Which headers are the best?

[brooklynzbyrd]

I have a 97 firebird with the 3.8. The exhaust just has the muffler upgraded to an 80 series flowmaster. Now i am looking for a set of headers but i do not know which to choose. I want the chrome look and found the pacesetter and the rk sport. Which is better and why?

[99v6cam]

rk sport has larger primaries but pacesetter are better quality (most rk sports leak bad) so if you have the money get rk sports and have someone fix em. Pacesetters are cheaper the only problems i ever hear from them are about the gaskets.

[T-Punk]

the best quality is Clear Image Automotive (CIA). They have never had leak or fitment issues. They are a lot more expesive though and have smaller primaries than any of the others. You wont notice any performance difference between the three, just differences in quality and ease of installation. You will have a hell of a time getting the stock manifolds off though. If you havent done a full catback i would recomend doing that first. The manifolds are not the choke point in the exhaust. Also upgrade the intake before the headers as well. Headers are a major pain to put in. most of the time the manifold bolts break off making the job that much more of a pain.

[slow6]

what the heck do you do if your manifold bolt heads break off and theres still a half-bolt stuck in your engine/manifold?
didnt know rksports were best/bigger primaries.

what do you mean pacesetters are better quality? appearance means nothing to me, just performance.
always has

[FireFighter]

You drill it and tap the hole.

[98Camaro3.8]

Originally posted by slow6:

what do you mean pacesetters are better quality? appearance means nothing to me, just performance.
always has

Quality isn't just about looks. IMHO, Pacesetters are among the worst quality. I couldn't install a single oxygen sensor out of the 3 into my headers, because the Quality Control was so horrible.

[FirebirdGT]

Originally posted by T-Punk:
the best quality is Clear Image Automotive (CIA).

DO NOT fit on a 97!

[slow6]

"you drill it and tap the hole"
thats gonna leave alot of metal shavings all inside your exhaust

i was saying that quality doesnt only mean appearance, or even performance for that matter.
i believe quality means: all around excellence - from dictionary.com

oh yah, and there was a "bad batch" of pacesetters where they leaked too.
where do the RkSports leak? the gasket/seal?
thnx

[99v6cam]

I heard that rksports have problems wth thier collectors and thier y-pipes. I had no problems whatsoever with my pacesetters that's why i say they're better quality. CIA are the best quality but they're the most expensive and have the smallest primaries.

[andrew.brandon]

Originally posted by slow6:
"you drill it and tap the hole"
thats gonna leave alot of metal shavings all inside your exhaust


thnx

thats why you gita pull the heads to do it

[T-Punk]

what is different on the pre 98 cars? I would think they would fit, i cant think of anything that changed from 97-98 in the exhaust. has anyone emailed to ask.

[fast95 3.4]

yes the primaries are different sizes, but how much different, that can't make that much difference

[Kal-El]

what does it mean by cia have the smallest primaries? what is primaries anyways?

[99v6cam]

When you say they have smaller primaries were talking about the diameter of the "tubes". Doesn't make much difference unless you are heads/cam, FI, or nitrous.

[slow6]

"heads/cam, FI, or nitrous"
soon i hope! no nitrous tho
thnx