90CamaroTBI

Well just got them out of the box and Yes they look great and all but I have a few complaints. First off if you look at the flanges they are not the straightest but do not know if they will seal yet. The collector is tiny which I have read about but I never expected it to be that bad. The worst thing though is that where the y-pipe bolts up, one hole on each collector is shot, no matter how you screw in the bolt it either crossthreads or it strips the threads on the bolts, so now what can I do, I am trying to get these things on. I am sure these are the best shorties like usually said, I just need to vent.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

i didnt have much problems with mine, but i agree, the collector is small. about 1.93 inches in diameter on average. I opened mine up to 2.20-2.25 inches before i sold them and they still had plenty of room to seal in the ball flange.

I never could get my headers to seal right, the bolts kept coming out over time. Always had to retighten them.. i had ARP header bolts too

slow_90firebird

If you have a straight-edge or even a yard stick, use that to check the flanges for straightness. If it were me, I would post a picture to see what the experienced members say.

If the quality is really lacking as you say, it might be a 1-in-a-hundred bad set. I would take some pictures, and post up. If other members never had the same problems, I would call Summit or whoever sold them to you. If they are indeed defective, they should replace or refund them no charge.


I am very interested to see how these work out for you. Please let me know how bad it was getting the origional manifold bolts out. Also, I would like to see what kind of seat-of-pants gains you feel.

90CamaroTBI

Well its not the header bolts that I fear (yet) it is the collector bolts they just crossthread and mess up the bolts. I was doing this on my couch lol so I know I am not making it do this myself like I possibly could under the car.
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Are you looking to install headers is that why you ask? I have installed headers on my old LO3 before and honestly getting the stock bolts out was not as bad as I had expected, the worst part was the rusty tabs they put over the stock bolt heads that you had to bend back before a socket would go on. But, as for seat of the pants, the LO3 felt like a whole new monster going from 2 1/4 to I think even only the 2 1/2 hedman has. I will let you know about these though. The bolt does thread, but I just do not have a good feeling about it being stripped like that especially one on each.

slow_90firebird

Well, for the colllectors, couldnt you either substitute a thinner bolt (like a 1/4"-20) and put a nut on the other end? Or maybe drill the hole out for a bigger bolt, and tap it yourself?

I really would like to get headers. However, like I said in another thread, I am afraid of having one of the manifold bolts break off in the head, before I am even able to get the manifold off. Then I would have to tow it to a shop, and pay high dollar to get the head pulled, and repaired.

90CamaroTBI

Uh oh, how common is this issue? Plus your car looks fresh I am sure the motor is as well and that you will not have much rust issues.

Demon_Eater

Manifold bolts will break either a slight chance, or a big possiblity. I've been told many times that sometimes they wont break, and sometimes it will. happened to my dad many times, (on old ford cars) he had to take off the heads and he took them out him self. I am very thankful that the bolts on my stock manifold bolts didnt break, cause they were pretty tight.

Im not an expert on the whole headers, and the bolts, but I guess it depends on either you will get lucky (like I did) or not, and have to take the car to someone. sorry to say that.
I guess the only advise I can give is to be gentle to the bolts.

Tobias05

i just installed 2055s on my buddies LG4 last month. was pretty straightforward.

we did have to fight the y pipe a bit to get the bolts to thread to the collectors. when i installed my 2055s over 2 yrs ago those things slid on like butter.

no problems with pulling the old exhaust bolts off the heads either.

performance increase? very, very nice. you won't realize it's an LG4 anymore. seriously. it's not like you suddenly dropped an LT1 in or anything, but its got a lot more umph. will put you back in your seat a little bit.

you guys got any more questions, the install is still rather fresh on my memory. fire away.

I H8 WWD

iTrader: (5)

My header bolts are completely rusted, I just SOAKED them in PB for 3 days and literally had no problem getting them off with a regular box end wrench...every hour I came back sprayed a little on each, and kept doing that....3 days and 1 can l8er....no problems.

