ORIGINAL: mac10chap

The JBA system retains the cats if you buy their H-pipe. I have the JBA system with L/T's and didnt get it coated merely b/c back when i bought the set up, it cost a lot more than it does now.

With that being said, I dont have any problems with the set up and the heat has not been an issue yet. If you can afford to shell out the extra money, then go ahead and get the heat shielded ones. If not, then I wouldnt worry about it.

Also, I looked at the OBX system on ebay (there are a lot of them on there cheap)...never heard of them but seems like more people are buying them cause of the price...Like they say, you get what you pay for...

ORIGINAL: Black05StangGT

You do get what you pay for...I got what you did and paid a lot less...just because something is cheaper doesn't make it inferior...I have seen people complain on here about their American Racing headers rubbing or scraping from clearance issues...I have no issues and there are several other people have had very few if any issues with this setup...but mine are inferior because they are cheaper...they are cheaper because they don't have 5 billion dollars worth of marketing driving the product...it’s all economics...but I'm sure you already knew that...in the end buy what makes you happy I guess...if you want to save some money the OBX is a nice setup...if you want to pay more for a stronger more heavily marketed name brand then that is your decision...I just know there are enough people that have had success with the OBX setup to make it worth the money they and I have spent...

ORIGINAL: wasvette
Looking to do the JBA headers fairly soon. Is the stainless steel version OK? Is the ceramic coated model going to really make a difference? The factory manifolds obviously aren't coated.
If you went stainless, do you regret not spending a little extra, or are you happy with the choice?

ORIGINAL: F1Fan

Hi wasvette!

I have JBA shorty heanders finished in Ti ceramic and that stuff works like you can't believe! I though is was B.S. and was just going to buy the plain stainless and just have them Jet Hot coated. But somehowJBA didn'thave the plainstainless in stocksoI got the Ti coated version for about the samemoneyas the plain stainless. I knew the JetHot coatingswould last a long time but this stuff actaully really works as a thermal barrier in addition to keeping the headers looking good if not so muchpretty.

OBTW, all JBA S197GTheaders are stainless steel, the differences are in how they are finished. The plain stainless headers will discolor slightly andwilleventually show some very light surface rust. This is just like our stock exhaust systemsbecause JBA uses the same 409 stainless for their headers.The use of409 type stainless steel material for headers is good but 304 or some of the other 3XX series steels are more resistent to heat. But the thing is if you are going to have them coated anyway who cares? The headers will never see the kind of temps that are hard are the even 409 series material and 409 is lower costwhich can go along way towards thecost of ceramic coating them.

Of the coatings that JBA offers the Ti finish isfar superior in terms of use as athermal barrier. The under hood temps of cars with the Ti coated headers is noticably lower than even thesilver ceramic coated JBA headers. The Ti ceramic coating isnot as pretty as the shinney ceramic coating but it worksmuch better at keeping your engine bay cool andreduces under hood cooking time on everthing under the hood it is well worth the extra money in the long run.


If you combine the JBA headers with a MagnaFlow Tru-X Pipe with OBDII cats you get some pretty decent power out of the system in additiona to being emissions legal even here in California. I got 16-18rwhp out of them on a Dynojet using SAE correction (smoothing5 which givesthe LOWEST power readings) blowing out the stock exhaust system. This is pretty good power and close to what folks with long tubes and O/R H/X pipes are seeing on the same dyno. But just like a good set of long tubes and matching H/X pipe they are not cheap and are a PITA to install though not as bad as long tubes are.

HTH!

ORIGINAL: wasvette

IS THERE A BOLT ON LT HEADER SET UP THAT RETAINS CATS? WITHOUT ANY WELDING, ETC?

ORIGINAL: F1Fan

Hi wasvette,

Yes most long tubes including JBA's (which sound fantastic BTW)are available with cats but the problem is that the cats are moved way down streamand this is explicitly prohibited by federal emission laws. This is one of the reasons that only JBA and recently Edelbrockshortys are 50 statesemissions legal and not one singlelongtube header from any source is emissionsl legal. Having the cats so far away from the exhaust ports causes the exhaust temps to be much lower by the time the gase**** the cats so it takes even longer for the cats to start to work which is the problem with folks getting CEL all of the time if they have LT's with cats. You can reprogram the ECU to ignore orallow a longer cold start periods but this still will occassionally cause CEL to come on. The right way to do headers is with a shorty and an OBDII compliant cat and down pipe as MagnaFlow has done. 100% no problemsbecause the O2 sensors are in the same spot as stock and the cats are even closer to the heads so you will neversee a CEL caused bythe shorty headers or catted down pipe unless of course you have an O2 failure.

HTH!

CHIP - IS THIS THE ONE IN THE LINK? IS $455 SHIPPED A GOOD PRICE?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JBA-1...spagenameZWDVW

THANKS,
KEVIN

ORIGINAL: jawsgt

i have OBX headers and run the resonated h-pipe with my pypes mid muffler and it sounds absolutey amazing. not 1 problem with the headers or h-pipe since installing them in august and still look very good even for being stainless and about 8k miles since the install. fit was decent and quality seemed great...highly recomended