gmoutdoorsman

Im curious as to which LT headers to use on my 91 RS LS swap. I know hawks sells them (pricey) and ive heard 100% bolt up fit isnt great. I found a set on Racing Innovation for $280, ive heatd these headers are a great fit and much cheaper. Has anyone had any experience with these headers or can point me toward other brands/choices (budget minded) thanks

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

I don't have any experience with these headers, but as a friendly heads up they will be out of stock for a few months. I emailed Racing Innovations a week ago asking them when they would be back in stock, they emailed me back saying around 2 months.

From what I have read on these headers is: they are no where near perfect; but they are a decent upgrade for the money. Try googleing pictures of them, you will get a better idea of their quality that way.

Gecz28

iTrader: (5)

id say go with hawks if you are building a big hp motor. im using racing innovations for my stock ls1.
ive seen fitment issues with hawks
mine bolted right up no problems with clearance

gmoutdoorsman

Right on. I know someone doin an ls swap now. He used the "cheaper" hawks LT's with y pipe. For like $850 and the fitment was horrible. He ended up using the nicer hawks LT's. Fit better.with my build im only looking for 400-450 rwhp na

plum92_camaro

What mounts did he use with the hawks headers? I seen a claim somewhere by hawks that they are designed to fit with their mounts. Don't remember if it was with rubber, poly, or solid though.

Thread is a great question I've been asking myself. Glad to hear the RI headers should be available soon because I can only afford them or some stock manifolds. Plus side is stock manifolds won't affect my racing class.

gmoutdoorsman

Which mounts are you referring to? Engine? If so he has a bmr k member with solid mounts/ stock upper mounts.Which ive heard fit horribly in some case's. Driver side header I couldn't remember what issue he had. Pass side header was hitting the subframe

86White_T/A305

You can get 400whp on stock manifolds if you really want to.Im using the RI headers..easy to install dropped right in and bolted up fine.I had a small issue of the the passenger side header flange not being 100% flat but a lil heat fixed that.You will see where the quality lacks starring inside the primaries and the welds could be much better.But for the price of them and the small gain in power..i wasnt complaining.

gmoutdoorsman

I know a guy running RI also and loves them. And yea im considering running stockers. But why go all this way to settle for what I dont really want lol. Thanks for the info tho!!!

86White_T/A305

Get them..they are worth the price...and since i have one on my car..get and e-cutout lol.Thats when i felt the power increase most with it open..and it showed on the dyno.

gmoutdoorsman

So get the RI's once they're in stock?

86White_T/A305

if you're willing to wait then yes..they are an improvement over stock manifolds for sure.I ran stock manifolds for a long time and made good power and slightly modded my y pipe after installing the longtubes and added the cutout.I made 370whp on stock manifolds and 400hwhp with the longtubes and open cutout.The hawks headers wouldve been better but I wasnt going to pay that premium price.

plum92_camaro

What I'm saying is, I seen a claim by hawks that their headers fit with their mounts(body side and trans crossmember) but don't recall whether they recommend rubber, poly, or solid but i know it can make a difference. Just wondered it the claim true or if they always fit poorly?

A small bit off on engine angle could be a greater amount at the collectors. Ya know what I mean?

plum92_camaro

Guess what I just ordered……….
http://www.racinginnovationandsupply...ap-header.html

Just looked again. Says "out of stock" already. I wonder how many they had.

cypris09

iTrader: (1)

Have you gotten these things yet? Curious to see how they worked for you. Im thinking on buy them but im not sure how they will work on my car since i just used the 1in setback plates for my car. Wonder if that messes with ground clearance.

gmoutdoorsman

No I have not, still working on getting the engine together. Just wanting some imput on my options once I get that far

plum92_camaro

Took a couple days before they shipped them but they actually showed up the next day and I picked the cheapest shipping option. Packed very well. Probably a month of shredded news paper in there lol. Nice looking headers.

It will be a few months before I can even think of installing them. I'm still acquiring parts for the swap, have to pull the 305, beef up and repair the frame rail behind the steering gearbox, and prep and paint the engine bay. Until it warms up, acquiring parts is the only part of that list i can work on during this Iowa winter.

There are several others using the RI headers. I was convinced enough to buy them. If they had a bad reputation i would have passed them up for something better regardless of the price.

