I have an 85 Trans Am that I have just dumped a new motor in (now the 3rd engine)

I have never done headers before so I have lots of questions for ya

1) If I buy the cheaper headers (without AIR), what are my chances of failing emissions based soley on that?

2) What is the EASIEST brand to install?

3) Prices?

4) Parts listing of everything I need to put them in?
(ie O2 sensor dealio,Y pipe etc)

5) Will this bolt up to a factory cat-back? I am not sure if this 100% factory as it was replaced and appears to be a 3".

I am looking on putting the headers in and eventually going with a different exhaust (running Flowmaster Thrust II)

Thanks

 

as long as they dont give a visual inspection then you should be fine. you will get alot of different answers on what are the best headers and everything but if i were you i would get hooker or flowtech, both are good and are pretty easy to install and have pretty easy plug locations. my flowtechs were like 90 bucks for the headers and 90 bucks for the y pipe. whatever headers you get you also need their y pipe. the cat-back should bolt up fine, cat slips on the y and clamps, then the cat-back bolts to that.

 

So I am assuming then that the y pipe is relativly long and custom bent for my application? I know the cat is under the passenger side seat well....How difficult is it to yank out the old air tubes afterwards? Opinions on shorty vs longs? Sorry!

 

yes, the y will be custom bent for your application but thats only with shortys, with the longtube headers you haev to have one made i think, i would go with shorties unless your pushing major hp. you can get air with most headers, not sure how to pull it all out if you dont want it but it probably isnt too hard. do some searching on the boards and you can find everything you want.

 

OK...I think I am going to go with the Flowtech shorties and Y-pipe BIG-11102 and BIG-11102Y. I just heard a car online with basically my setup and these headers and well...schweeet

It says I will need to modify the exhaust in order to maintain the cat on summitracing.com. This true?

 

i have flowtechs on my car, they were really easy to install and are pretty well made. the cat wont fit over the y-pipe so i took my cat adn y-pipe to an exhaust shop and they expanded it for free since i knew him and it fit great. but if you dont have emissions or anything then i would just get rid of the cat and put in a strait pipe and just have it all welded together if you have an aftermarket cat-back

 

Wait before you order. What kind of motor do you have? The flowtechs have 1.5 inch primaries. This is even a bit on the small side for a 305. If you have a 350 I would definately get something bigger. Hedman has some that are just slightly more expensive. I think they are like 108 for the headers and somewhere around the same for the y pipe but am not sure exactly. They have 1 5/8 primaries and will flow better. I wouldnt use 1.5" primaries on anything except maybe a stock 305 and even then "I" probably wouldnt use the 1.5" primaries.

Ben

 

i have them on my 350 with edelbrock carb and they work fine, the engine revs more quickly than ever. i did alot of research on these and you really dont gain much more with the hedmans but the one thing i dont liek about flowtechs are the y pipe is still a T instead of a y but there is still a deffinate performance gain with the flowtechs and i think they do the trick and should be fine unless you have a super high performance engine and then it might need to breathe better.

 

The flowtechs will be at least a little better than stock manifolds, but for the few extra dollars it would cost to get the hedmans I would go that route. Also, I didnt even realize that the flowtech y pipe was t'd like that. That would push me over to the side of not even really considering them even for a 305. bad_ta, what are the specs on your motor, and do you have any times or dyno numbers?

Could you define a "super high performance engine"? From everything I have read 1 5/8's starts to become a restriction around 375-400 and I dont even consider that a "super high perforance motor" I see that as more of a very healthy street motor. I dont know what the 1.5's would become a restriction at, but most people even avoid them for stock motors so that should give you a clue. SLP suggests 1 5/8's for 305's and 1 3/4 for 350 or larger.

Dont get me wrong, if you cant afford anything better, I am sure the flowtechs will be a bit above manifolds, but you will not have the same potential for future upgrades making as much power. There are some 350's out there making some pretty good power out of 1 5/8's so I imagine that the 1.5's could support a 305 decently, but I would NOT stick them on a 350.

Ben

 

my engine is from a 79 3/4 ton truck so its not a super powerful engine so they work great for me. i do consider 375-400 hp a pretty high performance engine. i think flowtechs would work fine for a 305 and a pretty stock 350 but i agree anything bigger you would need 1 5/8 primaries to get its full potential. i really didnt get my flowtechs for performance, i got them so i could fit a dipstick in my engine but i still think they are good and a big improvement over stock. like i said before just do a search and you can find out about all the different headers and the problems and perks with them. thats just my 2cents

 

So how about installations on Hedmans? The good,bad...the ugly. Ease of plug installation etc?

 

LOL, I put a 350 in to replace my dead 305. I was going to leave the motor pretty much stock(already had ported heads/intake and an aftermarket truck cam that a friends dad had), but then the dipstick wouldnt fit. I was going to just use the LG4 manifolds because I was just wanting to get the car running again. Then realized I would need headers. I ended up buying a cam and hooker long tubes and made my own duals. I also put a GTA interior, alum driveshaft, 3.45 posi rear, pbr rear brakes, braided brake lines all around, and several other things on while it was down. I had another car to drive so it wasnt that bad. I ust ran into that oh, this looks cool lets buy it spell. I didnt mean to have a project car, just get it running again but I can say I am pleased with the result.

Ben

 

Well, I havent used them myself, but from what I have seen most people tend to like them. When I got headers I ended up going with jet hot coated hooker long tubes which is one of the most expensive and difficult to install headers for our cars. I just suggest those because they usually fit the budget better than most others and have a decent primary size. What size motor do you have anyway?

Ben

 

I'm running a 350 .030 over,mild cam,160 stat,85 Vette bin file, (slightly modded with 170 fan kick in and lowered the tps voltage needed to kick in full steam),24# injectors,afpr,2500 stall and just got the "kit" to make it kick in overdrive at WOT along with a B&M stage II. I am REALLY low on dough...so doing things as cheap but efficient as possible. Also, this is my daily driver, it can't be outta commision for more than a day or so. Thus the reason I want to find something I can "slap in" quickly.

Future hopes:

bigger cam
heads
throttle body

Future "dreams"

HSR
T-56
3.73 rear end
Alluminum DS
Stroker kit

If any of ya have extra parts...lemmie know...I'm not proud, I gladly will buy hand-me-downs.

 

OH...and your car sounds kick *** btw

 

i just got the dynomax non airtube headers, i heard holly makes both those and the flowtehs, so i can just get a flowtech y-pipe and it'll match up?

 

I would check into that more first. I didnt think that holly made dynomax. They do make hooker though and flowtech though. Like I said, just make sure or find someone that has done it before you buy it.

Ben