yuri_Stingray

So it looks like I'm the first to get a chance to post on this. Hopefully, you guys can learn from this a little. I really wish I would have taken more pictures though to help others with their installs.

This is just the first stage in my C7's journey to awesomeness, next week I'll be adding a cam and getting another tune/dyno. I'll probably add heads after that. Ultimately, the goal is around 550 at the wheels or bust


First Mod: Pfadt Tri-Y Headers

To start, I'll have to say that I'm a little disappointed with how long it took to get my headers. I know Pfadt is one of the first to be shipping, but I was excited to get them sooner. When I first placed my order on the 11th I was told that my headers would ship "beginning of next week". Awesome..I cant wait. However, Wednesday the 15th comes and still no tracking number, Thursday comes...still nothing. I place a call, and I'm told they will ship out very soon, and that they were very sorry for the delay. Now, we fast-forward to Monday the 21st....still no headers and still no tracking number. At this point I'm livid so I called and gave them a serious piece of my mind. They apologized again, explained the delays (which did sound valid), and said they would send the headers right out. This time they not only sent the headers out, even included a tune at their expense for my troubles.

I've read really good things about their customer service on the forum so maybe I'm jumping the gun a little, but I would say this and feel comfortable that I'm still being fair.

First Impressions:
Ok, now that I've vented past that, I have to say despite the shipment date issues, when the headers arrived I was very pleased with phats product:
1. The packaging was amazing (I know funny thing to mention). But honestly, they arrived in flawless condition as they were encapsulated in sealing foam which is an expensive way to ship ( I know from my own company) but ensures the product arrives in perfect condition.
2. Flawless....these have to be about the best made exhaust parts I've ever seen. Amazing craftsmanship, and they are absolutely beautiful. I was very impressed with the overall design, everything looked like it was made by a robot it was so perfect. I had read that the tri-y would be the best fit for the c7/LT1, and from appearance they certainly look like they are the real deal.
3. The Tune wasn't quite what I was expecting to be honest. It requires a laptop, and preferably a windows machine. I was expecting an all-in-one unit that doesn't require a computer, but it was free so I didn't feel too bad about it. Just be aware of that if you purchase the tune, you will need a laptop to complete the process. (which I'll cover later, it wasn't a big deal, and the tune is awesome)



Install.
I didn't want to wait for an install shop to do the work so I just did the install myself . Honestly, It took me 3 days to complete. I was just working on it in the evenings after work, so about 9 hours total if I had to guess. I'm sure I could do it much faster, but I really took my time and had to reference the forum c5/c6 to see how other people did this on previous Corvettes. For anyone who is going to attempt this yourself here are my thoughts. I wouldn't say it was difficult, maybe a 4/10 that being said, give yourself a full weekend if its your first time. There may also be a faster way...I honestly just don't know. Here is a quick run down of what it took for me to do the install:


1. Disconnect the battery
2. To get access to the factory exhaust manifolds I had to move some things: Fuse box on the passenger side, which was very simple as it unplugged. There are a bunch of random lines I had to just tuck out of the way as well. Once that was done, I could get the spark plugs out. Next of course, I loosened the exhaust manifold bolts.
3. There was a heat shield/ cover on the manifold on the passenger side that I removed.
4. At this point, I got the car up high in the air. Either tall jack stands, or a lift if you can access one will work.
4. I had to remove a panel that was between the exhaust and the body. Its hard to describe, its basically a panel that covers the pathway of the exhaust pipes to the rear if that makes sense.
5. Once that panel is out of the way, you can remove the midpipe
6. The factory manifolds still didn't want to come out at this point from the bottom. There just isn't enough room unless you move some more things. This is where the extra time came in as I wasn't very familiar with this process. Here is what I had to do to get the factory manifolds out:
7. Remove the front wheels
8. Removed the upper control arm bolts at the frame and the lower shock mounts
9. I removed the nuts on the engine mounts
10. I supported the engine with a block of wood and a bottle screw jack
11. I had to loosen the subframe to make room. I removed all of the nuts but 2
12. At this point, I had enough space that the stock manifolds came out of the bottom.
13. The new headers have more than enough room at this point to go in. The trouble is getting the stock manifolds out. Maybe there was an easier way to remove them. With how easy the headers went in, I'm thinking it wasn't necessary to create so much space.
15. From there I just installed the mid-pipe and reassembled everything.
16. The tune- this process was actually a lot easier than I though it would be. I had instructions and followed them exactly. It took me about 10 minutes to complete. You plug into the OBD port on the car, plug into your laptop and then use their program to tune the car. It will save your stock tune, and install their header tune. I also have my stock tune saved with an online backup service...you might consider doing the same in case your laptop is ever destroyed/stolen/ect. The good thing about keeping the stock tune, is that I can go back to the stock tune and it will act like it was never there so I can keep my warranty Of course....heads and a cam are going to make going back to stock a lot harder over the next few months. Anyways...


