I am looking to get some long tube headers for my '94 6 speed and have found 3 that fit my budget of under $500.
https://www.carid.com/patriot-exhaus...582908984.html

https://www.carid.com/1994-chevy-cor...378517807.html


Which ones do you think would A: Give the best performance and sound, and B: go on with the least headache

 

The first one isn't for a C4 and has no hope of fitting. The second one is strange looking and I have no idea (and probably nobody knows either). The third ones at least look more or less like typical C4 headers. However, judging by the pictures they may extend straight out off the heads pretty far. I could see the rear primary on the passenger side coming awfully close to the evaporator or heater core box.

If you don't need the AIR connections and you can stretch your budget to $540, the Hooker Super Competition headers fit well and will be good quality for you.

 

What is the goal that you want the headers to achieve? They seem way too expensive for my tastes. Expensive being defined as low price today, high price tomorrow. I prefer cheap when it is defined as more up front today, way less tomorrow.

 

what you save on headers you will spend in labor getting them to fit and customize the exhaust

 

It it will not last, assuming you are able to custom fit it. Buy a set of phab headers then.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...headers-2.html

 

TPIS makes one that fits well with little screwing around or so most people, including myself, have experienced. Obviously, good quality doesn't come cheap nor can cheap stuff not be wanting.

 

I looked at those ones you suggested, they appear to be mid length not full length. Will this produce significantly less power than if I was to get full length? Do they even make full length? Thanks for your help and I'll strongly consider these. Also, would I have to scrape off the paint or could i just wrap it with a Titanium Exhaust wrap. Do I even need to wrap it?

 

What is your plan for this build? Are you really modding the car or just doing headers? Mids or fulls won't be noticeably
different on a stock or lightly modded car. Really, you will not detect any difference. None.

 

Right now the plan is headers, exhaust, comp cam 503 and 3.73 gears.

 

The stock cat-back on the LT cars is very good actually. Save that money and buy better headers. As others
have said, cheap headers are hard to install and will rust out. The cam and gears are a good plan and will run
good, you will like it. My headers have high temp paint cured by the book and it lasted about 2 years and is flaking.
Buy stainless, i will next time. There wouldn't be next time if i had bought them the first time.

 

I don't really know why they are sometimes consider "mid-length". I saw that also. But AFAIK they extend about the same distance under the car as other long-tube headers for C4s. I think the primary length on a street car build, and especially any 90-degree crank V8 where the exhaust pulses on each bank are very uneven, is probably not a big deal. There's not much tuning going on there with the primary lengths. OTOH, the headers do improve flow quite a bit over the cast logs on any L98 or LT1, and the collector volume (which includes any volume in the exhaust up to the first cat or X or other termination node) does help extend the bottom of the power band. My C4 is heavily modded and I've never owned with stock exhaust, so I don't have direct before/after comparison experience on these cars. But back in the day I had a dead-stock 89 Mustang 5.0 and it gained significant power that showed up as several mph improvement in trap speeds and several tenths reduction in ETs with no changes other than long-tube headers and matching catted H-pipe.

So I kind of disagree with Benny about noticeable improvements on a stock car* (especially an LT1 that comes with a good intake). But since you're also looking at a cam upgrade, long-tubes will be a bigger benefit. Any time you increase exhaust duration or overlap on the cam, long-tubes help by greatly extending the distance between the exhaust port and collector are where the four ports "see" one another. It helps keep the pulse in one port from interfering with the pulse in another port - essentially the opposite of classic exhaust tuning theory, but this is what really happens in a street-oriented cross-plane-crank V8. So I'd say go for it.

You probably don't need to wrap them at all. However, mine are partially wrapped with the insulating fabric stuff, which works fine with the factory paint on the headers. I don't know anything about the Titanium Wrap stuff, so I'd defer to others' knowledge on that.

*But I do agree with him that the OE cat-back is probably good enough for a stock or mildy modded LT1 like yours. So do save your money on that.

 

Matthew i think i didn't word that as well as i hoped. I fully agree with putting headers on the car. I don't think there is much of a difference
in the long tubes and the mid length ones. Either are way better than stock.

 

Gotcha. Yeah, I agree with that.

 

The op brought up the term "mid length" in regards to the Hooker 2151 Super Competition headers. These are full length headers. I went through a couple of sets on my bracket car over the years.

 

Problem with modification is it is going to depend on where you draw the hard line. So say you spend $1500 on a set of headers and stop there, it is kinda a waste since you won't get much out of it. I would at least budget to spend for intakes and headers and a tune for an L98 and headers and a cam for a LT1 and a dyno tune to maximize the gains.

 

Yeah, I agree. For some reason Summit refers to them as "mid-length" headers. Not sure why. For the record, I'm not saying they are the be-all/end-all of headers for a C4, but for the OP's budget and use I think they are a solid recommendation. They at least fit well and perform well, and won't fall apart. I've had a set on my car for at least 12-13 years. I just had to replace one side, but that's completely my fault: I neglected to check the header bolts for tightness periodically.

 

i paid 210 for my hed long tube headers and 175 to have a local guy coat them in ceramic. Don't use header wrap, if you have the money ceramic them ! its the difference between 400-500 degrees.

 

I have melrose headers with the ceramic option, i went with the full exhaust system after pricing out material cost and labor.
Seemed like a hell of a deal for the whole system.

Headers make your engine compartment hot, ceramic coating helps a ton.

When installing you get the fun of making sure everything has a good air gap.

From there I spent a few hundred bucks on thermal insulation for wires, brake lines, header friendly spark plug boots, and finally a thermal sleeve for good luck.

 

If the headers are done well, it would not contact the wire, usually. Mine do not and I rewired because I removed the big cap distributor and had a coil placed somewhere else. I cut the wires to run the length of the valve cover. I bought more expensive headers because they were cheaper in the long run. I can't afford to buy lower priced items thst don't last as long and make me work when I am installing and have to buy insulation for all of the wires.