I am lookin to add some horses to my SS... I have the SLP d/d allready, from factory, so I will upgrade that last, I havn't done anything else to it... and I wanted to add it all at once, so it would be really noticable...

lid, filter, maf, ported t/b, headers, y-pipe....

I have read on here a hundred times that most lids and hp filters are alike and offer very little difference in performance, so I am wondering about JBA headers... my buddy, who has a Tahoe, said JBA's are one of the best, very thick at the base and offer great performance... what are your thoughts on them... and what is the difference between the coatings in regular driving scenarios? does it make a difference if I get the regular chrome finish as opposed to the nickle... or high temp ceramic? I dont' drag, never will...

and what about off road y's? are they street legal? what type of Y pipe should I throw on there to boost performance for on the city streets?

and is it worth the money for the maf, and ported t/b? really?

thanks

 

Shorty headers are a waste of money, unless you live in a horrible emmison state like California. Anyone will say so with long tube headers over shorty, and so will I. Get LT headers, they cost about the same, maybe a little more, but give twice as much power.

Also, DON'T do anything with the MAF sensor, don't replace it, port it, anything. It is great from the factory and should not be tampered with until you are making at least more than 450rwhp... Ported TB is a great mod to do.

 

I live in california.... so should I go with them?

ok, so no on the MAF, thanks... and what is a good ported t/b that I can purchase?

 

anyone else?

 

Id stay away from them...LS1 headers arent that expensive..either go w/ some pacsetter LTs or hooker LTs

 

Well, you have a few options. You can just forget about getting headers and spend some money in another area. You can go ahead and get the JBA shorties, Hooker, or BBK which all make shorties. Or you can get LT headers. If you get LT's you will need to remove them before smog testing, or, hope the smog tester doesnt care or doesnt notice them.

As for the Ported TB, Bauer makes a good one. Also there is a guy on the LS1 tech board that ports and polishes them, and powdercoats the outside and they look really trick. Great price too. Here is his "site" http://community.webshots.com/user/jantzer98ss

 

well, you can have long tubes in california, you just gotta know the right ppl. however, i would recommend finding out who those ppl are before purchasing the headers.

otherwise, i think the jba header is a great alternative to long tubes. they will give you better breathing and you won't run into ground clearance issues on a lowered car like you might with some of the lts out there.

 

i'm considering jba's for myself. coated cost more but will reduce engine temp. alot of people on this board will say noway,waste of time and doe. my thoughts are shorties are worth maybe 8 to 10 (jba told me 12-15hp-probably at flywheel) PLUS you can include high flow cats and and y-pipe which adds 9 horse according to random tech. when compared to long tubes they have y-pipes included in there claims of 20-25 horse thats my opinion. please tell me whats wrong with street legal (i think) 17 horse vs not legal long tubes at 25? i look forward to discuss this with the experts on this board.

 

I just read an article a couple months ago where they added JBA shorties and a Borla exhaust to a 99 Z28. Both together only gained 9 rwhp. I would guess most of that was from the Catback. From what I've read, most people only see about 3-rwhp gains. You might get a couple more from free flow cats and y-pipe. At the very least, they would sound better than the stock manifolds.

I've heard others say they have dynoed the BBK 1 3/4 Shortie headers (before and after) and they claimed to have seen about 10 rwhp. If you are dead set on going with shorties, I would look at BBK.

Good Luck,

Al