TPIS Headers

[Vettefan87]

Thanks Mic, I appreciate picking your brain. I think im going to go true duals with mufflers so it isnt so loud that I cant hear the radio, I can deal witht the heat that is added with the headers. I might put in cutouts but I dont know if I will lose that much HP with just mufflers. Thanks again.

 

[Mad-Mic]

BTW now that i think i got a handle on the fuel situation of my car. next month i will dyno the car again with a few minor mods, AFPR and MAT relocation sensor on the stock chip. i hoping for a close pull to 300 rwhp and 400 rwtq. when the car was hot at over 220 water temp and blew the EGR connection i had fabbed up she still pulled over 240 rwhp and 350 rwtq. so at a 17% loss i made about 50 more rwhp and 70 rwtq over stock applications by the last dyno pull that i made after the header install and the car as HOT! it *should* have dynoed closer to 270 rwhp and probably 380 rwtq if the car didn't blow the EGR hook up and was cooled down in race conditions. (140 or so water temp for the pull) after the dyno pull this time the new stuff is going in. H/C/I and nitrous setup.

 

[Mad-Mic]

Thanks Mic, I appreciate picking your brain. I think im going to go true duals with mufflers so it isnt so loud that I cant hear the radio, I can deal witht the heat that is added with the headers. I might put in cutouts but I dont know if I will lose that much HP with just mufflers. Thanks again.

if you go the cutout route get electronic cutouts cause you'd never get under the car to uncap it unless you jack it up.

check this out....

http://www.madvet.com/shop?frame=3.36.928

this is a bolt on application for the stock manifolds but any muffler shop should be able to make it work on LTH's. this is what i'm going to go with. also adding a set of bullet cats so i can atleast *try* and pass emissions :L

 

[Vettefan87]

They don't emissions test around here . How would electric cut outs work? I just need to find someone who will bend those pipes and not ask to many questions, but I wont be driving it on the roads though

 

[Mad-Mic]

They don't emissions test around here . How would electric cut outs work? I just need to find someone who will bend those pipes and not ask to many questions, but I wont be driving it on the roads though

hit a button and they open

 

[Vettefan87]

hit a button and they open

So I take it there is a little electric motor that opens the other side? Would it be worth doing it if i just had mufflers restricting the flow?

 

[WhalePirot]

All I know is that changing out headers on that car up on jackstands is not going to be a walk in the park.

Well, I dunno. I did it, with TPIS long tubes; by my lonesome. They claim to be the easiest to install and I've not heard anyone differing with their claim. The bang/buck is definitely true and a low restriction exhaust behind them will allow them to fully breathe.

 

[invinceablevett]

I'm pretty sure my headers I had installed on my 1987 5.7 litre GTA were TPIS and they sucked.Performance-wise they were great but the darn things started rusting from the first day I installed them.I don't know what the"coated" meant but take my advice and try to get some that don't rust..

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

I would go with the TIPS. The Hooker long tubes we put on the S10 will be the last Hooker product I ever buy. ad The fit was worse than bad and the customer help line was even worse. I had to dimple one of the tubes to clear the steering post and the front tires hit the back tubes before you hit full lock on the steering so we had to fab new steering stops that make the turning radius so big that it is almost impossible to back a trailer into the garage.

 

[Vettefan87]

Thanks guys, I think I will go with TPIS if I can save that much money. Should I try to find some used or just buy new ones?

 

[WhalePirot]

I think I will go with TPIS. Should I try to find some used or just buy new ones?

Good luck finding used.

Whichever, ensure you get the coated (ceramic, hot process) headers for better flow, appearance and durability. ANY header will rust, beginning immediately from the heat and moisture. High temperature paint is a poor substitute. It'll be well worth waiting, if need be, to spend the extra dough, as I firmly recommended to Edmund in another thread.

 

[Mad-Mic]

Good luck finding used.

Whichever, ensure you get the coated (ceramic, hot process) headers for better flow, appearance and durability. ANY header will rust, beginning immediately from the heat and moisture. High temperature paint is a poor substitute. It'll be well worth waiting, if need be, to spend the extra dough, as I firmly recommended to Edmund in another thread.

yeah i wish i would of waited but when i do the H/C/I soon i am going to send mine out for coating.