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

I guess that sales rep gave me bad info. They need to get these back in stock, i want a set.

plum92_camaro

What did they tell you?

I got on the mailing list a few months ago for when they came in stock. they sent me an email a day or two before they were available letting me know they were in house and would be available as soon as they were inspected. they were only available for a few hours as indicated by my post above. then a day or so later i saw they were available again. Not sure how many sets they got but they must have went FAST!!! Hopefully they realize the demand for these and get more in soon, especially considering its tax season. I included in my e-mail that they were in demand on this forum and encouraged them to stop by and check out the LSx section.

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

I was told it would be two months before they got any more headers in stock. They told me that about 3 weeks ago. I'm on their site email as well... Haven't gotten any updates yet on when they will be available. Hopefully it will be soon. I'm about to buy a harness from pocket; and after that all I'll really have left is the exhaust to finish up. I cant freaking wait to drive my car again lol.

plum92_camaro

Ordered mine on the 15th.

I'm in the same boat. I've had the donor car for a year, I'm aquiring parts till its warm enough to do the work. Talking to Pocket about a harness too.

cypris09

iTrader: (1)

Just ordered mine. They were out of stock yesterday but not the day before so just check daily!

plum92_camaro

They are in stock right now NOSHOWALLGO!

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

Thanks for the bump dude. I went ahead and ordered a set. I'll take pics when they get here.

WTR388

If they are in stock I'm assuming there isn't a wait on them shipping them out? I'm moving in the not too distant future so I can't really wait on them too long.

Torn on buying them now or just getting better flanges (made my own to make due for a test drive) and using the stock manifolds.

92BLKL98

Just placed my order

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

I'll let you know how many days they take to get the headers delivered to my door step.

plum92_camaro

Ordered on Thursday the 15th, shipped Monday the 19th, arrived Tuesday the 20th. I chose the cheapest/slowest shipping option.

92BLKL98

Got an email showing they shipped yesterday, we'll see. if the Ups truck guys can deliver them on time without destroying them.

cypris09

iTrader: (1)

So it took 2 whole days to get them here but I got them. Passenger side took a little bit of massaging to get in but drivers side slipped right in. Now I just need to figure out how to run exhaust since that 4l60e is so frigging fat!
Guys have any pics or suggestions? I would still like to y it back together and go through a spintech muffler.

WTR388

Well, they don't offer anything but UPS shipping so I won't be purchasing these until I get the chance to send them to a border shipping depot and pick them up myself... UPS really screws us Canadians over, I could choose the $85 shipping option but UPS has so many hidden fees it can easily double.

How tough was the passenger side install?

cypris09

iTrader: (1)

Wow that really sucks. The passenger side was interesting. I had to take the valve cover off the squeeze by. It got stock on the little points the stick out of the side of the head. With a little muscle it fell into place. Actually it fell and hit the ground once you get past the head lol. Driver side would probably fall all the way through if you let it. Quality I fell is pretty solid. Maybe some of the welds on the inside need cleaned up but imo if that's the only real difference between thsee and a name brand. I'm getting these every time.

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

I ordered them on the 2nd and they got here today. They are about what you would expect for $300 headers lol; but worth the money imo.

I'll update this post later with some pictures.

plum92_camaro

I was impressed with them for being the cheapest option. I've also never had new headers to compare, just old dented and rusty ones. lol

The thought in my head is these will fit the "build budget" best. If they don't last, they will at least last until I can afford the expensive ones.

BTW, what do you all think of the supplied gaskets? Good? Bad? Use them or buy better ones? What is the best header gasket material these days? I've heard good things about the copper gaskets but I don't really know.

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

Yea for the price they are alright, $314 shipped is pretty cheap. The welds are uh, well kinda crap. But they have been proven to make substantial power & torque gains; and they are coated. Hopefully the coat lasts longer than my old hooker super comps did lol.

Here are pictures as promised:

Dreambird

Are these headers actually 1 3/4 tubes? I remember when they first came out they where 1 5/8 tubes, the website says 1 /3/4 but just wanted to check with someone that actually has them in hand, I sent them a message and haven't heard back yet. Any info is appreciated

92BLKL98

I am on the phone with the brown truck folks who have apparently delivered my headers to the wrong address. I am so sick of these folks they continuously get my packages wrong or destroy the packaging and on one occasion destroyed the contents. What a bunch of idiots.

