calgutie

iTrader: (3)

So I wanna do smog legal headers to my car but wanted to know what option are out there also thinking of replacing the whole tubing with 3" and possibly replacing cat, for $1000-$1500 TOPS....thats my budget....I need the biggest bang for my buck

SiCkRs

iTrader: (6)

Dyno dons headers ive heard are the best bang for your buck.

calgutie

iTrader: (3)

hm...seems good but I m just worried about not passig smog though

SiCkRs

iTrader: (6)

Well I would ask Don since they all pass smog. Also i see you live here in cali maybe he could do the whole exhaust for you around that price.

calgutie

iTrader: (3)

hmmm....i would think that you wouldnt pass visual

calgutie

iTrader: (3)

most importantly where can i buy these @?

5.7chevykid

For that budget you can do a lot I did my full exhaust with shorty headers for under 580 but I wasn't worried bout the smog

calgutie

iTrader: (3)

hmm....seems good but did you do the install for it or did you go to a shop?

5.7chevykid

The headers I installed myself the exhaust at a shop for $280

SiCkRs

iTrader: (6)

Well they pass so just contact him as for price pm him for that. Well worth the money they look awsome.

Andrew James

iTrader: (3)

Wow high budget. I have Hooker Shorties that everyone gere loves with the matching y pipe, with the air tubes cut off and welded. Mated that to pipe My buddy had around and the aftermarket cat-back from a 02 trans am. Total cost? 250 bucks.

Balllin.

Ron U.S.M.C.

I would start reading about CA stat law concerning CAT removal and replacement .Any thing from the cat forward is dangerous territory concerning modification. Call a SMOG only station and ask them about CA SMOG legal headers.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Right:

First thing to do, is to IGNORE all the "advice" from people who don't have experience with CA law.

Next thing to do is find headers with a CARB EO #. There aren't a whole lot for the carbed cars, since the outlet flange on the pass side MUST have provision for the EFE valve. Not sure whether Don's have this or not, since most of his seem to be for FI motors, which don't have that. It would require the right header to be about 1" shorter and its flange to be different, compared to FI ones. I can guarantee, absolutely positively 100% ironclad take it to the bank bet the farm on it, that if whatever you put on doesn't accommodate that, it WILL NOT pass. But do check w Don, because if he does in fact offer this, it'll likely be a superior option to Edelbrock; not least because he makes his out of stainless.

Whatever you get, I'd strongly recommend having them ceramic coated, because of the HUGE reduction in underhood temps that it provides. One of the biggest problems created by headers is that the heat they radiate turns everything plastic or rubber under the hood into dust and ashes; sensors, hoses, connectors, wiring, EVERYTHING. It's REAL TOUGH to keep a car with as much of that sort of thing working right as a carbed 3rd gen has ALREADY (as I'm sure you've already found out), and just gets about 10 times worse when all that stuff is busy crumbling to powder even faster.

When I lived out there, I had Edelbrock TES (which have an EO#). At the time those were THE ONLY ones for carbed cars that had an EO #. Given the economics of the current ownership of the vast bulk of these cars, I'm suspecting that situation hasn't changed any time recently, since the majority of the people who own them seem to be concerned about "the cheeeeeeeeeeepest" of whatever they want, not "the best" or "legal".

Once you get the header aspect handled, I'd suggest getting a good quality cat & cat-back for a 350 TPI car. DO NOT get anything that will bolt up to ANYTHING you have now!!! DO NOT get ANYTHING that will fit LG4!!! Doing so will preserve the bottleneck that is the one single thing most responsible for making that motor slow, namely, the small diameter Y-pipe, cat, & I-pipe. If Don can help you out, he will no doubt tell you the same thing, and most likely won't even offer anything that fits to stock LG4 garbage anyway. I'll give him credit for having better sense than that.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Incidentally, since my car is a L69, I used the Edelbrock TES for that (HUGE oval Y-pipe w 4-bolt flange) and the Hooker "Aerochamber" 3" cat-back, with the L69 adapter that SLP used to sell added to the front of it so it would bolt to the 4-bolt cat. Look up cats on Summit for a visual, the ones for L69 and the 1st year or 2 of TPI were all that style. Don't know if SLP still sells that adapter or not but it sure made things eeeeeezie. But if not, use a Y-pipe with a 3" round outlet and a 3" cat-back, with a 3" slip-fit cat. It'll need to be a "3-way" cat, with the AIR fitting on the side.

calgutie

iTrader: (3)

great...thanks for all the info it reall helped...but i looked around summit and didnt find any smog legal headers for my car though....or mayb am I looking in the wrong place?

BlackenedBird

iTrader: (5)

Dyno Don does not have any EO # for his, in any state. While they will pass visually, they won't if the Inspector goes looking for an EO #.

SiCkRs

iTrader: (6)

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HOK-2055-1HKR/

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

EO = Executive Order

CARB = California Air Resources Board

The CARB issues EO #s to specific products, by part number, after appropriate tests are performed and results submitted, fees paid, forms filled out, bonds posted, palms greased, and/or whatever all else

ergo, California is the only state EO #s come from and similarly the only one they matter in

If you have a "thing" on your car in CA that isn't stock and doesn't have an EO #, then you get to visit the "referree". This office will inspect it in various ways and determine whether or not an exemption should be granted etc. Same basic process that a foreign engine swap (Chevy motor into Jaguar for example) has to go through.

Since Don lives in CA, and some enormous majority of his customers are there and have his product and somehow get through smog, I'd suggest contacting him directly if interested.

calgutie

iTrader: (3)

got you I really like those headers but $700 seems a lot for me right now, since I was also planning on doing the rest of the piping, is there anything else that would be legal thats a little cheaper?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Can't say about "cheaper"; or even, less expensive. I don't even feel like bothering with that when I try to help people out. Do you want the parts, OR NOT??? If you do, you'll do what it takes. If you don't, well, .... TALK is "cheaper" than parts. But you'll have to do that with somebody else.

calgutie

iTrader: (3)

alright well i looked closer and it should fit my budget if im take them to a shop do u know what a resonable price that they should charge me?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

I'd recommend against paying somebody to do that for you... you pay by the hour, and on an old car, always seems to be alot of snags that people run into, that just explodes the amount of time it takes.

Best to get a friend or 2 over, have a 6-pack or whatever to keep em happy (but not TOO happy), and figure it's going to take a weekend. Depending on what headers you get, there may be a couple of parts that you can make or find in advance, to forestall some of the slowdown "gotcha" things. One FOR SURE, will be the A/C bracket system; that will definitely require some "custom" adaptation. No telling what a "shop" would end up charging for that sort of thing.

calgutie

iTrader: (3)

wait...but ive removed my a/c...so why would i originally need the bracket for?thanks.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

The brackets in question also hold the power steering pump.

Sorry to hear you devalued your car that way and turned a potentially nice ride into .... one that's not. I'd recommend putting it back on and making it work.

calgutie

iTrader: (3)

well i rerally dislike the A/C it just takes up to much room and the hose just look ugly, prsonally. but I saved everything so when ever I woulod need to get rid of the car I can easily just put everything back together on it.