DevilMan02

Several months ago I installed a borla catback and x-pipe. I'm looking to get a pair of headers put in but all the ones I see for sale include cats and an xpipe. I don't really want the cats and I especially don't want the xpipe since I already have one installed.

Who sells what I need? What replaces the cats? just some random metal tubing? Do those come with the headers or does a shop have to custom make them?

Leave your cats vs. no cats opinions at the door, please.

CCA Corvette Parts

You will have to use shorty headers and fab an off road pipe

Much easier to sell the x and get LT's

Peace
Chip

Peace
Chip

guitar420911

DevilMan02

Arg. I definitely don't want shorties. I'm aiming for Long tubes. Guess I wasted my money on that xpipe then.

What do you think the xpipe would sell for?

CCA Corvette Parts

What kind is it?

Peace
Chip

Jeffyvette

Try going to a muffler shop in your area. Ask other Corvette owners who is good in your town. Show the shop what you have and see if they can fab a connection to the headers. Just a thought it might be cheaper then replacing your mid system.
There is a red line with links above go to the store link and there are headers for sale there. Also if just watch the forum threads many of the vendors are running specials on headers only. In my opinion LG, B and B, and Kooks are the best headers.
Jeffy'

Rossi396

I was thinking along the same lines as I already had a Pace setup with the Corsa X. I think the problem lies with the fitment of your X-Pipe to the new headers.

No opinion on cats vs. no cats but I do have a question. (And a bit of a hijack). If I have a 2000 without the pups, could I use my factory cats with a header system and X-Pipe?

DevilMan02

It looks like the Kooks system offers that kind of setup.



I'm understanding now why I'll have to get rid of my xpipe. Mine is farther back and it seems with the Kooks LT's they put the xpipe up further to take the place of the cats (sort of). But if you get the Kooks headers (pictured above), maybe they'll just plug right into what's already there?

Rossi396

Thanks, I'll take a look at these. I did a bit of searching on the forum and found an awful lot of header setups using stock cats. I'm not necessarily doing it for the savings (although that's nice) but I have a friend with a modded '01 coupe and he actually said the high flow cats droned at speed. He had a shop weld his stock ones back in. He's using Stainless Works. Can anyone else comment on what systems will hook up to the stock cats?

quote=DevilMan02;1568638978]It looks like the Kooks system offers that kind of setup.



I'm understanding now why I'll have to get rid of my xpipe. Mine is farther back and it seems with the Kooks LT's they put the xpipe up further to take the place of the cats (sort of). But if you get the Kooks headers (pictured above), maybe they'll just plug right into what's already there?[/quote]

guitar420911

I've got a xpipe and TSP told me their long tubes should fit fine as long as I don't want/need cats.

2_60b4u

I have a set of LG Pro long tubes with the cat delete pipes that might work for you. Let me know if you are interested, and I can send you some pics. Iroczvert89@gmail.com

B-Vette

I've got Kook Long Tubes installed in my car with a Magnaflow X-pipe. I modified the system to retain the factory cats because there was nothing wrong with them and they still worked fine.

Kook offers stock cat adapters for this application and the welding needed was relatively painless.

Vetteman Jack

Try contacting LG, Kooks or Dynatech and see if they can help you.

34RedRage

after having a discussion with chip from cca i have decided to go with arh later this summer, via chip at cca. they seem to be the best set-up for the money.....

guitar420911

I have a Magnaflow xpipe as well, do you have any pics of your system using the stock cats?

jjmoberg

If the X pipe was bolted to the factory location after the stock cats (like my Magnaflow) then the LG headers with their cat delete pipe should get you very close. That is what I will be doing when i get rid of my Bassani headers in a few years. It will probably not be right on, but close enough that any exhaust shop should be able to make it work with minimal modification.

Rossi396

Guys:

I think I'm going with a "Headers Only" purchase on the LG Streets (around $695.00). I'm planning on using the stock cats and my stock Corsa X-pipe. I have access to a lift, a tig and a mig.

Here's my question (which could possibly be a stupid one) but I have to ask...Is the stock C5 exhaust stainless?Are the CATS stainless? The reason I ask is that the tig work would obviously look better where I would need sections of pipe or clamps welded in. I guess the other option would be to have band clamps fabricated that would overlap the header to cat portion of the exhaust.

I guess I just can't see spending an additional $600.00 on an X-pipe (which I already have) and high flow cats (which are going to gain me somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 RWHP) when I can get most of the work done on the cheap...

Any thoughts guys? I'd really like to see pics of anyone who has a setup with LT's and an X-pipe but used the stock cats...

Thanks!

Rossi

B-Vette

I can email pics to anybody interested in my system, I'm not set up to post here with Photobucket.


See pictures in below post, hope this helps!

B-Vette

Here is what my setup looks like:

DevilMan02

Yeah I think I'm going to end up calling LG and speaking with someone. I read somewhere that LG teamed with Borla to make their headers. I'll see what they say and report back my findings.

Edit:

I just got off the phone with Mike from LG. Really nice guy and took the time to listen and explain to me the whole situation. I let him know that I already have the Borla straight pipes and x pipe and that I wanted a 'just headers and deleted cats' setup. He said that it would be possible to get the pipes to hook up, but it's not going to be the best or most optimized setup.

He said doing that is essentially taking 2 buns to McDonalds and having them put something together. It's best to just take the x-pipe off and sell it. He also mentioned that since it's a pipe, they are not really subjected to much 'wear and tear' and therefore can be sold close to what they were bought at.

He stated that for the LG pro's, they ran countless tests on the best possible setup. Having the xpipe where they placed it yielded slightly better results than anywhere else. So their configuration is the best, most optimized layout for maximum hp gains.

He also stated that they're installing them for $599 and right now that price includes a FREE DYNO TUNE. Not bad at all!

Now I'm upset that I live in FL and not TX...