I'm trying to help my friend install SLP 1 3/4in headers on his GTA and they don't fit for ****!!!!!!!! Everybody was telling me how crappy my Edelbrocks are and now I'm glad I have them!!

Don't buy SLP headers unless you want dent the **** out of them and the heater box and weld some extra tube on the Y-pipe to put them on!!

 

Sorry to hear that man. I don't know if you just got a bad set or if you are doing somethng wrong. I had absolutely no problems with mine. They dropped in easier than almost any other mod I've doen. The only thing I had to do was to bend the flexible brake line to a different position to clear the header.

Just curious where you had to weld the y-pipe. If it was to make it attatch to the cat, did you have the cat adaptor? I know I had to have the cat adaptor to clear about a 6 inch gap and make the proper bend to join it to the cat. Otherwise, I would have had to have some extra pipe welded on.

 

I'm pretty sure anyone who has installed headers into a GTA or anyother v-8 thirdgen who hasn't ripped all their accessories out will tell you that the headers are going to get caught up on the heater box just like all the other crap on the passenger side of the motor. My hooker supercomp shorties sure did when i was installing them on my GTA. I ended up removing the valve cover and the starter and jamming them in there..........

 

Nope, my Edelbrocks dropped right in with no mods at all. Everything fit perfect and they were damn cheap. You'd think for the money you spend on SLP headers they'd be able to figure out how to make them fit like Edelbrocks!!

And actually, the Y-pipe didn't even come out at the right angle. We couldn't even line it up with the cat. We checked and double checked to make sure we had them in right and then he called SLP and they said he needed new motor mounts. Well he just had his motor out and put brand new energy suspension mounts in so their excuse was the new motor mounts don't fit the factory dimensions. What a bunch of morons!!! I'm glad I don't have anything made by SLP on my car now and I don't plan on ever using anything from them again!!

 

Did you have the cat adapter? I know with mine, the y-pipe comes out at a funny angle, and the adapter makes a clean transition for that bend. Dunno why they chose to do it that way. It's a pretty serious angle (about 45*) so you'd have to bend the pipe or have the adapter to make it line up.

I have an 82 camaro, so the brackets are obviously different from later thirdgens (v-belts and stuff). On the pasenger side I was able to just drop the ehader in from the top with no problems. However, on the driver's side I had to remove the a/c bracket and then twist it and turn it until it finally just dropped in. I'm just trying to figue out why te instll didn't go smoothly for you.

 

Is the cat adapter that thing that looks like it has a steel donut gasket on the end of it? Cause we had that, and it still didn't line up.
I just can't believe SLP charges so much extra money for so many different things that you need to use these headers, and they don't even come close to the precise fit of my $250 Edelbrock's which came with everything!!

 

where did you get your edelbrocks?
I'm interested in cheap headers...

 

Mine fit perfect, sounds like an installer error, and i'll bet you dont have the cat adapter, thats why you started welding to the Y pipe......

 

They have several different adapters. I used the weld-on one since I redid the whole exhaust. Basically it was a mandrel bent 3" pipe that made a smooth 45* turn, was about 8-10" long and slipped over the ends of the pipe to be welded to. Obviously it goes from the end of the y-pipe to the cat. I don't know what the other adapters look like as far as attatching to the cat.

I hear ya on how much SLP charges for all the individual peices. You'd think the install kit would come with the headers instead of costing anothe $80 or so (haven't looked at prices lately). However, you're out of luck if you want stainless steel and don't want to go with SLP, and if you want 1 3/4" headers than your choices are SLP and Hooker Supercomps. Sorry your install didn't go smothly.

 

Some people dont have the patience/talent/luck for header installs eh?


My slp's went in great, plenty of clearance all around, the only thing IROCZ88 said I can agree with is that the people that work at/for/are SLP are complete idiots, greedy idiots at that.

 

I feel your pain. With some twisting and turning, I got the SLP headers to slip in from the top. I had to move brake lines and the steering shaft, but they did eventually fall into place. My problems occurred where the cross-over pipe connects to the collector pipe. The cross-over pipe was off in the length and proper bend by at least 3 inches. I called SLP on it and they gave me the same excuse -- installer error. I asked how could I have installed them incorrectly, there is only one way they can fit. I asked them to send me another cross-over pipe and they would not do it. The bottom-line -- I had to purchase a 2 1/4" pipe with a mandrel bend and rework the cross-over pipe by cutting and welding the pieces together. Totally unacceptable especially for the price, but that was the only way it was going to work. I told SLP they will not get any more of my business and they seemed OK with that. I also purchased the elbow that fits into the cat and that actually worked OK. In addition, I purchased the installation kit which also was poor quality. The air conditioner bracket that came with kit was poorly modified by SLP. I had to do serious work on the air conditioner bracket for it to fit properly. If you order from SLP, just hope that you get a kit that meets specs, otherwise you are in for some headaches.