Start up:
Amazing. Why the car didn't come like this from the factory, I'll never get. The car sounds like its a real sports car finally I'll let you guys just make up your own mind on sound though:


First drive / Dyno:

Honestly, the car responds like it has 100HP more when its in track mode and I'm seriously not kidding. The torque is just unreal in the midrange, and with the traction control off its a beast. I'm guessing that is a combination of the tune and the headers though, because in touring mode, it definitely feels a lot faster, but its not even close to the ridiculous beast that it is in the sport/track modes. The pfadt tune changes depending on driving mode, so that would help explain the difference.That being said, the car pulls a lot harder in every gear now in all of the modes. I was also able to use the pfadt tune system to capture a data log which I emailed to them so their engineers could review it and verify that everything looked perfect, which they did. I didn't really want to drive the car too hard though, I really wanted to get the car back to a dyno shop so that they could verify independently that everything was installed correctly and the tune was functioning. Luckily I was able to hit the dyno again last night: Here are the results, got some good gains. Final numbers were 457/460:





Interestingly enough, the tune was not only performing properly, they said the AFR was actually considerably low. He expected it to be leaned out to get the added power, but that just wasn't the case. It seems like they've been able to tune for the headers and make god power while still maintaining very safe system which I really appreciate.


Conclusion:
I have to say, I couldn't be more pleased with the combination of quality, sound, and performance from this first mod. The install was a bit of a pain, but the results seem more than worth it. I imagine that with the addition of a decent cam, I should be able to hit somewhere in the 500s at my wheels. LMR? LG? TSP? C'mon guys, show us the big cams your working on!!! I want 550 at my wheels!


Took some pics out the other night:

TTRotary

Thanks for the review, but you have misrepresented your results. You say you got some good gains? BS











.............You got some AWESOME gains

05dsom

411 base rwhp seems a bit higher than other tuners #'s on the same type dynojet?

3 Z06ZR1

makes me want to do a white C-7! With Phadts!

Meegle

Thanks for the review on your headers and install. I have no doubt it will be greatly appreciated by others looking to upgrade.

Theta

Thanks very much!

Makes the wait for my order to arrive that much harder!

Racer

Not really, there have been lots in that range.

Unreal

411 is actually looking to be the low side. Friends car did 410rwhp with 9 miles on it on a dynapak that normally reads a few lower than a dynojet. With more miles I'm sure the motors will loosen up and get a few more HP.

peter pan

Awesome results and that is enough gains to feel the difference

NoOne

You need to look up Roger Grotyohann

VIN666

Sweet.
Thanks for the in depth post!

Slick 6MT

Awesome! Thanks so much for the post! And this is with the stock catted x-pipe! I have to believe that with a proper cold air intake, 3" non-catted x-pipe and tune we could be almost at 500 rwhp.

Amazing!

Slick 6MT

Did you get the headers with or without the cats? I don't see it in your initial thread.

C7Z51_2014

Pfadt:

Is there any possibility that you will be able to bypass the code/flag so that GM won't know that we have a aftermarket tune? Ideally, I want to be able to reinstall the stock tune if I'm forced to the dealer for recall work, etc. Of course, I want to go back to the performance tune as soon as I leave.

TTRotary

Actually, it's a few ponies low. The car should be seeing about 415, which is consistent with the quoted factory power. No big deal, of course, since what matters here is the increase. We have now seen a handful of cars that are responding with +40-50 TQ.... that's just nuts. Looks like Chevy was holding on to some ponies for future HP "increases". This is basically a 505HP motor, just like the LS7.

Snorman

46rwhp/50rwtq with just headers and a tune.
Wow.
S.

SinnerC7

I spoke with them last week vas with their tune you can return to stock and Chevy will not know it was tuned.

venomws7

Amazing results I can't wait for CAI , H/C numbers
Congrats man the gains are awesome.

yuri_Stingray

Thank you. Still waiting to hear from some vendors on what options I have. I see LMR has a cam already made, but it is on the mild side (which still made really good power). I'm guessing LG and Texas Speed will post some big cam numbers real soon so I might hold of a few more weeks even though its killing me

yuri_Stingray

Their tune does not alter the write count on the ECU. It is really easy to install/remove as well so you can go back and forth as you need