Headers

[Silver O Six]

I am thinking of putting a set of headers on my Z

I would like opinions of what type, someone to install em
and anything else I need to know. Thanks:confused:

[carboman]

Vette Doctors offers a good product of their own design. As for install you could bribe Glenn and I to do it. So what's the problem? 505Hp is not enough? You'll want to get the car dyno tuned as well. You could drive up to Vette Doctors early in the morning, they could do the header install,l dyno tune and have you home for dinner. I'll bet they will cut you a good deal on the complete package.

[Glennm27]

LG headers (http://www.lgmotorsports.com/)

Phoenix Performance (http://phoenixperformance.net/autocare.html)
Palm, PA (http://phoenixperformance.net/autocare.html)

[hcvone]

LG headers work great on the new Z06's. :)

[Richy]

I have the Vette Drs(American Racing) off road(no cats)
headers.Dale Cherry installed them & I'm really satisfied with the results.You'll definitely want a tune after installation.Although it was very generous of Mark to offer his & Glenn's services to install them,I think this is a job for professionals.I don't doubt their ability or enthusiasm,but after seeing the recently posted pix of Mark's home "lift",
I think this would be a little too much(would provide an interesting video).

[jim4242]

Talk to Carmen at the Vette Doctor, they have a header system that has shown to to be as good as or possibly better than LG. The system has been endorsed and tested by Ligenfelter <sp>. I would not hesitate to use them and the price is considerably less.I have lg's on my 03' and they are great. I have been up to the Vette Dr for some work to be done and they are impressive. This is not a shop with a dozen guys working on your car. Only three people keep that shop going. When I went up I had n appointment at 8:00 AM, I left home early in the morning to beat the traffic and was waiting for them to open up. They started on my car, as soon as they moved about 10 vettes out of the garage. If you are doing headers and a tune you will be home for dinner with no problem. They allow you in the garage to watch everything they do.
I had taken my 03' to a local shop to have my headers and tune done. I had horrible resonance in my exhaust system when I picked the car up. I took the car back to the shop three times and they could not fix it, they told me it was the headers that were no good.
Months later I went to The Vette Doctors to get some other work done. The Corsa pipes had to be removed to get to the torque converter. When they pulled the exhaust down they immediately saw what the problem was that caused the resonance and there were also two exhaust leaks where the pipes had not been fitted together properly.
While I was there I asked Carmen to put the car on the Dyno just to see how the previous "tune" showed. Carmen redid the "tune" because there was actually a lack of horse power in the mid range. When he was done I ended up with an 8 HP gain at the top of the curve but most important he picked up 25 HP in the middle of the curve.
Needless to say I would not hesitate to drive back to the Vette Doctor for anything. You can be assured it will be done right the first time and you will get your car back without scratches and nicks. If you go there once and watch them work you will see what I mean.

Jim

[Glennm27]

.........................................Although it was very generous of Mark to offer his & Glenn's services to install them,I think this is a job for professionals.

You sound as though installing headers is difficult?

It's NOT

The tuning is the part I can't do...

I have a lift that makes it easy.
It's just time consuming.....

[Richy]

Good idea to put thermal sleeves on the plug wires at the same time.

[jim4242]

Does the car have some kind of air induction? That is someting else that should be done before getting the tune. Then everything will be done. If you get air induction later you will have to pay to get another tune. Steve Spencer has said always get all the mods done prior to the tune.

Jim

[YO-EL]

Talk to Carmen at the Vette Doctor, they have a header system that has shown to to be as good as or possibly better than LG.


ALL figures in HP & TQ on ALL yr cars show the LG's to perform better..

[Silver O Six]

Does the car have some kind of air induction? That is something else that should be done before getting the tune. Then everything will be done. If you get air induction later you will have to pay to get another tune. Steve Spencer has said always get all the mods done prior to the tune.

Jim

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not surprised though. Many good points.
Many of the forum guys are doing headers, cold air and cam.
Oh, what will that cost? And for what? I don't race or whale on it,
I treat her like a baby. However, I'll hang it out once and a while and
just love to hear the exhaust!
With all that in mind, will these mods mess with the warranty?
You are correct Mark in asking is 505hp enough? Yea it is, but but but...well you know.

I would love to do the headers in my own shop but with somebody
who knows what their doing...Mark and Glenn??

Again, this is all thought at this point. But! keep your thoughts coming!