 

Installer error? Come on, there is only one way headers go in!! I know what I'm doing and I can show you my car to prove it. I was just helping a friend with the install, and the product sucked!! Maybe he got a bad set of headers, I know it's possible.

The worst problem was the steering shaft. We had to move the column over as far as possible, and dent the **** out of a primary tube. The way they were designed it looked like the header should have passed right through the steering shaft which doesn't make sense.

I'm telling you though, we had the elbow and all the right parts and the y pipe fell to the inside of the cat by about 3 inches. It was long enough to touch the cat, just not in line with it and not at the right angle. We had it out with SLP over the phone and they swore the motor mounts were the problem.

 

Sounds like a got a set made by a new employee or something, that sucks. My headers went in within 5 hours, including breaks... by myself. And mine are Jet-Hot coated, I'll be damned if I'm going to be denting tubes.

 

Don't the SLP's have a 2.25" necked down collector? I don't have any, but if the measurement is correct, that is just another reason not to buy them. It aggrevates me to see a company make a product, and then charge outrageous prices for them just b/c they can. $95 headers have bigger collectors than that.

 

Bigger collectors to go into what? A 2 1/4" pipe? SLP collectors are probably that size because they ship with 2 1/4" S pipes. The reason I bought the SLPs was because of the way the collector was built. The primary is the same size all way to the collector.

 

I had SLP install mine since I knew I would be over my head and even they dented the headers to my dismay so the steering shaft didnt rub, took them 3 days total and had to custom fab pipe to attach to my dual cats and they broke my fan switch in the process as well as my Made For You wire looms, quality all around Best part is Ive yet to gain a one thousandth reduction in ET, that was a serious waste of $ so far and I thought I did my homework...

 

yeah their headers do suck fitment and quality. Mine came with warped flanges and too long of a crossover pipe. When I called I got some bullsh!t from them.

 

Synapsis,
I understand they ship with 2.25 pipe. What my point was is it could be cheaper to get a header with 3", or even 2.5" collectors, and have a y-pipe made. Most people I have heard from say they run about $100 for a custom y-pipe from a shop. SLP has this whole ora that they are a great company. And some of their products are very nice, and competitively priced. But their headers are not on that list. I see no point in buying 1 3/4 primary headers if they have a 2.25, or even 2.5" collector. An exhaust system is only as good its smallest point. Being that the collector can be a big constrictor, I would want mine at least 3".

 

In the rear you're running 8 1-3/4" primaries (the headers) into a single 3" intermediate pipe... talk about restriction.

If your engine required big collectors like that, or you were running a very low restriction true dual setup, I could understand wanting a bigger collector. I'm just going to stop now before the whole backpressure debate starts up again.

 

I agree. I don't want to start about backpressure, thats not an area that I am really great in. But I also agree that if I needed 1 3/4 primaries, I would not have a 3" catback system.

 

Sunday my friend took his GTA to Numidia to test his new SLP 1 3/4 inch headers. His best ET came earlier this year with Edelbrock headers, 13.05 @ 104mph. He was hoping to drop into the twelves now with these new headers. It didn't happen, his best was a 13.11 @ 105mph. The conditions were excellent too. It was only about 60 degrees. Needless to say, he's really pissed that he spent all that money now!!

 

I gained a couple tenths with them. The second run in my sig is with stock manifolds, gutted cats and a Flowmaster 40-series muffler. The third is with my SLP headers, dual high flow Catco cats, and the cutout open (after cat).

 

As much as I hate SLP headers, they may not be the actual culprit. If you open up the exhaust so it flows better, but don't compensate for it on the fuel delivery side, you'll run lean and effectively slow the car down.

Before dumping the SLPs I'd hop into the DIY_PROM forum and bone up on collecting ALDL data so you can see what's happening inside the engine. Could be with some software tuning to take advantage of the extra exhaust capacity he's in the 12's.

 

I take it back....


SLP headers do suck as5

 

Synapsis
You picked up after changing from manifolds, which you definitely should. We switched from Edelbrock headers to SLP's and slowed down.

Kevinc,
I know your right about that, we're just getting into burning our own chips (tired of giving lots of money to Ed Wright). His car feels like it lost significant low end torque which is why his 60' times slowed down, and therefore it slowed in the quarter. However, he picked up 2mph and it feels a lot better up in high rpms. I think it's just a mismatch for the type of motor he's running.

 

Synapsis, I'm still trying to keep that damn GP going you started but after 2 months it still hasn't done sh**. This friday I'm going to just order from Summit and then send them off to Jet Hot. In retrospect do you think you were doing yourself any good with 1 3/4" headers or would you do 1 5/8" if you did it again. My sig shows mods (very light on engine) with more coming. Probably AFRs, cam and, lower manifold and runners. What do you think?

