stevednmc

California is beautiful, but the peple running it are corrupt money hungry morons! Ill take the snow here anytime.

WishIhadaTerminator

Oh I forgot to mention, talking to the local exhaust guy...He mentioned that the stock H Pipe is like $3000 MSRP. I didn't fact check him, but you might want to hold on to that, getting one back could be expensive.

kast1376

You can find them used for under 200 bucks all the time. Check craigslist and your local salvage yards.

Mike Hadz

Thanks for the input everyone, i think i might just get some shorts & a slp catted x pipe, and swap it every 2 years, couldn't imagine a cop pulling me over and inspecting my car, and besides wouldn't keeping my stock headers and going with a high-flow catted x pipe barely show any gains?

kast1376

The big difference will be in sound more than HP gains. Just stay off the pedal and keep it out of high RPMs when you see a cop close by and you will be fine.

WishIhadaTerminator

Again buddy, from everything I've read on here, the shorties are expensive relative to miniscule gains. Look around man, mostly you'll find everyone saying Long tubes or nothing. Believe me, I've been lurking around these forums (before signing up) for awhile. If that cash is burning a hole in your pocket that's one thing, but I wouldn't get the shorties just to have aftermarket headers.

cliffyk

^+1, "shortie" headers are no better than the stock manifolds--they are just a method of separating you from your money while making you think you've accomplished something...

Mike Hadz

Could i pass smog/are there legal longtubes for california? and if i had longtubes i couldn't re-install my stock h pipe for smog tests could i?

cliffyk

You could, however you would have to remove the LTs and re-install the stock manifolds. There may be CARB certified LTs, IDK?

LTs sound very nice and depending on which set you buy can, on a modestly "bolt-on" modded engine, make noticeable gains in the design's targeted RPM ranges--however a lot of the perceived gain (again on a modest bolt-on setup) is placebo effect, a result of that sweet sound.

Also keep in mind that when you need to do transmission repairs or replace the clutch one or both of the LTs will have to come off, at least partially. This is just additional time if you do your own work, however if you are paying to have the work done it becomes additional $$; likely to be in the same range as what was paid to install them in the first.

All that said, I would probably have LTs on my "bolt-on" GT except that at my age I'd just as soon not screw around installing them, dealing with the leaks and cracks that far to often accompany them, and having to yank 'em if I need to do tranny or clutch repairs--and I'll be damned if I would ever pay someone to work on my car. When (hopefully IF) that day comes I'll get a Corolla...

kast1376

No smog-legal Long tubes or Mid-length headers, since they both change the location of the cats. If I remember right (and don't quote me on this, I just remember reading it somewhere), since longtubes eliminate the pre-cat, and moves the cats further downstream, they aren't as effective anymore on the pollutants. According to what I read, to re-gain the amount of effectiveness lost, you would need to aid A.I.R. injection onto the car.

Stick with stock manifolds and just deal with removing the aftermarket mid pipe once every 2 years. It isn't that bad.

Again, not an expert, I just remember reading that somewhere.