 

[vetteboy86]

Okay obviously on the install we will have to be very careful we dont chip the coating or the rust process will start even faster right? What I want to know is if I drop 1000 bucks into an exhaust and the headers rust from the first day, what is the best way to maintain them? There has to be a way to keep them from rusting. Now how long will these headers last on the car? We live in indiana, which includes winters, and driving temps of 40 or so degrees.


Craig

 

[WhalePirot]

The ceramic coating is not all that thick and is quite tough. I did not chip mine and I doubt they chip too easily. They certainly looked better than the one-time Hooker side mounts on my '70 LS-6, which I had painted with a white hi-temp paint!

Not living in a salty-road or wet climate, I cannot judge the longevity, but TPIS should be able to advise you on whether the coated headers even rust at all. Without coating, I have seen rust start right away, and doubt that normal useage would allow the standard ones to live 5 years.

BTW, I found a fan of thermal wrapping (even the coated) headers today. He runs a great hose shop and ALWAYS wraps headers on their race and street cars. He sees how heat is the enemy of all that plastic and hose inside these tightly-packaged Corvette engine compartments.
So..........that makes two of us.

 

[Vettefan87]

That was one of the questions I was planning on asking, whether I should wrap them or not, and what damage can occur from the heat off of the headers. Thanks Whalepirot

 

[Edmond]

I remember reading someone on here advising against the wrapping but I can't remember the reason that he gave.

 

[WhalePirot]

UR velcome

You should know, that I am ONE against multitudes, here, on the wrapping issue. The ThermoTec wrap is quite pricey and the paint to be used with them is hard to find. Expect $100-150 for that extra, and if you do it, install them AFTER wrapping and painting. The paint protects the cloth and helps prevent moisture penetrating it. Do both or do neither.

An ancient thread went round and round about this. Rrubel has my old TRACO headers, which were wrapped for many years and did not crystallize and fall apart, as some claimed. Those uncoated headers woke up when wrapped (and painted)!

I would surely ask TPIS if wrapping them affects any warranty. I have no doubt that they will advise that wrapping is not necessary.

One final note. If your plugs are not angled, but straight, expect continual arcing issues with at least, #7 boot. We had to 'dimple' the header pipe (per TPIS) and I had to $pend more for MagnaCore wire$ and CERAMIC boot$. I never did find out if snowmobiles use similar and suitable, boots.

 

[Vettefan87]

Thanks again, I will definetly have to research some before I buy them, and since I wont have the money for a while, I have a lot of time.

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

One final note. If your plugs are not angled, but straight, expect continual arcing issues with at least, #7 boot. We had to 'dimple' the header pipe (per TPIS) and I had to $pend more for MagnaCore wire$ and CERAMIC boot$. I never did find out if snowmobiles use similar and suitable, boots.

The only spare that I carry on my 2000+ mile trips across Europe is a plug wire and boot. Some trips require several.ad

 

[Mad-Mic]

You should know, that I am ONE against multitudes, here, on the wrapping issue. The ThermoTec wrap is quite pricey and the paint to be used with them is hard to find. Expect $100-150 for that extra, and if you do it, install them AFTER wrapping and painting. The paint protects the cloth and helps prevent moisture penetrating it. Do both or do neither.

An ancient thread went round and round about this. Rrubel has my old TRACO headers, which were wrapped for many years and did not crystallize and fall apart, as some claimed. Those uncoated headers woke up when wrapped (and painted)!

I would surely ask TPIS if wrapping them affects any warranty. I have no doubt that they will advise that wrapping is not necessary.

One final note. If your plugs are not angled, but straight, expect continual arcing issues with at least, #7 boot. We had to 'dimple' the header pipe (per TPIS) and I had to $pend more for MagnaCore wire$ and CERAMIC boot$. I never did find out if snowmobiles use similar and suitable, boots.

after installing the headers on Rich's car the clearance was alittle better with no problems except on #7 i think but worked out. he got straight plug heads

i went thru 3 sets of wires and finally broke down and got the 9000+ Accels and haven't had a problem since. just gotta keep them off the headers