 

If you're going with a cam and maybe heads I'd say go with the bigger ones. I've known a few people with mild 350's that were happy with 1 5/8" primaries, but I'm going to be throwing in a 383 with AFR heads, Comp Cam, etc.. So I need the bigger primaries in the future, that's why I got em now. I did feel a little torque loss down low which might be from the bigger primaries, but I'll fill up those pipes soon enough.

 

Thanks, I do believe I'll be happier with the 1 3/4s. Did you have much trouble with the steering shaft issue I hear some do some don't.

 

I just ground it down 1/8", because it was really close. There's no contact at all now. IMHO, SLP should have bent that particular tube a *little* sharper so it wouldn't be an issue.

 

I'm suprised to hear all this when I've heard many say they are great. For the price they should be the absolute best headers you've like ever seen. If some1 would make them like SLP's, but a little better and at a lower the price, they would make incredible money.

 

Believe me, I've thought about it. A hydraulic tubing bender, a welder, and a plasma cutter and you're set. But I can't weld tubing to save my life, so there goes that idea.

 

Learn, and fast!!!! LOL

 

This is one of my goals to get better at welding. I took a course a couple of years ago the biggest part of welding is practice. I just don't want to practice on the Z. After the sh***y job Engineered Performance did on my Random Technology cats I definitely need to start doing it myself. Hell a 10 year old could've done better work. Oh plus you need a tubing bender capable of mandrel bends. I work for an airline and we have this equipment it ain't cheap.

 

Yeah, I know good tools aren't cheap. A friend of mine builds pro-stock chassis out of his huge garage behind his house, and he has two mandrel benders, so I could probably buy one of his for a good price if I wanted to. He's also the person who welded up my exhaust, perfect welds, perfect fit, 20 bucks. It helps to have friends with shops.

 

Man that's nice I have a really good home work shop rarely do I ever need for anything for any job. I even have a 20 ton press for those suspension jobs. Need a welder though, been holding out for a TIG unit.

 

well i know when i put those on my 406 i had to cut the car in some spots so it would fit.

 

The passenger side went in without a problem, but on the driver's side I had to move the steering column, grind it, then decide that there was no way it was going in there without taking a hammer to that one primary.

With the 1 3/4" headers, CarSound cat, and Hooker cat-back, I gained .6 seconds and 4 mph in the 1/4.

 

I was thinking of getting SLP.... But after reading this topic, I don't want to pay for so much that would cause to much trouble to install. Now I'm thinking Edlebrock Nickel/chrome coated...

 

The collector on my SLP headers...



You did get the cat adapter, right? It's this piece on the bottom.

 

Who are you refering to?

 

might have old , sagging motor mounts, thats liek the number 1 thing that causes header installation to be a pain....

 

My motor mounts were a year old or so and SLP themselves still dented the headers to make them fit, sounds like a fitment problem to me or design flaw. Also I dont have poly mounts either if that makes a diff, I had stock replacement motor mounts...

 

I hate my SLP 1 3/4" headers because I moved the steering column as far over as it would go and the header still doesn't clear it completely. I drove the car to the exhaust shop today and felt the column ocasionally contact the header. What am I supposed to do about it, though? I guess that the header will eventually clear the column. I'd go with Hooker and get them coated if I were doing it again.

 

I installed my SLP 1-3/4" headers this past weekend. I expected to have steering shaft clearance problems like everybody seems to have, but they don't even touch. Granted, it is close, but no contact so far. Oh yeah, on top of original motor mounts too. Both headers went in from the top fairly easily. The drivers side was the easier of the two, once I moved some brake lines out of the way. The passenger side had a lot of AIR tubes to remove before the header could go in. The only real fitment problems I had were in getting some of the bolts into the heads to line up. It felt as if the three flanged sections on the headers weren't spaced quite right. As close as possible I guess. I ended up grinding a little taper to the end of the bolts that gave me problems. All in all, I felt like I got pretty lucky on the install. I'll admit it took me forever though.

 

I've had the Edelbrocks in the past and decided to go with the SLP's on this build. I am regretting it now. There is $hit for clearance on the spark plug boots, going to have to get shorty plugs now and two new boots. The primary on driver's side is hitting the steering column. I have a leak from #5 primary after using seal for good gaskets and stage 8 bolts.

The Catalytic extension pipe is a big scam. $30 for a frigin' 8 inch pipe. I ordered it, had muffler shop "copy" it, and mailed it back to Summit.

I'm not happy with these headers at all. Who the hell feels like taking them out and spending more cabbage on different ones though, not me.

 

And this is why I'm going with Hooker 2055s soon.

 

You getting them Jet Hot coated? I plan on gettin those in the spring. Let me know how they go in.