Thanks Guys, ts

[hcvone]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not surprised though. Many good points.
Many of the forum guys are doing headers, cold air and cam.
Oh, what will that cost? And for what? I don't race or whale on it,
I treat her like a baby. However, I'll hang it out once and a while and
just love to hear the exhaust!
With all that in mind, will these mods mess with the warranty?
You are correct Mark in asking is 505hp enough? Yea it is, but but but...well you know.

I would love to do the headers in my own shop but with somebody
who knows what their doing...Mark and Glenn??

Again, this is all thought at this point. But! keep your thoughts coming!

Thanks Guys, ts

Maybe 500 hp at the rear wheels is enough, and with good long tubes and tuning you can get there. I am sure Mark and Glenn could do the job as long as there are no surprises. :)

[Silver O Six]

Talked to Spence about headers and my factory warranty. Steve told me
the two don't go together. Even a tune could void the warranty.

[hcvone]

Talked to Spence about headers and my factory warranty. Steve told me
the two don't go together. Even a tune could void the warranty.
That's a first, I never had any warranty issue by adding headers to my Corvettes or other cars, some dealerships install headers. :(

[Silver O Six]

Yea Carl, I was a bit surprised too.

[Glennm27]

Steve's pulling your leg.

If the headers were the cause of a warranty claim, then that could be a problem, otherwise, no way could they void your warranty.

Your warranty for instance covers the electric window mechanism. So, say you brought the car in because your window would not go down. Do you think they could void the warranty claim becasue you have headers?

They'd have a pretty good fight on their hands if they tried that one...

[Silver O Six]

I hear ya Glenn. If I were ready to install now, I would take that question
much further. I just seemed odd in the way he answered me. Maybe he was
having a bad day.

[Richy]

My experience at Bryner has been that only the relevant part of the warranty is voided.In my case,any issues related to the drive train are excluded.If you increase the hp by adding headers,they may take the same position.

[MAC 220]

it is at the dealer's discreation, most dealerships wont void the warranty because it's all the work they can get now. Really where you run into problems is the specific area of the mod, but most dealerships wont stick you on it

[C5pilot]

There are several laws protecting your right to install aftermarket parts (mainly the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act). The key point being that the dealer must prove the aftermarket part caused an otherwise covered failure. In any case, they can't legally void your entire warranty. The thing to keep in mind is that anything that increases HP can be proven to cause damage to your entire drive-train, sub-frame, suspension, etc. Basically, it all boils down to your relationship with the dealer, and their relationship with the factory rep.

[Mike02z]

The problem with Magnuson-Moss is I do not think the dealer needs to prove anything.

Let's say you take your car into the dealer with a blown engine. The dealer can refuse to perfrom warranty work on your engine because you have a CAM and they claim that the CAM is what caused the engine to fail. If that happened it is now up to the consumer to prove that the CAM had nothing to do with the engine failure. There in lies the problem. It can cost thousands of dollars to prove this in court and most people just don't have the resources to fight it.

So yes, the dealer cannot just "void" your warranty because you put aftermarket parts on your car but they can refuse to perform warranty work if they believe that an aftermarket part caused the failure.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the above is accurate and that the dealer does not need to prove anything but simply blame the aftermarket part caused the failure to refuse warranty work.

[C5pilot]

The problem with Magnuson-Moss is I do not think the dealer needs to prove anything.


If you're not willing to go to court, the dealership doesn't need to prove anything, does it? ;) Laws are only effective when they're enforced. But I agree with your assessment of the reality of it all. I wouldn't waste time hiring an attorney for your cam scenario.

[carboman]

I have the Vette Drs(American Racing) off road(no cats)
headers.Dale Cherry installed them & I'm really satisfied with the results.You'll definitely want a tune after installation.Although it was very generous of Mark to offer his & Glenn's services to install them,I think this is a job for professionals.I don't doubt their ability or enthusiasm,but after seeing the recently posted pix of Mark's home "lift",
I think this would be a little too much(would provide an interesting video).
:D :D :D :D

[Silver O Six]

Mark, You could always practice on Richys new beauty.....:rolleyes:
I just got a new saw if you need it

[carboman]

Mark, You could always practice on Richys new beauty.....:rolleyes:
I just got a new saw if you need it

Thanks Todd but I have a torch and a hammer. That should be all I need to get the job done.