Exhaust Post your questions and suggestions about stock or aftermarket exhaust setups. Third Gen exhaust sound files and videos!

Stainless steel headers...any good?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 12-23-2010, 09:28 AM
  #1  
Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
camaro1122's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Sunrise, Florida
Posts: 482
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 1991 Camaro Z28
Engine: 5.0 LB9 TPI
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 posi drum
Stainless steel headers...any good?

I found this header on ebay and a few websites http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...01961&viewitem, I know this is cheap and maybe junk but what i wanted was a cheap header that will bolt right up with no problems and go into the car until i have money for a nice set. I know how theres flowtech, heman, and hooker headers that have them for around the same price but i wanted something that wont rust. This is just going to be on the car until i have money for a nice pair, the ones on there now are tiny and. This is a 350 carb'd engine and the headers came with. Now to ask is this header complete junk where it might not fit, to small for the engine, or might break? The piping size the guy said was 2 3/8 the collectors 2 1/2 and they are shorties. Thanks
Old 12-23-2010, 09:30 AM
  #2  
Moderator

 
Apeiron's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Mercedes Norte, Heredia, Costa Rica
Posts: 20,981
Likes: 0
Received 9 Likes on 8 Posts
Car: 1984 Z28 Hardtop
Engine: 383 Carb
Transmission: 4L60
Axle/Gears: 3.54 Dana 44
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

They look like a Flowtech knock-off done in stainless.
Old 12-23-2010, 09:36 AM
  #3  
Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
camaro1122's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Sunrise, Florida
Posts: 482
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 1991 Camaro Z28
Engine: 5.0 LB9 TPI
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 posi drum
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

By "knock off" what do you mean?
Old 12-23-2010, 09:44 AM
  #4  
Banned
iTrader: (12)
 
Stephen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Bertram (outside Austin), TX
Posts: 12,212
Likes: 0
Received 10 Likes on 10 Posts
Car: 87 GTA
Engine: L98
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: Dana M78 3.27 posi
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

He means copy-cats.

I say save your $ for what you really want & not buy "junk" now, only to replace it. Take the $ you'd spend now.plus the $ you'd spend later & think about what you could buy later.

Headers aren't the easiest install in the world either, so do you really want to go through it twice?
Old 12-23-2010, 09:54 AM
  #5  
Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
camaro1122's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Sunrise, Florida
Posts: 482
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 1991 Camaro Z28
Engine: 5.0 LB9 TPI
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 posi drum
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

Reason why i wanted a pair of headers now is because the engines on a stand. It will hopefully be dropped in once my intake comes but what my plans were to get the car into a muffler shop and have true duals put in with spintach mufflers. I just wanted to have a complete nice engine going in, ive bought little accessories like power and amp pulleys, water pump, new intake, and i wanted to finish it off with a pair of rust free headers. I know they are junk headers but it will be a big upgrade to the ones on there right now. If i could ask do you think for the money these headers are OKAY? Like meaning the way they look in the pictures to how they are made.
Old 12-23-2010, 10:04 AM
  #6  
Banned
iTrader: (12)
 
Stephen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Bertram (outside Austin), TX
Posts: 12,212
Likes: 0
Received 10 Likes on 10 Posts
Car: 87 GTA
Engine: L98
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: Dana M78 3.27 posi
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

Originally Posted by camaro1122
Reason why i wanted a pair of headers now is because the engines on a stand. It will hopefully be dropped in once my intake comes but what my plans were to get the car into a muffler shop and have true duals put in with spintach mufflers. I just wanted to have a complete nice engine going in, ive bought little accessories like power and amp pulleys, water pump, new intake, and i wanted to finish it off with a pair of rust free headers. I know they are junk headers but it will be a big upgrade to the ones on there right now. If i could ask do you think for the money these headers are OKAY? Like meaning the way they look in the pictures to how they are made.
Those do look good. I'm just suspicious by nature, of cheap/inexpensive stuff sold on eBay, by a company I've never heard of.

