Finally installed my headers[pics]
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 5,383
Likes: 6
From: hagerstown md
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Finally installed my headers[pics]
I bought a set of new shorty Pacesetters from the for sale section about 3 months ago. Wasn't going to do shorts, but for 300 bucks shipped to me, I figured why not. Thanks Jonathon!(JWMotoring) I was going to wait for Shagster to have some free lift time in the man cave, but it was so nice out yesterday, I jacked her up and got to work. Took about 4 hours, but that included 3 coffee breaks.
Talk about a simple install. I bought 2 cans of PB Blaster, cause you know how exhaust bolts are. Well, I didn't have to use one drop. All the manifold and exhaust bolts came loose with no problems at all. Looking at the dipstick and exhuast bolts, you would have thought it was rusted totally shut.
Unbolted the H-pipe from the exhaust manifolds first, then started from the top.
Looking at the passenger side.
Unbolt the coil packs, lay them on the intake, unbolt the manifold, and pull straight out. Now is also a great time to put some new plugs in. AC Delco iridium, and GMPP red wires, is what I went with. Good time to clean those valve covers too.
The stock manifold is a pretty good design, but we can get better airflow and heat exchange.
Here we are with the passenger side done.
Now, let's do the drivers side. The last bolt toward the firewall, is a BEOCH. Very little room to work with. Here is where gear wrenches pay for themselves.
Who says that last spark plug is hard to change?
Drivers side is the same as passenger side, with the exception of having to remove the AIR Valve, and the alternator. Unbolt coils, remove manifold, drop in header, bolt it up.
Here's the drivers side finished.
Now, move back under the car, install the 02 sensors, and bolt H-pipe to headers. If you have an impact wrench, or air wrench, this will make this part a LOT faster. Trying to turn these bolt and nuts with only wrenches would take forever.
Once I got everything bolted back up, the 02 sensors plugged back up, and the battery hooked back up. I hit the key, and let it run, while I cleaned up my tools, jackstands, etc.
First impression was it sounds QUITER, but deeper, at idle. Blipped the throttle a little, and could tell a slight difference in sound. Let's take her out for a shake down run.
From idle up to about 1800-2000RPM, it sounds nice and deep. Not much louder than the stock manifolds, and Borla Stingers. After 2000RPM, it starts to get louder, and at WOT it SCREAMS!
Seat of the pants says more low end torque, and upper RPM power. Made a couple WOT runs up to redline, and it kept pulling hard the whole way.
My opinion.....don't let anyone tell you shortys aren't worth their cost. You get better heat exchange, better sound, and slight gains in power and torque. For those that don't want to, can't spend the bucks right now, or just don't want long tubes, shorty headers a well worth the money.
Talk about a simple install. I bought 2 cans of PB Blaster, cause you know how exhaust bolts are. Well, I didn't have to use one drop. All the manifold and exhaust bolts came loose with no problems at all. Looking at the dipstick and exhuast bolts, you would have thought it was rusted totally shut.
Unbolted the H-pipe from the exhaust manifolds first, then started from the top.
Looking at the passenger side.
Unbolt the coil packs, lay them on the intake, unbolt the manifold, and pull straight out. Now is also a great time to put some new plugs in. AC Delco iridium, and GMPP red wires, is what I went with. Good time to clean those valve covers too.
The stock manifold is a pretty good design, but we can get better airflow and heat exchange.
Here we are with the passenger side done.
Now, let's do the drivers side. The last bolt toward the firewall, is a BEOCH. Very little room to work with. Here is where gear wrenches pay for themselves.
Who says that last spark plug is hard to change?
Drivers side is the same as passenger side, with the exception of having to remove the AIR Valve, and the alternator. Unbolt coils, remove manifold, drop in header, bolt it up.
Here's the drivers side finished.
Now, move back under the car, install the 02 sensors, and bolt H-pipe to headers. If you have an impact wrench, or air wrench, this will make this part a LOT faster. Trying to turn these bolt and nuts with only wrenches would take forever.
Once I got everything bolted back up, the 02 sensors plugged back up, and the battery hooked back up. I hit the key, and let it run, while I cleaned up my tools, jackstands, etc.
First impression was it sounds QUITER, but deeper, at idle. Blipped the throttle a little, and could tell a slight difference in sound. Let's take her out for a shake down run.
From idle up to about 1800-2000RPM, it sounds nice and deep. Not much louder than the stock manifolds, and Borla Stingers. After 2000RPM, it starts to get louder, and at WOT it SCREAMS!
Seat of the pants says more low end torque, and upper RPM power. Made a couple WOT runs up to redline, and it kept pulling hard the whole way.
My opinion.....don't let anyone tell you shortys aren't worth their cost. You get better heat exchange, better sound, and slight gains in power and torque. For those that don't want to, can't spend the bucks right now, or just don't want long tubes, shorty headers a well worth the money.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 5,383
Likes: 6
From: hagerstown md
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 11,405
Likes: 26
From: Whippany NJ
CI 6-7-8-9 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
NCM Sinkhole Donor
You should dyno the car and see if you can dispel the urban legend that shortys are just fancy OEM manifolds with zero gains.
Avg gains on long tubes is between 25-30 RWHP
Avg gains on long tubes is between 25-30 RWHP
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Nice pics and writeup on the install. Good to know the shorty headers work too.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,977
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From: St. Louis Missouri
Didja paint the intake manifold without removing it OR taping things off? 
Congrats on getting the headers on. Perhaps it would have been a good time to clean up the overspray and valve covers (as you mentioned).
Congrats on getting the headers on. Perhaps it would have been a good time to clean up the overspray and valve covers (as you mentioned).
