farva

so, i recently took care of a bummer of an oil leak... I ended up replacing the valve cover gaskets and after replacing the gaskets still had problems. Upon further inspection i realized that the previous owner of the car "repaired" cracks in the original valve covers and did a terrible job. They still had a few small cracks that the original owner missed along with the seal groove being filled with jb weld i am assuming. I just installed a different set of valve covers.

so, the real question. After a good time of oil leaking on to the exhaust i am looking for something to replace the old and gross looking original headers. I am not totally looking for something to give me more power but looking for something that will just look better..... just for now. So, i have found a few fairly priced but they do not have a plug for the pipe circled in the picture and also do not have the raised rail above. I honestly do not know what the significance of the raised bar or assembly is on top of the original header or the pipe going across the passenger side valve cover into the exhaust are.... what do i do about the pipe(s) in the photo? I searched the forums a bit and consulted my chevrolet shop manual but had no luck. PLEASE GO EASY ON ME.

This car was something that was my fathers baby. My father and I worked on this car from the time i was 13 up until a year and a half ago when he passed away. I love this car but have a limited knowledge of the car.

thanks guys!

jan-erik

Hi,
I have an85 which is slightly different with respect to the EGR system, but else it is equal.

I changed headers to TPIS coated headers. These are very easy to put in as they use all original fittings.
There is two small things to remember with them. At one of the bolts it is necessary to change to torx or umbraco and the support to the alternato may have to be filed down a millimeter but it is very easy,
The TPIS headers have absolutely all things necessary to be fitted to the air sytem of the engine.
The tube to the left with aluminium foil on is the exhaust tube for the EGR system. The TPIS headers have fitting for this too.On the 85 the EGR goes internally in the heads.

The tubings in front (marked) of the picture is the air tubing blowing air into the exhaust to heat up the catalytic converter for a cleaner exhaust faster. The TPIS headers comes with fittings to these tubings also.

The TPIS headers makes the change of sparkplugs easy also.

I will strongly recommend to have ceramic coated headers as that decrease the temperature from the headers to the engine compartment and also makes the exhaust more efficient.

There is one thing you have to do . That is to bend or make a new air tube or hose to the catalytic converter if you keep the old fashion one.

I have had mine since1998 and they are still very good. I think these are the ones with less work and no modifications or welding. Just order the Y- pipe for the model year you have to have correct catalytic converter fitting.

You will experience quite a power increase with these or other full length headers.
Good luck

farva

as of right now i have straight pipes from the stock headers back to glass packs. The car is pretty loud and sounds awesome. I was just wondering if there would be a huge problem running headers that do not have hook ups for anything that is circled in the photo... What would happen if i ran a closed short header and did not have anything connected to where the aluminum covered pipe is? I am trying not to sound like a total moron, i just really dont know.

farva

and im looking for something that is just a little better to look at. I am not able to spend $800 or more. maybe something closer to the $250 and lower range. or just let me know if that is just going to be a total waste of time.

C409

........ The aluminum wrapped pipe transfers exhaust gases to the intake for the EGR valve ... the plumbing on the exhaust manifold is for the AIR injection system ... your photo shows that the AIR pump has been eliminated ... so no worries about whether or not your new headers have these ... If that is a recent picture of your GROSS manifold and you only have $250 to spend I think you would soon be dissappointed with the appearance of whatever you chose to replace them with ...

MyFirst90coupe

If you went with a non-EGR header you have to either buy or make a block-off plate for where that foil wrapped tube goes into the intake manifold.

I got the cheap hedman headers from Summit for $169 they are uncoated and look pretty crusty already. It's only been about 6 months. There really aren't any good quality headers for less than $400 that are coated to the best of my knowledge. Maybe keep a lookout in the parts for sale section.

I think it's awesome that you are maintaining what you and your father started!!!

pmihaltian

Keep it stock and fix what needs repair. Otherwise, you will start down a long expensive path fraught with complications, problems and unintended consequences.

MyFirst90coupe

Do what Pete said. Check out the thread that Ch@os has going on about his exhaust, he posted pics of his all cleaned up.

farva

i live in florida and there are no emissions testing down here. My exhaust is stock headers to straight pipes to glass packs. I think i am just getting a cheap set of chrome headers and drilling and welding a EGR port on them. that way it is stock with the EGR but looks a little cleaner. I do not have a smog pump anymore so i dont need the stuff on top of the headers for emissions.