Personally, I won't be buying SS headers, but me being in Texas, rust isn't an issue even on my daily driver GTA. Mild steel headers will easily last for decades & not rust out. Up north, I can under buying stainless or for a "show car".
Old 12-23-2010, 10:04 AM
  #7  
Moderator

 
Apeiron's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Mercedes Norte, Heredia, Costa Rica
Posts: 20,981
Likes: 0
Received 9 Likes on 8 Posts
Car: 1984 Z28 Hardtop
Engine: 383 Carb
Transmission: 4L60
Axle/Gears: 3.54 Dana 44
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

I'd have no expectation whatsoever that the build quality shown in the ad copy will be anything remotely like the build quality of the delivered product.
Old 01-18-2011, 05:32 PM
  #8  
Junior Member
 
stoutz28's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 87 Z28 / 93 Z28 / 91 GTA
Engine: 305 TPI / LT1 / 350 TPI
Transmission: AUTO
Axle/Gears: 273 / 370 / 323
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

I just bought a set and they look jest like the ad, but the collector is only 2 1/4 OD at the cat end. I'm going to open it to 3" and let you know how it works
Old 01-18-2011, 05:44 PM
  #9  
Member

 
sloick's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Dayton OH
Posts: 266
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: Many
Engine: Several
Transmission: Automatics
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

i bought a pair of ss knock off pace setters lt's from ebay. they were very nice and fit well. although they were not from this seller.
Old 01-18-2011, 06:38 PM
  #10  
Supreme Member

iTrader: (58)
 
Drew's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Salina, KS
Posts: 20,309
Received 1,052 Likes on 748 Posts
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

More Chinese garbage. In short, a Chinese company buys a product to use as a sample. They then reverse engineer the part (usually with no clue how or why the part is supposed to work) in effect STEALING another companies design. Then they build their version of the product as cheaply as possible (think slave labor, child labor, etc) and sell them on Ebay where the product can't be traced back to a reputable manufacturer when the product fails.

In the case of "stainless headers" usually the steel is thin and poor quality, with poor welds. They're pretty much, universally, garbage.

Even some reputable companies (Summit Racing, Jegs, etc) from time to time carry a product line of these knock off stolen designs. I've got a set of tubular control arms for a Mustang around here somewhere. They came from Summit, but several other vendors sell the exact same parts. They're made in China, and the welds don't have much penetration. Also there have been threads on the Mustang forums where other people with the same parts have pulled them apart at the welds.

My advice is buy an American made product. You'll get a better product, with a likely reputable manufacturer, and none of the nonsense of Chinese rip off parts.
Old 01-18-2011, 07:05 PM
  #11  
Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
camaro1122's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Sunrise, Florida
Posts: 482
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 1991 Camaro Z28
Engine: 5.0 LB9 TPI
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 posi drum
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

Originally Posted by sloick
i bought a pair of ss knock off pace setters lt's from ebay. they were very nice and fit well. although they were not from this seller.
can you give me a link so i cam check it out?
Old 01-18-2011, 07:06 PM
  #12  
Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
camaro1122's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Sunrise, Florida
Posts: 482
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 1991 Camaro Z28
Engine: 5.0 LB9 TPI
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 posi drum
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

Originally Posted by stoutz28
I just bought a set and they look jest like the ad, but the collector is only 2 1/4 OD at the cat end. I'm going to open it to 3" and let you know how it works
Let me know how it goes, thanks
Old 01-18-2011, 08:24 PM
  #13  
Member

iTrader: (6)
 
chads89ta's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: lima ohio
Posts: 272
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: red 89 t-top ta
Engine: 305 tpi
Transmission: t-5
Axle/Gears: 9 bolt soon
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

i bought full lengh headers off ebay, just built the same as those, thick flanges on both ends, great gaskets, and no leaks. they were for the 68- 81 camaro, but they do tarnish easy with driving them year around, i actually had these on a 84 caprice wow they fit better than the other headers i had.
Old 01-18-2011, 08:36 PM
  #14  
Member

 
sloick's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Dayton OH
Posts: 266
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: Many
Engine: Several
Transmission: Automatics
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

Originally Posted by camaro1122
can you give me a link so i cam check it out?
came from seller eworldsales.

heard about them from this thread.
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt...ders-here.html

remember mines a 4th gen.
Old 01-19-2011, 09:20 AM
  #15  
Supreme Member

 
v10viper04's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NY sucks
Posts: 1,724
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Car: 84' Corvette, 96' Caprice
Engine: LT1, L99
Transmission: T-56, 4L60e
Axle/Gears: 3.07 POSI, 2.93 Open
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

First set of headers I bought were Flowtech shorties, they flow like SH* T! They are better than stock manifolds but not by much, after that I went to a set of Flowtec longtubes designed for the 2nd gen Camaros(which they did fit but barely!) They rubbed a spot on the chassis so I decided to buy another set. I bought Hedman LT's, best header so far and what I'm currectly running. No rubbing and flow great. Learn from my wasted money don't buy shorties unless it's a stock motor and you have no plan for upgrades. And when I changed from shorties to long tubes the second I got on it you could tell they were so restrictive.... It's bad when it's a big seat of the pants difference with an exhaust....

