I admit it, I'm jealous of my buddy. He bought a new Mustang GT and let me drive it. It's faster than my 87. No surprise, and no knock on my 87, but, you know how it is.
So, I saw a pair of LPE headers in the for sale section. What's a bigger bang for the buck, an new intake, or headers?
I've read where headers on these cars are a problem. Not much clearance, and the hot tubes melt things you don't want melted.
Opinions?

 

dale, long tube headers for an L98 are a must to get it all started if you ever hope to have a corvette than runs worth a damn. yes, plugs are often harder to get to (not a big whup), and it gets a bit hotter in there. just make sure the headers are coated inside and out. plug boot socks are a big help, as well as a metal brake booster.

after headers and removal of cats (true duals are best, but if you're subject to visual inspection in your area, at least go with a hi-flow main cat), you must get rid of that god-awful intake for 305cid engines that GM screwed L98 owners for years on and get yourself a used miniram or superram. while you're at it, get yourself a heads/cam package and get that engine running the right way, instead of what woefully inadequate pos GM put out for tpi corvette, and had the swelled gonads to call it a performance car.

question simply answered, you do not do headers on an L98 without doing the intake; that would be considered a package deal. the next package to go with at same time is cam/heads. you'll need about $5-6k to do this job right. don't forget the custom chip, go with Alvin, our resident tuner, www.pcmforless.com

without doing all of the above, you will be left further & further into the archaic half-world of getting laughed at by just about anyone driving a 6-8 cyl. car these days.

cubes are another great way to add in the mix, this cranks up the torque further. the difference between a 383 and a 350 is about 60-70 ft-lbs torque, and about 30-40chp.

its good you're at least considering something to get started in correcting the factory compromise. i consider stock L98 as unacceptable, i will never drive one again. yup, that's just going to the grocery store 1/2 mile down the road, you get sick of it quick enough after purchase.

good luck!

 

Headers are the biggest bang, and as long as you get them coated inside and out you shouldnt have issues with other stuff melting.

I recommend doing the headers first, but the intake will need to be done if you want to make real power.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm not quite as demanding as you are, but I agree, with 350ci, the L98 should be better. I think the history of things explains some of it, the gas shortage, catalytic converters and all that. The use of the 305 intake was just stupid, no matter how you look at it. I've seen ported TPI intakes that address the problem. Are those as good?
I'm kind of at a crossroads here.
I have $10.5k in my car now. It's pretty nice, and I've gotten to really like it again. I'm one of those guys that gets attached to cars. I could sell it, but I'd take a loss. However, buying a newer one, LT1, would not be that expensive.
On the plus, my car has been in my hands for 6 months. I've changed a lot of stuff, and it's running pretty decent now. No leaks, no overheating, no hidden problems.
On the minus, I'm past where I can get more money out of this car, so if I keep on, it's mine until I don't want a Corvette anymore, because I'd get killed financially trying to sell it.
It could use new tires, but not a crying need. I want new wheels. It could use a new radio. And I want it faster. So, bare minimum, I'm looking at about $5k-6k more for this car. That would be radio, wheels, headers, intake and chip. The heads/cam would be one of those things I'd wait and see if the intake/headers were enough. In fact, I'd probably do a shift kit before heads and a cam.
Just thinking out loud here.

 

Headers, Y-pipe and high flow cat?
Brand recommendations?

 

If it was my car, and I wanted a better, faster car, Id sell it and buy a LT1. That would cheaper and a whole lot easier.

If you want better performance on the street, a gear set is the best bang for the buck. Even if you add headers, cam, rockers, intake etc, eventually it will come down to a gear set.

Headers long tubes are the only ones that work and they're illegal in California.
Short tubes are a waste of money.

Once you get more hp, the trans will need help at the least and a rebuild at the most. Its a vicious circle.

Buy a 96 LT4 and be happy.
YOMV.

 

dale one way to get a little more zip is gears if you dont use as dd go 3.54or 3.73 i assume yours are 3.07 now you will notice a diff. prob cost around 8/9 hundred with labor

 

It's one thing I'm thinking about. An LT1 is 300hp. I'm sitting at about 250hp. Pretty expensive to get 50 more hp.
You have a good point.

 

Yep, 3.07. Runs like no car I've owned at highway speed. A little less inspiring off the line.

 

You do not need to do a gear change on a stock or near-stock L98, unless this is only a daily driver and you want to stoplight race....because after the next stoplight the car will be slower, and you wont be impressed with the highway usage as much anymore.

I would go with Hooker or TPiS headers, both come with their own Ys. Car-sound, Random Tech, are the best cats, but are expensive. More is on my site.

 

I am not at all convinced that long tube headers is a great mod for a street car. They are hot and loud even when coated. If you are building a car to race (street or strip) that's different. Put your money in a mandrel bent front Y pipe like from Exotic Muscle and a high flow main cat like Magnaflow. Also dual outlet mufflers will help. You can do all that for under $500 if you shop around. You can get 15 to 20 CHP from a good exhaust.

Intake mods would be second IMO, but are a good street car mod. Also lower gears are good.

 

It's only 50 more chp but the LT1 will rev so you can take advantage of it with gears and add a high stall to it and they run pretty good.
Just something to think about.

 

I have a set of TPIS headers in my car and can say nothing about them except high praise. Before I had all the woes in my car straightened out, the TPIS headers were glowing red hot on one side. Never mind why, but one side continuously glowed as red as Santa's outfit. It did this several times before I was able to take the car out of commission. Fearing that damage may have been done to the headers, I sent them back to TPIS. They inspected them and reported that they looked perfect. They could have easily told me it was damaged and charged me some cash. They didn't.

One side was subjected to intense heat for a prolonged time and damage wasn't done. The coating wasn't even damaged. That says something about their quality. They are not cheap at all, but there is a reason for that. And another thing, they are a perfect fit. No fab was needed to get them in.

 

A perfect fit counts, thats pretty rare in a header.