I have a 1988 Trans Am w/ a 305 TBI. I have a set of Hooker Super Competition 3" longtube headers and am looking to install them myself to save myself $500 instead of having a shop do them. How hard is it do do and has anyone ever ran into a major problem. What do all the smog lines run too and how do i tear them off? I no longer have a cat so i dont need them and i dont plan on putting one back on and i also plan on pullin the smog pump and adding a delete pulley. How long do you think it will take me to take stock stuff off and put new headers on? Any advice would be apprieciated.

 

You'll need an O2 sensor bung welded into one of the collectors, and some way to route the pipes from the collectors to the exhaust system. Unless you have welding and tube bending capability, you're still going to need a shop.

If you got an estimate to install the headers, with the O2 installed, and hooked up to the exhaust for $500, you're either getting a great deal, or the shop doesn't know what they're agreeing to. At least around here, I'd expect to pay $500 just for the O2 sensor install and piping to the exhaust.

Ground clearance is going to be terrible. Why are you bothering with long tubes on a TBI engine?

 

I was told they are long tubes but ill post a pic. Im not complaing tho, i got them for free lol. all i had to do was sandblast them and paint. And the shop quoted me 500 for install, custom y pipe, o2 install which 1 header already has hole drilled for the 02, 3"pipe all the way back and then weld on my new tips. but i figured i can save a few hundered by installin the headers myself and just having them fab up the new pipes.

 

I had removed my original headers first time from 92 LO3 and smog/pollution junk without any problems (hollowed pollution pump) but i did haveto take off the heads to do that since there was not enough space on one of the sides (i believe pass) i heard you can force them but might require some bending/denting so i took the heads off,however, it did take me awhile tho and it wasnt fun lol i would pay someone to do it if i had to now, specially $500 is not a bad deal,good luck

 

Those are NOT long tube haders. Those are your regular shorty header. You need a Y pipe to go with those or you can't attach them to the exhaust. The stock Y pipe will not bolt up (wyou wouldn't want to use it anyway). Free was a great deal but the Y pipe (whether you buy one or have it made) will not be cheap.

 

Right, those are shorties. Look like Hooker 2460HKR's, in fact.

If you're willing to live with 2-1/2" pipe (which isn't a problem with TBI), the Hooker 16767HKR y-pipe bolts to the header collector and goes straight back to the cat-back, eliminating the cat. Nice, mandrel-bent pipes, but like I already said, only 2-1/2" after the "Y". But, the odds are about 10:1 that the Hooker y-pipe will be better than anything fab'd by a muffler shop.

Here are the Hooker installation instructions http://static.summitracing.com/globa...ok-2460hkr.pdf . You could save all of the shop price by buying the y-pipe and installing it all yourself.

 

Nope, those would be shorty headers... not gonna give you quite as much power, but nothing wrong with running them, they're a major step above stock and will give you ground clearance.

This would be a long-tube header:

 

They'll support all the power capability a stock LO3 has.

 

True, I doubt there'd be a discernable difference on a dyno between shorties and LT's with that engine.

 

I had those headers on my old 82 z28. I thought they did their job very well, especially on a 305

 

thanks for all the help. My dads friend works in an rv place and they make custom exhausts so i might have him bend me a y pipe for real cheap. Should i go 2 1/2 inch pipe off the y to the tips or 3" like i was planning?

 

If you're going to go to the hassle, just use 3", that way in the future you won't have to replace it. I'd only use 2.5" mid pipe if it were free or you had it already. 2.5" is smaller than the stock 350 exhaust....

 

so how is it possible to lose hp between long tube and shortie headers? long tubes just has more backpressure? I plan on running mr. gasket copper header and flange gaskets. Good idea or are there better ones out there?

 

If you're putting down enough power, there's more turbulence (creating backpressure) in shorty headers than there is in long tubes. If you're not approaching the max horsepower supported by that diameter tubing (3" single I-Pipe can take up to about 300 Hp) then you're probably not going to see any difference.

 

So in order for me to get the most hp out of my shortie headers, i should run 2 1/2 pipe instead of 3"??

 

Nah, 3" is good because it will support additional mods you may do... like a cam. Backpressure is the enemy of horsepower, so even though you're not producing all the horsepower for 3", you won't see a loss in power just because of a loss in backpressure. The only thing back pressure tends to do is give you more low end power and this is because it shifts the torque curve to the lower end, sacrificing top end torque which is what produces big Hp numbers. Hp is a function of torque at RPM, so the more torque at high RPM you have, the more Hp you get. It's a misconception that a lot of torque will increase acceleration... In reality all you need to be concerned about is how to get the most horsepower out of the engine and how the car is geared to accomodate that high end power and that will get you the best acceleration.

 

Sounds good to me. Ive been hearing alot about "dyi" tuning? what does that stand for. I was told if you dyi a stock 305 you can get about an extra 20 hp out of it. Would it do me any good to go true duals or hurt me?

 

While I doubt true duals would hurt, I personally wouldn't bother unless you're planning to drop some serious coin into that motor in the near future. 3" single will do you fine up to 300 Hp, and to get over that hump power-wise (regardless of exhaust), you'd be looking at either modifying the throttlebody you have or getting a better throttlebody system (like a holley projection) or swapping over to TPI, along with heads, cam and intake... or even maybe swapping in a moderately built 350. The L03 isn't hopeless in the power dept, but it's certainly not the easiest to build for power... there's a section dedicated just to TBI and you'll find some guys on this site that are gaga over TBI and making good power.

I'm not sure what dyi tuning is... you sure they didn't say DIY? for Do It Yourself? The TBI guys would know how to tweak your setup the best... might want to post a seperate question in the TBI section in that regard.

 

Shorties vs. longtubes doesn't have anything to do with turbulence.

 

Which headers would be best. I found aome headman longtubes but some people said just to get shorties instead. I building a mild 305 with heads cam intake and carb.

 

For a daily driver shortys would be best.

 

i got some hooker shorties last September but i didnt have the money for the y-pipe so i never got that....i finaly just bought it, summit wanted 240 plus shipping but i put in the part number on google and searched and found a hooker y-pipe for 180 with free shipping on amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...0301_287857-20

i heard that shorty headers were pretty simple to put in, are they not? i originally bought a pair of flowtech headers (they were long tubes) and the original owner said that in order for him to get them in he had to slam the subframe in with a hammer to get them to fit right, and that is not something i am willing to do to my car....what is the hardest part about headers? is it just the fitting?

also one last question, i asked for the best header gaskets at my local speed shop (my father told me they used to leak all the time but apparently that was before metal gaskets and they used like cork and paper gaskets) but i didnt want to ever have to the same job twice so i bought Aluminum header gaskets....is this good at all? the guy said they were better than copper.