- Installation Guides:
-
FLP LT header
guide by ChevyWeatherman.
-
TTS header guide:
covers the installation of catalytic converters,
Y-pipe, and Corsa cat-back (by Stefano Tenzi).
- SLP
header guide (by bomax, if I recall).
The following information was provided by JRP @
ls1tech.com:
Installation procedures will vary from car to car and from the type of
header you choose. Some are easier to install than others.
A few install tips:
- Patience; if after working for several hours without any
apparent results take a break. Things often have a way of working
out coming back from a fresh start.
- A breaker bar is your friend.
- All LT's go in from the bottom.
- The stock cat bolts will often break, especially on the older '98-99
cars, don’t worry about it.
- Use plenty of penetrating oil on all the cat-to-manifold bolts.
- Have a buddy/wife/girlfriend help you out when need be.
- Remove the oil diverter for a bit more room on the drivers side
install.
- You may or may not have to notch the
K-member
and floor board
clearance (CamaroCain).
- Steering shaft removal may or may not be required. (For jrp's install,
he couldn’t get the thing to budge, so he used a die grinder to grind down
the block tab
to get the drivers side header to slide up). Heed the warning on the
steering shaft before removal.
- Have all the proper tools before starting installation: jack, jack
stands and/or ramps, basic hand tools (3/8, 1/2 drive ratchet, 10mm, 12mm,
15mm, sockets. etc.), hammer. Optional but very handy tools that may
or may not be needed: Sawz-All, die grinder, 2x4 and 4x4 pieces of wood
and/or some bricks.
- Get the car as high as safely possible. It's a lot higher then
you think. (During jrp's install, he had the rear on ramps and the
front was propped up with his jack on a 4x4 piece of wood to get the extra
clearance needed.)
- I don’t think it has to be mentioned but I’ll say it anyway; use
safety goggles where applicable and make sure your car is secured on the
ramp/jack stands before getting under it and working.
- Give yourself plenty of time to get the install done! The first
time around factor in 5-12 hours. Don’t worry if it takes you
longer, just concentrate on getting it done right and gaining the
experience.
- Typical shop prices for an install are $300-500 depending on location.
If you have the time, you owe it to yourself to give the install a shot
yourself. It’s not that hard and doesn’t require a lot of technical
knowledge or experience. If you run into trouble during the install
come to the message boards in a calm and collected manner and you'll get
the answer you need in no time.
- Will you need tuning after headers?
- Every car varies, you wont know until the headers are installed and
you've put some miles on the car. Headers usually cause the car to
run a bit rich but its nothing a stock tune can't handle. If you
want full advantage of the new headers then you'll definitely want a tune.
Just plan accordingly; if you know you're not going to install big mods
(heads/cam) sometime in the near future then I’d go ahead and get a tune.
If you plan for a new cam and/or heads then hold off on tuning for the
headers and get a tune once the H/C is installed, it will save you the
time and money of having to tune twice. If you don’t want to pay for
a full tune you can always pick up a used
MAFT (mass air
fuel translator) and dial in your A/F ratio a bit.
The following information was provided by WAHUSKER @
ls1tech.com:
More Header install tips:
I have installed 3 sets of headers on these cars so far (PPCs, FLPs &
Pacesetters) and I thought I'd share some useful tips that we used.
ALL - Remove the steering linkage. It works for all headers. Avoid the
nice gouges on the driver's side header, and hours of cursing. Turn the
steering wheel first so you can get at both bolts. The bottom one can be
challenging, a 12" ext and a wobbly works. Lock the steering wheel
and remove
the 2 bolts, then yank it off. Removing the bottom bolt completely is
required. This will let the driver's side header slip right in!
PPCs - The y-pipe is the B on these. Get a BIG rubber mallet, a LARGE set
of channel locks, and a can of WD-40. Wiggle, pound spray, and cuss. It will
go. The I-pipe will probably be too long and need to be cut.
PaceSetters - Cut a 2' long piece off the k-member's lip. You'll
need to
hold the header in place to see where the cut is needed. A sawzall, a
Dremel
with a cut-off wheel and a pair of vice grips works very nicely. Cut 2 lines
straight in, etch along the k-member with the cut-off wheel, then bend it
back and forth with vice grips or whatever you can grab it with. It should
break right off. Use a grinding wheel on a Dremel to touch up the rough
edge.
FLPs - The worst part about these is the collector and y-pipe clamps. Take
the bolts out and spread them apart, put both pipes in and then squeeze them
together again with channel locks so you can get the nut started. The I-pipe
will probably be too long and need to be cut on these too.
AIR Tubes - on the PPCs the stock one work fine. On '01-'02 FLPs, go get a
passenger side tube off a 2000 and use the existing passenger side for the
driver's side. The flange on the header is clocked ~90* from the stock
position. Hold the one you're going to use up to the flange and draw a line on
the tube where one of bolt holes is. Do the same for both sides. Then go get
the ends cut off, rotated and welded back on. Usually rotating one way or the
other will result in a better angle. I think we rotated the pass side CCW
and
the drivers side CW.
EGR Tubes - these are NOT fun to put on. The flange is down by the
starter and you cannot reach it with the tube in place. A magnetic socket to
hold the bolt and some grease on the gasket to hold it in place worked for me. Along with 4 extensions
and 2 wobblies. Took me an hour and every word I knew.
ALL - have a Predator tuner handy. It is not unusual to throw a code when you
first start the car. |
