Has Anyone Tried the $158 eBay Stainless Steel Headers?

[swb85]

Originally Posted by bigblock73

If your headers are turning blue, your engine is out of tune.

That's an old wives tale. The amount coloring after exposed to heat also depends on what grade of stainless it is. Some grades (like 409 used in most OEM apps) will turn gold without ever being run, just from exposure to atmospheric conditions. High quality ($$$$) stainless headers like Kooks or Stainless Works use 304 stainless, which will only discolor slightly when exposed to extreme heat....but they will discolor to a pretty gold/bronze tint.

I have ebay stainless longtubes on my '01 tahoe (5.3 LS, custom wideband tuned EFI) and the first few inches of primary tube are a pretty purple/bluish color and then fade to gold as you go down stream. It runs a wideband verified 14.7:1 at cruise and 12.7:1 at WOT. I'm sure these ebay headers are made from a lower grade stainless, which is why they're so cheap and more prone to discoloration when exposed to heat.