I have a question that I would have to guess is programming related. Basically, would it be necessary to alter the programming on a vehicle that has speed density on it after installing headers? What happens if the headers are added without changing the programming? Does the motor run rich? I am curious what would be involved when I put headers onto my firebird. I've heard that the MAF systems will compensate for it but the SD systems will not. Thanks for the help!

 

Volumetric efficiency goes up, so you would probably run a touch lean, especially at higher rpms. I'd be surprised if you really had to touch the spark though.

 

The stock calibration begins on the rich side of things at full throttle by quite a large margin, so I wouldn't worry about it. The stock cam doesn't have much in terms of overlap, either, so there isn't much gain in terms of "tuned" exhaust. It's basically freeing up some pumping losses, and having a less dilluted charge in the cylinder.

Some people have problems with closed loop at idle with a single wire O2 sensor though - runs a little bit cooler in a header. Might consider running a heated sensor.

And BE SURE you have NOOOO leaks anywhere - gasket at head, collector, etc... Those will cause more little problems than anything else.

 

When I added headers to my IROC with a MAF engine, it ran quite a bit leaner. I had to adjust my MAF tables and some other stuff to get my BLM's back down to 128. It was enough of an impact to notice with a scan tool, but not knowing where you are at, might not notice anything in driveability.

But like RedGold said, the stock cal is on the rich side, so you should be ok. Cant really comment on the Speed Density setup.

But I did install a heated O2, since I was going out of closed loop at idle.