Headers & cat

[Jeff95TA]

I've been thinking of doing long tubes, but need to keep my cat. The more I research it and look at what's available the more confused I get. I currently have a Borla cat back, Borla y-pipe, and a Random Tech cat. Could I still use the cat I have now with the headers and the header manufacturer's y-pipe?

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

Jeff, I don't know about longtubes, but the SLP 1 3/4" headers work with the Random & Borla. They are intermediate length (between shorties & longtubes). Although, there are 2 Random cats for the 95 - one has a 3" ID inlet and the other has a 3" OD inlet. The first one with the 3" ID inlet is more or less a slip fit with the SLP Y pipe which means you can put the whole mess together w/o welding. I ran it that way a while and later put collector flanges on the cat inlet and Y pipe so i could swap in the stock cat for emissions because it will fail NOX with the Random.

I'm not a lover of the SLP's though - they needed work to the head flanges to get them even and that pissed me off. And that stupid installation kit which is sold extra just so you can get the EGR tube is a gyp. Other than that they are stainless (mine are also coated), last a long time, good ground clearance, and good performance as far as I can tell.

When I did my car, there was only the Hookers if you wanted longtubes, and they were not emissions friendly, but now there is more to choose from. Hopefully someone will chime in with some more info for you.

[gimp19]

How much work is involved with installing headers into a F-Body. Also what is the most bang for the buck, easy to install header to tail pipe setup? I've been thinking about doing some exaust upgrades, is there any setups that are DIY with no welding involed? How much time will it take?

[fastTa]

Jeff the first thing to do is measure the ID of your random tech cat or call who you bought it from and see if their records show it. I would imagine you probably have the 3" ID cat. So this will depend on which LT's you go with. Some LT's will have a y-pipe designed to fit their primary lengths and collector location under the car.

If I were you I would strongly recommend having a custom y-pipe mated to whichever LT's you decide on and your cat. They can tuck the y-pipe up very nice to the bottom of the car.

Most manufactured y-pipes do not tuck up under the car very well and will most likely annoy you with ground clearance headaches.

[Jeff95TA]

Ground clearance and installation are my main concerns with the long tubes. Mileage should be <5K a year so no sniffer test. I'm leaning towards mid lengths but my plans also including head porting & cam, and I hate to lose any potential because of the headers. Although some say mid lengths are sufficient for my goal of ~430 hp at the flywheel.