab to plug wires like the MSD's if you don't already have them. They can be bent slightly to avoid contacting the headers. I think the stock wires might contact the headers on a couple of cylinders.

Someones a bit biased.... Mine fit perfectly, tucked up nice, and so far have not had a single bolt back out... I used the gaskets they provided and have no problems. My friends LS1 is the same way, headers fit nice and tight, no problems with bolts backing out at all....

If you need help with them let me know, thats what I put on my car. And like the other's said use the OEM gaskets they are ftw!

i will need help with them, i was waiting to post and ask for help :lol: But before i install them im looking at getting new plugs and wires first.

tr55's and msd plugs for sale online 64 for both :-)

How many miles on the car? You may want to consider doing the motor mount bushings while it's apart. I wish I had and now it will be a lot tougher with the headers in the way.

On an LT1? I did mine with LTs on, no prob.

LS1 only 50,000 miles so they should be fine

sorry a bad experienced makes me hate them forever. have you checked the bolts? i have a loudmouth and could barely tell it was leaking, but i did hear it at idle. they work loose though after a couple hundred miles

Check em every chance I get. Which is daily pretty much.

ahhh well i do it maybe monthly. thats why haha

Mine are even still nice and shiny. :)

same!

Don't wrap them from what i've heard they will rot, use the stock gaskets which are metal as stated.

My pacesetters started to get a decent amount of surface rust after less than 6 months on the car so take it fwiw even with their coating.

Yes, use the stockers unless you pull thrm apart, they are layered.

Do motor mounts.

thanks now i just gotta find out whos willing to help :-)

I just put in pacesetters without a problem. I went with aftermarket carbon gaskets. I guess you could use the OEM gaskets but I figured I would start from new while I was in there. The copper gaskets that pacesetter gives you arent that great. I also put in ngk tr55 and msd plugs for the 64 deal you were looking at. They have held up great so far with the heat, and they are easy to bend away from the primaries.

DEFINITELY do the motor mounts while you are in there. I put in the poly mounts and it really wasnt that bad. Plus having the motor jacked up while doing the mounts makes it VERY easy to slide the headers in (no k member notching). The car vibrates more, but it is only noticeable at idle. I also put in the poly tranny mount and that combo noticeably stiffens up the shifts. The motor mounts also gave me better clearance for the Y

I only have 45K miles and the stock rubber mounts already allow too much movement. I would get the poly mounts and do them when you do the headers.

my paceselter came with copper gaskets