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After my ac line blew a hole, I bought some exhaust wrap and wrap the new ac line bought from Fred Beans. I would recommend to do this ASAP with these headers.
I am bidding on a set right now. I have no reason to expect I would be over bid unless one of you guys does it. J/K
I am also looking at the 3" high flow cats on ebay. They are $38 each. Is this the best deal going? I'm assuming these are the ones sxe60 bought as well.
I am bidding on a set right now. I have no reason to expect I would be over bid unless one of you guys does it. J/K
I am also looking at the 3" high flow cats on ebay. They are $38 each. Is this the best deal going? I'm assuming these are the ones sxe60 bought as well.
Several have reported rear O2 sensor codes because they may not be getting hot enough to satisfy the ECM.
Good to know. May not be worth it then althought I could edit out the codes with HP Tuners, but If I'm going to do that then I may as well not run cats.
but If I'm going to do that then I may as well not run cats.
I can't remember how long ago it was but Corvette Fever ran dyno tests on a car with and without cats to see if the cat backpressure was hurting horsepower. My recollection is that the dyno results were not statistically different, so unless you have a state inspection that not only looks at OBD II but mirror checks the underside for those bad boys, it won't help or hurt performance but it may not be good for the air.
I can't remember how long ago it was but Corvette Fever ran dyno tests on a car with and without cats to see if the cat backpressure was hurting horsepower. My recollection is that the dyno results were not statistically different, so unless you have a state inspection that not only looks at OBD II but mirror checks the underside for those bad boys, it won't help or hurt performance but it may not be good for the air.
Charlie
I know, I know. On a stockish car there is little to no benefit but I know when I ran a test pipe on my supercharged Integra it really woke it up! I'll be moving a lot of air with the blower and long tubes, well over 600 HP at the crank. I'm still on the fence. It may come down to the fact that I don't think any muffler shops will do any welding for you if you don't have cats.
I know, I know. On a stockish car there is little to no benefit but I know when I ran a test pipe on my supercharged Integra it really woke it up! I'll be moving a lot of air with the blower and long tubes, well over 600 HP at the crank. I'm still on the fence. It may come down to the fact that I don't think any muffler shops will do any welding for you if you don't have cats.
Missed the part about the blower. :o
The cats probably come into play in this case. Now if you could just find some 4" inlet and outlet cats and some 4" 304SS pipe to get all that exhaust to the back end (assuming you're running 1 7/8" headers), we'd see something.
I am also looking at the 3" high flow cats on ebay. They are $38 each. Is this the best deal going? I'm assuming these are the ones sxe60 bought as well.
Hmmm, the ones that went for $38 were an old auction I had bookmarked. They are $60 each now.
<EDIT: the $38 ones are ceramic, the $60 ones are metallic>
I've decided to go with the ceramic ones from performance curve. I'm sure the metallic ones are even higher performance but this is a super low budget long tube project afterall. Spent ~$125 for the 2 ceramic cats, 4 3" band clamps and 2 2.5" band clamps. Just need the 3" - 2.5" reducers. Once I get it fabbed up I'll probably get it all welded up so the only band clamps are from the collector to the converter ala SXE60.
Last edited by 5 Liter Eater; Aug 14, 2006 at 05:16 PM.
I am also looking at the 3" high flow cats on ebay. They are $38 each. Is this the best deal going? I'm assuming these are the ones sxe60 bought as well.
I got my 3" Thunderbolt cats from Performance-Curve.com. They're still $36.95. For that price, you might as well use them and keep the smell down. I get an ocassional code, but it's easy to clear.
Good idea to weld all the joints aft of the cats. It keeps the system tight and cuts down leaks. Just clamp the cats to the headers with 3" torctite stainless stepped clamps so you can take it apart, if necessary, in the future.
Fed-ex got here about 3pm, man, these things look good. I didn't have one problem putting these in, the ball flanges worked great. I had 3 bolt flanges on my TPIS and hated'em. The ball flanges add a little flexability with the h-pipe. Time to see what these will do with this combo i'm gonna run.
well ive been sitting here reading this forum for the past 4 hours while i am working.. i <3 this idea.. i will be buying this.. i would definately appreacate a list of what all i need to buy..
i have this so far
headers
high flow cats..
someone else chime in or pm me please!
also are you guys recommending that we weld it or try to clamp it down.
- Headers
- 3" high flow cats
- 4 x 3" band clamps
- 2 x 2.5" band clamps
- 2 x 3"-2.5" reducers
- Exhaust manifold gaskets
- AIR tube gaskets
Keep in mind all of this is in the mail still. But this should allow a weld free version of SXE60's pictures. I plan on getting everything but the collector to cat joint welded soon after mocking everything up but I wanted to be able to band clamp it all first.
Here are my TPIS headers I bought USED at Carlisle for $300. Coated too. Guys, do a little shopping around-there are deals to be had.
So that $300 bought the headers or the headers, cats and x-pipe? TPIS is not known for squeezing the most HP/TQ out of their long tubes, many end up upgrading to Kooks, Dynatech or LG's. I'm not saying that these are any better or worse than the TPIS. I'm just saying you got a set of TPIS for $300 used, we are getting a similar new set for $300 new. Good deals all around IMO.
is it just me or can anyone find this item on the auction site?..
Go to "that" site, autos, parts, type in corvette headers and stand back. Find a set without a bid. The guy normally has at least five sets going at a time. If there is a bid on a set, do not bid against the existing bidder 'cuz you don't need to. Just find another set that hasn't been bid on yet.
So that $300 bought the headers or the headers, cats and x-pipe? TPIS is not known for squeezing the most HP/TQ out of their long tubes, many end up upgrading to Kooks, Dynatech or LG's. I'm not saying that these are any better or worse than the TPIS. I'm just saying you got a set of TPIS for $300 used, we are getting a similar new set for $300 new. Good deals all around IMO.
You mean you would rather have ill fitting NON coated headers new than coated direct fit headers for the same price? The first time you start your car after the install-they are now USED.
BTW-that was headers only-H/F cats and X-pipe sold seperately.