I know I culd just flip through all of the different topics to find this, but I was wondering what everyone's opinions are on header brands and sizes. I've been lookin at BBK headers for my '96 LT1 but haven't fully decided.

My car had ceramic coated BBK shorties on it when I bought it, and they look good, but im not sure what kind of performance they give me.

The only reason I havent redone them is because if I don't want to downgrade to non ceramic coated, and if I was to replace them I'd get long tubes. However, ceramic coated long tubes=lots of money

Pacesetter is known for being cheaper, but a header is a header...dont really know how one could be "bad" Headers of the same length are all going to provde the same amount of power for the most point, and there isn't a world of difference between them. Mostly looks and the brand name on the driver's side header.

If I ever upgrade my headers, ill go all out with ceramic coated long tubes from Hooker, Dynomaxx, or Jet Hott.


whatever you do, invest in some locking header bolts though...saves you time and annoyance of exhaust leaks/bolts rattling out...

Long Tubes all the way man. Pacesetters are really cheap like $300. Get new gaskets too. If money is no issue get Hooker. I think you can spray ceramic coating on them. I've seen some bottles at autozone, but a pro can do it i bet and for way cheaper. Consider also what exhaust you have or plan to get if sound is a priority.

Actually you may not think of it, but all headers are definitely not the same. The most important thing to make sure you do is get ceramic coated headers. This will keep the engine bay temperatures WAY down, and also prevent the headers from rusting out over time. Mine are ceramic coated on the outside and inside the pipes, but that's what you get with SLP. Mine aren't even technically considered long tubes, they are "tuned length" headers, meaning each pipe was engineered to a specific length for each exhaust outlet and also the lengths were determined by the firing order of each cylinder. That's a lot different than some brands of longtubes, where they just make each exhaust manifold pipe longer down the the collector. Nothing wrong with that, but some brands provide more power in different RPM ranges.

Another big difference between brands is fitment issues. SLP's hang the absolute lowest (unless you get the new redesigned headers that they just released not too long ago) and are a pain to get into the engine bay. Other brands go in much easier. Also, some brands (the cheapo ones) i have heard to warp fairly easily after being on the car for a while, causing serious exhaust leak problems. Definitely do some research before you buy a set.

So 2 things that are a must:
Longtubes (shorties are a complete waste, no offense to Tomos whatsoever!!)
Ceramic Coated

I just talked to a local Performance Shop (called Wedan Performance) and the guys I talked to suggested SLP. I guess on the LT1 they are the easiest to fit. I'm talking to him again Monday to discuss which headers to order, what all other suspension and fitment parts are needed, and when I can do everything. Not going BBK because they seem to only have shorties.

None taken freshbake, I didnt pick them out or buy 'em -they where on the car when I bought it and the guy was worried about emissions...
I just havent upgraded cuz it'd be expensive to do so, and they look nice so "whatever" for now...

When I said that headers are the same I meant you get the same "performance" out of them. You wont get 20 more hp out of a certain brand or anything like that...quality is a different story.

sorry for not making that clear, my bad

Oh no no i understood what you mean! I was just throwing out some other things to research about haha. But you're absolutely right, you'll get roughly the same amount of power no matter what brand you chose.

i found a set of some supposed new black LT Pacesetters for my LT1 bird. The dude is letting the pair go for only $170 bucks. wow too good to be true. off of somewhere else I'd be looking at almost $300.
i know there's a catch. i'm going to go look at them sometime this week and check them out. so i suppose i should look for signs of warping and check that the flanges are straight, what else?

Ive been thinkin about pullin off those shorties and sellin 'em on ebay or craigslist for a couple hundred bucks and buyin some long tubes...but it's on a long list of "to-do's".....we all know how that goes....

Thats about what Id pay for used/ preowned headers....depending upon the condition of course...

the black ones are not ceramic coated...that may be the only catch i can think of. Just check for the usual scrapes and dents in the headers, and that the flanges are flat and even (maybe take a ruler with you) But that deal isn't too bad

this is an old thread but i figure i throw my 2 cents in cause when your doing headers on a lt1. one can use all the help they can.
i installed pacesetter lt on a 97 a4 camaro and the trans dipstick would not let the egr flange bolt up or vise versa, pacesetter said the designed them around a standard trans and to keep trying- had to put a flex trans dipstick to make it work. ease to spark plugs still dificult but not as bad as stock manifold of course. bbk shorties you do need to undo the steering shaft and pass side is laborish-ease to spark plug same as pacesetter, but they only have 2 ceraminc-pricy, or chrome which after a month or 2 turn inot rainbow color. slps long or short are good fit ease to plugs is good only draw back pricy and then some (gotta by installation kit seprate). edelbrock shorties are probly the best iv installed. if your going with shorties best bet is edelbrock they fit like a glove did not undo stering shaft and pass side went in surprisingly easy. ease to plug is good if not awesome (except for one under alt, which you gota remove alt no matter what header you got) ceramic pricy non ceramic good price.
no matter what brand ceramin is always more by like 100 bucks or so.
pacesetter are like flowtech (which i had to set for mustang that had a small leak by the welds) you get what u pay for but if some of you are like me on a budget you get what you can at the time and iron out the details later.

I did my plugs about a month ago with my bbk shorties and it wasn't awful. Much much better compared to the stock manifolds but still a PITA design/placement to begin with.

headers make plug changes much easier because the manifolds don't run overtop of the plugs, making them MUCH easier to get to. Of course, changing those #8 plugs are always a headache. Can't tell you how many times i've had bloody arms from that. Best to go from underneath the car.

Try doing an LTx car. GM rates plugs and wires as 11 hours. The #8 is bad, but #2 is the worst.

Matt

I actually did change them on my old LT1 formie...i remember it was a huuuuge pain...but oddly enough I don't remember the #2 giving me any trouble at all, maybe i just don't remember it well since it was like 3 years ago.

You need a short ratchet to get to it, unless you have headers, then it may be easier. I can not get my hand it there to touch the plug.

Matt

i remember that the only way for me to get to it was to reach my arm WAAY up to the plug going from underneath the car....i got all scratched up from it. It took forever to get the ratchet on the plug as well...a nightmare for sure

I don't know how on earth it would take 11 hours to do those plugs. My buddy and I did them in 4 and that included using floor jacks and jack stands, as well as taking off the alternator and everything...

Maybe if you did it blind folded? Half the time I think some of those dealership mechanics are blind folded anyway! Haha