If someone is all out of options for minor mods to their car (without messing with the internal engine), would Shortie headers be a good investment?

http://store.yahoo.com/corvetteforum/sd-30056.html

$450 for up to 15 hp? But I don't know if they are worth it or not. Everyone says "no", so I would like input from those who have actually TRIED it.

Thanks in advance,
Andy

 

I have shorties caust thelong tube hooker's would not work on my convertable. Long tube's are best - but I am happy and the sound is great. :seeya

 

Aesthetic decoration only on a late model C4. You won't gain
anything but a thinner wallet. Ther've been numerous post
about this in the past.

Good Luck.......

 

No, save your money for some long tubes instead. I had the hooker shorties and didnt notice a big improvement over the Lt1 manifolds.

 

I can't quantify a actual horsepower gain or SOTP feel with the SLP shorties since I did other mods the same weekend.
However a couple of points; they look better than rusty cast iron, there's got to be a little flow improvement just from the shape, the weight is a lot less on the frontend(my drag racer mentality), the plug access is better(I removed the stock looms & brackets too!), plus I think they're cooler(but mine are ceramic coated).
Just food for thought, you make the call, and good luck with the last bolt by #8!
Dave
:rolleyes:

 

You make some very valid points. They do look much better than stock and the ease of changing plugs has to be worth it. Personally I am getting long tubes because emmisions are not a concern, but shorties are the only option in some cases.

They do have many benefits, but performance increases are probably minimal.

 

Save your money for TPIS or DRM longtubes!

 

Yeah, that one's fun, as are some of the others.

Positives: looks better, sounds better, weigh 17.5 lbs less than the stock manifolds
Negatives: expensive, header sealing issues

 

Most everywhere you ask you will get the "NO, waste of meny" line. I put them on my 96' cause i didn't want to have to deal with custom cat back and bullet cats with the longtubes.


Price wise, they are expensive for 450 because the longtubes are the same price. However, they do improve performance. My car feels alot stronger, has more of the line go, and sounds awsome on acceleration. No, long tubes would multiply this by a few factors and there you have it.

That is why people say not waste you time. Money permiting, i would have gone to longtubes too, but it didn;t work out. I think the shorties will yeild you about a a strong 10-12 hp, more than that i am scepticle.

The shortied do not have the same scavenging effects of the long tubes, but are an improvement over the cast manifolds.

On the cast units, the chamber that takes gases from cylinder 4&6 and 3&5 is one large opening in the manifold. This decreases any scavenging effect. It is one big open chamber that is feed by two cylinders, not good at all.

Another alternative, if you are the experimental type is too take a set of of L98 shorties and adapt. It can be done by cutting off the air fitting in each
tube and welding in one central one like the Lt1 peices. The L98 units go for about 50-70 bucks on EBay.

If you want any more info, email me.

Good luck,

89'

 

You probably won't have much improvements over stock if your engine is unmodded. They will help when you start to make some serious mods. I am only just now going to long tubes on my setup.

They do :

sound better
look better
flow more (if you need it)
make it easy to change plugs
make more heat in the engine compartment
hard to keep from having exhaust leaks

I would do them again if I did not have the money to do long tubes and wanted something better. Longtubes will run about $850 -$1000 after you figure in buying the cats, headers, coatings, and custom installation. Shorties will bolt right on for $450.