I know this topic has been beaten to death and I know there are a hundred other threads on the forum. I'm like most guys that bought a C5. I bought what I can afford and I think for the money, the C5 is the best bang. Now comes time to do the headers, since I am planning a cam swap in this winter. I do not have the resources for $1,000+ Kooks or AFH. I wish I did. So after my research online and on the forum, my plan is to go with the XSPower kit.


Rather than the cheaper Fleabay kit https://www.ebay.com/itm/Long-Tube-1...LH_TitleDesc=0

Does anyone have anything to add before a pull the trigger, both positively or negatively?

 

I have them. Catted 1 7/8" primaries, with 3" pipes all the way back. Can't really say a bad thing about them. With the CAM and Tune I am at 404 RWHP. sound is really good and aggressive and install wasn't bad (I paid a shop to install them).

I would note that i had an exhaust leak with the copper gasket and used the stock gasket, which is just fine.

 

I just recently installed a set of catless XS Power headers and X-pipe on my '04, and I couldn't be happier with them, they sound amazing. Do you plan to install them yourself? If so, it's really not that difficult of a job, much easier if you have a friend helping.

Few things to note from my install that could save you some time:
- Most of the threads I read from searching on the install suggested that one side goes in from the top and the other from the bottom, and that they struggled for some time to get it to fit.. I didn't run into this at all. We had the car in the air on 4 stands and both went in from the bottom, drivers side took about 30 seconds to get it to line up with the head and the passenger side took maybe two minutes, no exaggeration. Didn't even need to move the steering shaft. I'm not sure where everyone else's difficulty came from, but it probably helps to have the car higher in the air to go from the bottom.
- Test fit the drivers side up against the head and check for clearance to the steering shaft. I believe the more recent sets they've been selling have more clearance, but if it's close it's easy enough to toss it in a vice and hammer it a bit to give some more room.
- Use PB blaster on your stock studs. Soak them several hours before if you're able to, and thank yourself later. I soaked mine and they came out easily, but one stud was already broken off in the head before getting started. We were able to drill it and use an EZ-out, but it just added to the time. Use new studs as well for peace of mind. I read some posts that mentioned reusing the factory studs, but after removing mine if I were to reuse them I'd be kicking myself for it now.
- Check the flanges to make sure they are flat before installing, and use OEM gaskets
- Take some extra time to make sure all your wiring and harnesses are out of the way of the headers. And also be sure all grounds go back to the correct location. Take pictures beforehand if it'll help. We got ours bolted up all the way and when I went to start it, it wasn't getting spark. Turns out we had a ground in the wrong location near the starter, and we had to unbolt and remove the passenger header again just to get to it.
- Plan to get a tune after the install. The car will run fine without a tune, but it'll run way better with one. Since you mentioned a cam, if it's feasible it might be worth it to try to plan both installs on the same day or relatively close to each other and then get a tune with both vs. two separate tunes.

Hope this helps - I'd definitely recommend these headers to anyone looking to buy them.

 

 

I agree with Josh. Have the headers ceramic coated and definatly get some heat protection for the starter wires and the brake lines too while you're at it..
Summit Racing sells their own heat protection for the wires and lines which offers the best protection imo and price.

 

I ordered the same that you're looking at the day they went on sale. I think I was the first. This was a few months ago. I sat on them for a while until I could get them ceramic coated. I agree with Kevbot on nearly all of his points.
-If you can ceramic coat them, do it. It's WELL worth it. The engine bay temps will drop significantly and it helps the life of every other part under the hood. I mainly did it to remove heat soak from the wheel wells because my tires were heating up between autocross runs.
- I put the passenger side in super easy from the top, but the driver's side had trouble getting in (went in from below). I had to remove a few things to get it up there. Once you get it in there on the driver's side, reattach your steering shaft and see if it hits. Mine BARELY hits and I wish I would of caught it then so I could easily remove it and banged it in to clear. But now that it's all assembled I'll have to tear pieces of it down just to get it out of there. Hammering it while it's installed is a no go because there's no space to get any leverage to actually put a dent in the tube.
- If you've got some significant mileage and/or years on the car, REPLACE THE MOTOR MOUNTS while you're in there. I didn't think it was a big deal but both of mine were shot and freely rotating 360°. I replaced them with some Hinson performance mounts. I didn't wanna spend the $200 but once you get it all removed and see where it's located, you won't want to deal with removing parts to replace them later.
-Order some high temp tape and cover what you can. I covered my starter but it's gotten so hot that it pretty much ruined the adhesive and made all of the tape crumble and fall off. So I've got to reapply it when I get a chance but make sure it's got a way to stick.
- Make sure you get some heat socks for the spark plugs.

I didn't want to spend the money on the bigger names, and these are really good quality at a REASONABLE price that's not like getting price gouged with the Corvette tax. I'm 110% satisfied with mine. Can't wait to get it tuned.

 

I assume you know if you need cats or not in your state. Like was said get them coated,my biggest mistake and wish I had. Also do get starter and wire protection. My starter died soon after headers were installed.

 

Dude, I cannot thank you enough. A couple questions. Did you wrap the starter and starer wiring with any heat shield? Can you recommend a place to purchase? The screen shot I posted is the cheapest I've seen so far. And yes, I'll have help doing the job and am mechanically inclined, so I'm hoping for no issues. I have a Corsa catback on now and hoping they mate up.

Thanks again.

 

My State only checks for the check engine light. I'll have it tuned out when I get my tune. What did the ceramic coating cost?

 

Bought the headers almost 2 years ago. They sound great. No complaints. Put them on and enjoy!!

 

 

Happy to help man! I did not wrap the starter or starter wiring but after reading some of these posts, I wish I would have at least done the wiring. I may be pulling my passenger side header soon to track down a separate issue, which would give me plenty of room to do so.

As far as the best place to purchase them, I can't help much there as I purchased my set used from the forum. Let me know if you have any other questions, it's still relatively fresh in my mind from doing it recently.

 

Thanks for sharing your comments. Will be very useful for other members considering a purchase.

 

We have a local coating shop in Delaware (Crazy Coatings). I called for a price on ceramic coating and he quoted $450. That sounds high. Thoughs? Is it worth another 450?

 

Sounds high. I got mine for $280 for the headers. I chose not to mess with the crossover pipe.
I'd call around some more and see if you find other shops with better pricing.

 

I did call JetHot and they are significantly cheaper and obviously have a solid reputation in biz. I will most likely be using them.

 

Jet-hot was smoking crack when i contacted them. here's what they wanted for mine (copied from their email)

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to speak with me, it was a pleasure. The estimated cost to coat your 2 pc LS1 headers ($600.00) and H pipe 2x5' and 6" crossover ($560.00) in Ultra Extreme COLOR finish is $1160.00, plus the cost of return shipping. A $50 coating removal fee will be added if there is any coating on the part. I have attached some pictures of the coating for reference as well as the link to our color pallet. I will follow up with you in a week to see if you have the measurements on the H pipe.

 

They quoted me 300 for the headers.

 

yeah i think i was getting upsold on their higher end coating. the lady was pretty sure I needed their extreme coating.

i had it locally done instead for 250 bucks.

 

Jesus, that's ridiculous.
Get it done locally if you can. I was more than happy with mine. They came out looking awesome.

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