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shortys or full length........

regalniz

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2002
Messages
194
Location
vegas baby vegas
Corvette
94 Polo Green Convertible w/auto
lets get down to it. im looking for bottom end torque in my LT-1 auto. have k&n air filter and 160 thermo. will do exhaust and split rocker arm conversion. shortys or full length? place 2 cents here.
 
From what I understand, the shortys are a waste of time because essentially the exhaust manifold your running already is fairly close to the same thing. But the positive it they are a breeze to install.

The long tube headers flow much better however are more of a PITA to install in most cases. But Hooker and TPiS have been renowned for a nice and tidy install.

Hope that helps.
 
I posted this awhile back and the response that I got was that the best you could hope for with shorties was about 5-10 hp gain. The long tubes you could expect 15-20hp. Now I have not done mine yet, this is just the general response I got. I plan on getting long tubes after what I saw posted. :beer
 
Just go to the local drag strip and check out what other vettes have. The shorty headers are just performance manifolds.

Even if you cal the vendor tech line the will tell you 10 to 12 is all to expect. Long tube full length headers are the best bet.
 
BigRed said:
From what I understand, the shortys are a waste of time. But the positive it they are a breeze to install.

:confused :confused Maybe on an L98!

I'd say on an LT1 it's probably just as easy to install long tubes.

The "shorty's" which I do have, were a P.I.T.A. to install :mad I even learned some new cuss words!

Keep in mind any emissions systems you may or may not need to keep depending on your State. i.e.- cats? A.I.R. tubes?, ect...,

Shorty's are better at maintaining emissions compliance, but Long tubes are better for performance. "You make the call!"

In Missouri (St. Louis Area) we have "IM240" emissions testing, they run your car on a treadmill (dyno-meter) up to speed with sniffers up your pipes:eek And some punk kid is driving your VETTE :eek if it don't pass, you don't get your plates re-newed

Shorty's are worth something! But not much.
 
Ahhh! Here where I live there is no emission laws hence to "rariety" of shorty style headers. And ya from previous posts and RL inquires I was focusing on the L98!

If you don't mind my asking what was the problem with the installation of the shortys? I know with the long tubes a new flange had to be incorporated whether or not its clamped or welded. And also I don't have a pair of Cats before my "Y" pipe. Which I always thought was directly in the way of the long style headers and had to be relocated down the pipe further on the later models.
 
BigRed said:

If you don't mind my asking what was the problem with the installation of the shortys?

Just all the CRAP in the way. Had to fabricate spacers for the brackets that bolted to the stock exhaust manifolds, like, A/C compressor support, alternator support bracket, oil dipstick tube bracket. Had to slightly bend the A.I.R. injection tube to get it to line up properley with the header port it goes into. Had to relocate feul lines slightley for clearance reasons (saftey) relocate spark plug wires, and since they really didn't fit, I ended up custom fabing new Taylor wires to do the job right! not "half-arsed", also had to put an elbow on the water temperature sensor where it comes out of the block. (of course leading to a complete coolant system flush and all new hoses, even the little ones!)

Keep in mind, this was on a 96 LT1, and I bought my headers "used", with no hardware or instructions. And I wanted to keep it where I could put the stock manifolds back on for the
stock look if I needed to.

But I do like the Shorty's I have installed, Chrome JBA's, I'm happy!

Long tubes on a 96 require removing and relocating the cats, using O2 simulators on the two rear O2 sensors (96's have "4" O2 sensors :confused ) and of course connecting the header collectors to the exhaust system somehow.
 
ROFL Ouch man sounds like you got her figured out though. Do you have any pictures? Sounds like you have a nice looking setup.
 
BigRed said:
Do you have any pictures?

Nope!, sorry, I don't even own a digital camera:(
 

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