So I've decided to go with a set of headers and what I've found are all long tube and not street legal for emissions. I'm not sure if NC is too concerned with this, but being military, I never know where in the hell I'll end up and want to prevent spending money over again if I don't have too. I'm having Super 44's installed this week and want to get more flow from the front to the rear. Before anyone decides to try, I'm happy with the 44's sound and that's what I'm going to go with, no mind changing there. :thongue2: What I'd like to solicit from you all is what header options keep me legal, are priced decent and add the performance. My intent is to get it breathing better, not worried about racing it. I know ceramic coating is preferred for heat controlling and performance. Let's say my budget is around $1000, what headers add the best performance within the price, will last (corrosion, rust, etc), and compatibility with other systems. I'm expecting the recommendation of a system with high flow cats as a part of it, and will have to sit and wait for the money to build. I know it's moderately retarded to purchase headers to then step them down into stock cats because you are re-restricting the exhaust system. If there are solutions, I defer to the knowledgeable crowd here. This isn't a need, just a want like the rest of us here. A friend and I will install them and go from there. I'll take video of the stock exhaust for the masses here (not that you all don't know what a 6.1L sounds like), post 44 install, and headers if I can afford them for sound comparison. Thanks ahead of time.
The reason you don't find many (any?) aftermarket shorty headers for the SRT8s is because they come with shorties from the factory, and those OEM shorties are good. Honestly, unless you're up in the 426 area I'd spend your money elsewhere.
I called up Speedlogix today and Shawn had explained the same to me. So, I bought a set of Magnaflow catted mid-pipes and will get them installed next week. This will go good with the set of Flowmaster Super 44's that got put under it this Tuesday. Nothing like going from noisy asshole neighbor who mows his yard at daybreak to now being that and the one that revs up his gas wagon just so he can get a giggle. Thanks to Speedlogix staff and this forum for the continued education on what the car should be. Next money saved goes to a head+cam install and tune. Thanks!
Nice choice, save some more and put a blower on it, if you worry about leality stay with Vortech or Procharger, they both have state legal systems and are heavily addictive... Fredrik:ilovesrtc:
Tomorrow I will attempt (with a friend whom is more mechanically inclined than I) to pull the stock cats off and replace them with the Magnaflow set I purchased. Fingers crossed and Neosporin at the ready. Here's to busted knuckles, loud yelling of the word MF'er!! and one step closer to a call by the neighbors to the cops for being the asshole neighbor!
So I pulled off the stock cats, and attempted to put the Magnaflow ones on the car last weekend. They do not fit flange to flange. The collector on the stock header outside diameter keeps the high flow cats from seating all the way. My question for the collective masses would be, is there an issue with the flanges not setting together all the way? When we pulled off the stock cats, we noticed that there was a gap in between the flange on the headers and the stock cats. It was more pronounced with the aftermarket cats. All told, once the stock cats were off, it takes about 15 minutes to put the aftermarket ones on, O2 sensors re-installed and exhaust re-hung on the hangers. I'm attempting to alleviate the check engine light coming on from a bad seal. My consolation for the day was zip tying the O2 sensors to the underside of the car and driving on open headers for about an hour. My friend and I were a bit deaf afterwards and sadly got stuck in traffic so we had to deal with open header exhaust rolling out from under the car. We snagged some hasty video (horrible shots, good sound) while we played with it. Any advice would be welcome on this, even if it's a, man up and bolt it on deal. I refuse to relieve the interior of the flange on the aftermarket cats until it's a last ditch effort. I would return them before then, but want to keep Shawn at Speedlogix from getting too frustrated. Thanks everyone.