foxtrot

What headers do you have on your ride and what do you recomend? I was thinking catbacks then cats then headers. I figured I might as well start there and work my way back as I get the cash. I would like ceramic coated. Also what about ARP bolts as I hear the standard bolts tend to loosten quickly. Please comment on using headers for a daily driver (MPG/HP/Reliability etc).

Thanks!

98UAGT

I just installed Ceramic Coated BBK Shorty headers. They cured my crappy NPI problem of not flowing after 5000, now they pull all the way to 5500 before it shifts. Well-designed, lots of power up top and down low, but a pain to get in. It took about 9-10 hours, and that was for shortys. I would recomend a new mid-pipe, friggin 6 cats, it is a joke. You can hear on my car how much it is being choked off. I will have a new off-road H-pipe by the end of the week.

BCisme

BBK are good headers. but dont do a mid pipe if you plan to add headers later. you'll have to change it. and get the LT's. they will give you the best power and sound. they are a pain to install and work around, but they are worth it. i have LT's, and i wouldnt have it any other way.

foxtrot

Crap if shorties take 9 hrs I can only imagine how long a set a long tube would take. I want shorites anyway so I can use the original cats and catback. Then later I want to change out the cats when I get the cash. Then later the cat backs. This seems the most logical to me.

andy98gt

W/ shorties on a 4.6 you lose HP until 4000 rpms, then after that you gain like 12. Just get longtubes and dont lose any HP at all and they gain right around 22 w/ a n/a to mildly modded 4.6 Theres a guy on here awhile ago that had a dyno graph w/ them.

andy98gt

I meant Stock to Mildly modded

98UAGT

Foxtrot, that is the same exact idea that I have. I put the headers on, and I am getting ready to get a new mid-pipe, then cat-back later. Seemed most logical to me.

foxtrot

hey 98UAGT which headers did ya use? How hard was it to install? How long did it take? Please dont say 9 hrs lol. How does it sound? I does it feel? Any perf gain? I wonder about what andy said about loosing HP below 4K. If so thats were I spend 99% of my time. Also Long tubes are not street legal from what I know and they requre the use and purchase of new cats which I dont have the cash for right now.

98UAGT

Wow, fox, you are loaded with questions! I used Ceramic Coated BBK Short Tube Headers, and it seriously took 9-10 hours to get them on. We worked from 8:30 at night until about 3 in the morning one day. Then about 4-7 the next day. We had to take the mid-pipe, front sway bar, and AC compressor out. Not to mention disconnect the steering, and undo the motor mounts. It sounded exactly the same at first, but when you get on it, you can tell the difference. The main reason for no change in sound is the 6 cats. There was a BIG performance gain up top. My crappy Non-PI heads did NOT flow after 5k RPM, and now they pull all the way to shift-point at 5500. The loss down low is minimum, and is more than made up for up top. For what you lose down low, you will pull twice that up top. You never say, "Hey let's race from 2K RPM to 4K RPM!" You are going to be almost redlining when racing anyways. And about the LTs, I am not knocking them at all. They are definitely the best perfomance-wise, but if it took 9 hours to do shorties, how long would it take to do LTs. And not everybody has 700 to crap down on ceramic coated LTs. I paid 330 for my ceramic shorties, and that was all I had to pay for. I didn't have to buy a new mid-pipe to match my headers, or buy MILs for that matter.

devinsteen

Hmmmm, that makes me consider doing the shorty headers. All I have heard is that "the are not worth the hassle" so I haven't really considered doing them. What kind of hp/torque loss down low are we talking here. If its like 5 hp and a big gain up top it seems that they would be worth it.