Header choices?

[MrBrown]

are there emissions legal headers for an 84 caprice or do I have to put on cheap summit ones with no air tube bungs? I'm not sure but i think i have to have those for emmisions. those summit headers are tempting. picture me and those open headers on my car hitting WOT in the giant shopping plaza by my house and scarring all the wannabe-25-again moms and chearleader type girls.

[silicon212]

Originally Posted by MrBrown

are there emissions legal headers for an 84 caprice or do I have to put on cheap summit ones with no air tube bungs? I'm not sure but i think i have to have those for emmisions. those summit headers are tempting. picture me and those open headers on my car hitting WOT in the giant shopping plaza by my house and scarring all the wannabe-25-again moms and chearleader type girls.

That's a pretty childish reason for wanting headers.

While I don't have headers on my car, it does have a dual exhaust setup. It's absolutely quiet - the only noise you hear is the fan and the roller rockers on the engine. Now don't get me wrong, it does sound brawnier under acceleration than the single system did, but it's still quiet. Great performance and nice tone without upsetting those around me. I didn't put the duals on the car for noise or sport, I did it to give a little bit more power and gain some extra fuel economy. I like a quiet car - I like to hear myself think as I'm driving down the road, perhaps listen to the stereo. I like to be able to hear emergency vehicles on the road I'm on. While it's not a true dual setup - still single cat - it does add about 1 or 2 MPG while giving a noticeable kick in top-end performance.

To answer your question, there are emissions-legal headers you can put on the car - but you will have to run a dual-cat setup and I'd suggest grabbing a full exhaust off of an LT1 Caprice from a junkyard. That's what I did and it cost me a whopping $80 for parts for the entire catback dual setup. You can't, under federal law, buy used cats so you will have to buy those new. And don't forget the balance pipe. You don't need an X-pipe, a simple balance pipe will do.

[MrBrown]

thank you silicon for the info. I was just joking. i want headers for the obvious performance benefits and not absolutely obnoxious sound. I am almost ready to order the cam for my car and thought headers would be a good mod to go along with the cam. I still need an intake and have decided to go with the air gap performer. anyways back to the exhaust, if i run the true duals is there an easy way to bend the transmission X-member to fit the pipe under or is there another way to route it without losing too much ground clearance?

[silicon212]

Originally Posted by MrBrown

thank you silicon for the info. I was just joking. i want headers for the obvious performance benefits and not absolutely obnoxious sound. I am almost ready to order the cam for my car and thought headers would be a good mod to go along with the cam. I still need an intake and have decided to go with the air gap performer. anyways back to the exhaust, if i run the true duals is there an easy way to bend the transmission X-member to fit the pipe under or is there another way to route it without losing too much ground clearance?

You will have to do a little welding on the driver's side of the frame (to add a piece of angle bar) but you can adapt the '94-'96 LT1 crossmember to your car with two humps for the dual exhaust. Get this off the same car the duals will come from.

[bobss396]

After having many cars with them, I'm not a big proponent of headers on street cars. Just too many compromises have to be made and emission compliance is a big issue in many areas.

I would look to get a pair of reworked exhaust manifolds from someone like Brezninski (he does a lot of stock car work), a good free flowing set of duals with a pair of cats and a balance tube.

Bob

[PeteA216]

I know Edelbrock makes a set of emission legal headers, which have the same smog air tube bungs going into each pipe that the stock manifilds have. I have a set of them... I was going to put them on my '84 Caprice, but the emissions system on the car have been long gone. In order for me to use those headers, I'd have to put my smog pump back on.