Remember, PB is your friend...

I am going to be buying these from Jet-Hot in the next few months (I hope...I said this last year..haha) and im going to ask them to install everything before shipping it out to me to ensure this doesnt happen.

I hope all goes well. Please post those pictures if you can...

Take care.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

PB blaster is a good thing. i'd use it on your car as well. heat the motor up alittle, then spray the bolts good. do that a for a few days and it should break loose without actually breaking

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Are yours ceramic coated, by any chance?

When I first installed them, I left everything loose until every fastener was started. After running them a few years, I had them Jet Hot coated. The install went better that time, as everything seemed to get used to each other.

2055's aren't perfect. But, overall they're better than any other aftermarket production header available. Of course, Dyno Don's are probably the cat's meow these days.

slow_90firebird

Do the 2055's hook right up to the air tubes on an LO3? I thought I read somewhere that there was a difference between the LO3 and the tuned-port motors. And that to make them work right (full emissions), some welding and custom fab was necessary.

Dyno Don

iTrader: (7)

Naw, they fit the same.....but mine are better (shameless plug)

slow_90firebird

Yeah, yours are sweet. When you gonna start up an online store

And do you offer them raw? Or even painted like the hookers?

Timothayyy

iTrader: (2)

On my 2460's they had to weld the little air tubes on, and then the tube that runs up to the intake manifold [bringing the hot air up] they just cut it off and used some brackets and put it on the header. 100% emissions legal. If you just had a shop do all that I would assume it would be 200$ish.

L69HAWK

iTrader: (1)

i am planning on getting these too. but when i do get them i will be getting the stage 8 locking header bolts and percy aluminum 3 layer header gaskets.
the 3 layer is made for header flanges that aren't exactly flat. so when they heat up they conform to the head and the header fora much tighter fit.
i used this set up on a fox mustang i had years ago. i never had to go back and tighten nor did i ever have a leak.

if the bolts don't thread right, u should either chase them or rethread them if they are even alittle stripped.

85Iroc-Z

iTrader: (4)

The website has these headers listed as having a 3 inch collector. How can they be about 2 inches in diameter?http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

The tube where the 4 primary tubes comes together is 3". The ball flange takes that down to a 2-1/2" down-tube. Those are OD #'s, so the ID of the down-tubes is more like 2-1/4".

I talked about this way back in 2001 when my 2055's arrived. The opening in the ball flange of my set was about 1.9" diameter. Some seem to end up a little smaller, some a little larger. I emailed Hooker about it, their response was the exhaust gases had slowed down sufficently by the time they get there that it doesn't affect performance.

I didn't quite buy that line, so I fit checked the headers in the car on the engine, with the y-pipe. I then removed the y-pipe, and opened up the ball flange openings with a high-speed angle grinder. Later, when the 350 shortblock when in, I used the carbon marks to open them up a little more. The result is just under 2.2"

slow_90firebird

I bet, even without opening them up, they would be a noticable gain over stock manifolds... right??

I think if I decide to get headers this summer, I might save up the extra bucks and get some made up from Dyno Don. His look almost like the SLP's which are supposed to be real nice. I just dont know if I would loose power because his tubes are bigger.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

I don't know of any header on the market that wouldn't be an improvement of stock manifolds. There are just some that are better than others.

Talk to Don about his headers on an LO3. You will certainly lose low RPM torque, and without PROM tuning, power might be down. Power potential would be up, though.

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

Agreed. The torque you may lose is a result of tuning. As Five mentioned the potential is far improved and the average power gains negate any low speed power loss due to tune. PROM tuning will add power at every RPM point with any header on an LO3.

KYLE87

iTrader: (5)

Headers where a great addition to my car and I even got the cheap ones, but It felt way faster than before.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

yep add timing across the board and bring it in earlier at WOT netted me a solid 15wtq gain and 10 on average across the rpm range with a lean tune. I think i could have gained 20-25 with proper AFR and more time spent with the timing.