**Edit**
Dyno Dons shorties are the only shorties I'll consider if I ever need them again. They are pretty great from what I've heard.
Old 01-19-2011, 03:36 PM
  #16  
Senior Member

iTrader: (1)
 
1bdbrd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 889
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 1991 Trans Am
Engine: L98
Transmission: T56
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

Originally Posted by Drew
More Chinese garbage. In short, a Chinese company buys a product to use as a sample. They then reverse engineer the part (usually with no clue how or why the part is supposed to work) in effect STEALING another companies design. Then they build their version of the product as cheaply as possible (think slave labor, child labor, etc) and sell them on Ebay where the product can't be traced back to a reputable manufacturer when the product fails.

In the case of "stainless headers" usually the steel is thin and poor quality, with poor welds. They're pretty much, universally, garbage.

Even some reputable companies (Summit Racing, Jegs, etc) from time to time carry a product line of these knock off stolen designs. I've got a set of tubular control arms for a Mustang around here somewhere. They came from Summit, but several other vendors sell the exact same parts. They're made in China, and the welds don't have much penetration. Also there have been threads on the Mustang forums where other people with the same parts have pulled them apart at the welds.

My advice is buy an American made product. You'll get a better product, with a likely reputable manufacturer, and none of the nonsense of Chinese rip off parts.
Mine and many other people's experiences on ls1tech have been quite the opposite. Yes they stole the design but the end product is often times of higher quality than the original part. And really how different can headers be for a car that you can get into stolen designs? Proprietary collector designs are really the only thing I can think of unless you do some crazy primary design but then most wont be looking for that kind of setup anyway..

If these had larger primaries and collectors I would say go for it but in this case american companies are where you should turn to for better options.
Old 01-19-2011, 03:46 PM
  #17  
Member

 
sloick's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Dayton OH
Posts: 266
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: Many
Engine: Several
Transmission: Automatics
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

the welds on my headers were beautiful. they stole the design from (i think pacesetter) and made them from a nice stainless steel. they were the same gauge as the tubing my borla cat back uses. a saws-all will not cut the tubing. i had to use a grinder and it ate cut off wheels.

and for the work involved, buy long tubes or save your money.
Old 01-19-2011, 03:53 PM
  #18  
Member

iTrader: (6)
 
chads89ta's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: lima ohio
Posts: 272
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: red 89 t-top ta
Engine: 305 tpi
Transmission: t-5
Axle/Gears: 9 bolt soon
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

same here the welds were great. i had them on the car for over a year, thick flanges and the gaskets even held up. never had that happen
Old 01-19-2011, 04:08 PM
  #19  
Member
 
Camaro305SB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 446
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Car: 87 Camaro
Engine: 305 LG4 (H)
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

Find something with a jet hot coating. Stainless will still chip/rust/discolor, but it takes just a little longer.
Old 01-19-2011, 05:06 PM
  #20  
Senior Member

iTrader: (1)
 
1bdbrd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 889
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 1991 Trans Am
Engine: L98
Transmission: T56
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

Originally Posted by Camaro305SB
Find something with a jet hot coating. Stainless will still chip/rust/discolor, but it takes just a little longer.
Skip the jet hot. Its great for the first year or less and then it goes to crap real quick. You talk about chipping and rusting, jet hot and every other thermal coating will do that and will do it quicker than most decent grades of stainless will. Waste of money IMO with stainless headers no being an option.
Old 01-20-2011, 12:36 AM
  #21  
Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
 
camaro1122's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Sunrise, Florida
Posts: 482
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 1991 Camaro Z28
Engine: 5.0 LB9 TPI
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 posi drum
Re: Stainless steel headers...any good?

Only problem is the Inlet / Outlet size: 1.5" / 2.5" ....thats really tiny, and i heard if you have a powerful engine that it might not be a big enough header for it. Ive never heard of enlarging the collector, how would you do that? Also long tubes would be a challenge on 3rd gens, and me since im probably using the sportline drop kit i wouldnt want to take that risk. I see now theres really two choices this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/82-92...Q5fAccessories
and this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/82-92...Q5fAccessories
I emailed them about the specs to the first one because it wasnt there. It seems like the first one is better built, what do you think?
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Terrell351
Engine/Drivetrain/Suspension Parts for Sale
5
06-13-2021 01:13 PM
Reddeath210
Firebirds for Sale
14
10-06-2015 08:20 AM
Dialed_In
Firebirds for Sale
2
08-20-2015 01:45 PM
MENINBLK
Transmissions and Drivetrain
6
08-05-2015 11:58 PM



Quick Reply: Stainless steel headers...any good?



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:48 AM.