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

I'll put my dial caliper on them later; I'll post the measurements.

WTR388

I emailed the company saying I won't be buying their products because they only ship UPS.

I bought some F body manifold flanges (the ones I made are only 1/8" just to get something on the car to run it) and I'll make due with the stock manifolds for now.

92BLKL98

Yeah I'm pretty sick of UPS their shipping SUCKS. I guess they found the shipment, I got an email from them a bit ago saying they would be delivered Tuesday Feb 10. Did I say UPS SUCKS. (oh yeah I did).

abadv8

When I bought these, they were 1-3/4' primaries. They changed to 1-5/8" right after I bought them, but I think they reverted back to 1-3/4 shortly thereafter. I did put calipers on the primaries and they are/were 1-3/4".

There's a fairly detailed inspection and review in my build thread. Aside from the interference with the passenger subframe, they were alright. Kind of reminded me of the late 90's Headman quality...

Dreambird

Thanks for the reply, I did hear back from the manufacturer they said they have always been 1 3/4 they changed the description to 1 5/8 because the weld inside the tube reduced the size of the tube at port entry, he said since then they started doing a better job manufacturing them so the tube isn't restricted so they changed the product description back to 1 3/4.

plum92_camaro

From what I know, don't blame the drivers unless the address is correct and they deliver it to the wrong place. Its the handling at the stations/hubs or whatever they are called. The crews who chuck the boxes around until they land in the right truck to go to the next destination and be thrown around again or delivered to your door.

You know they aren't gently picking up each of the 1000's of boxes as they roll of the plane or semi and carefully placing them on the next conveyor or truck.

Anyway, so what do you all think about the supplied gaskets? Going to use them or buy different ones? I don't know what material is good with headers. I've heard good things about copper gaskets.

92BLKL98

I emailed Tony at RI about the address he said the was correct, I also spoke to UPS they said the driver delivered to the wrong address with a similar name and yes this has happened to me a couple of times lately. I am an Amsoil dealer and I as well as a few of my customers have received shipping damaged leaking boxes. Needless to say I am not happy with them. I will use FedEx when possible and when I have to use UPS I will try to ship to my local UPS office so maybe the driver can find that.

I now have to wait for UPS to un-screw-up their error to get my headers, at least I don't need to have them right now

abadv8

I didn't think the head flange would have been the issue...



More likely the collector merge...



They're sloppy, for sure. But, they're also cheap. I think I paid $250 shipped for these things. They've been on my swap for about 4,000 miles now with no problems. I'll probably wind up selling them with my stainless Y-pipe when I got turbo this year.

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

Apologies for the delay. Had a chance to caliper these headers today.

All across the board, a solid 1.75+. That's 1 3/4 for their current run of headers. Also measured the collectors; they both came out to 3"+.

Here are some pics:

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

Sorry for quoting my self like an a$$, but i need to correct an error I posted earlier.

If I'm not mistaken, a magnet will not stick to stainless steel right? I tried to stick a magnet both inside the collector where its not polished; as well as on the primaries where it is polished. The magnet would not stick at all. So I'm guessing these actually are stainless? If so sorry for saying these were coated earlier.

Another point I would like to ad:
I had a good buddy over for beer & cards last night. He works for a restoration shop and is a fairly competent welder; and I let him check out the headers. He said the welds are pretty ugly, but he felt they would hold. He also pointed out that the flanges looked like they had been cut with a torch. When I told him what I paid for them he said they were pretty decent. He kinda changed my mind on the quality of these pieces; I mean I really cant expect perfection for cheap.

So yea, they are decent headers for $314 shipped.

cypris09

iTrader: (1)

Correct good stainless shouldn't be magnetic. The flanges do look like they came from a burn table/torch setup all in all these are great for the budget minded.

plum92_camaro

Alice89

iTrader: (6)

LOL they don't seem bad or flimsy (if that means squat). I doubt they will leak; but I really don't know since I haven't fired the engine up yet with the headers on. I'll let you know if it has any exhaust leaks.

Tf705

just ordered mine! i tried all last summer and they were never in stock.