eBay Long Tube header install... pics inside

[swb85]

Originally Posted by biggsteve97

I did not remove the converters. I used the converters that came with the headers, well if you can call them converters. The manufacturer of the kit said they were "race" converters and swore that they would not cause any problems and would work similar to the factory cats. I doubted it from the start since when I looked inside the replacement "converters" they looked more like a resonator.

The kit does not have not catalytic converters, those humps after the headers are just perforated core resonators with a tiny bit of packing around them. Whoever told you otherwise flat out lied. They are just there to look like cats from the outside to make the vehicle pass a visual inspection, but it would fail a sniffer test.

Like I said though, the vendor was correct in that they will not cause you any problems....other than the annoying check engine light.

[60ratrod]

i guess its a good thing that i plan on getting a tune after i do all the mods that i want including these headers. debating on whether i wanna get the rear o2s tuned out or get the perameters set so i can still have them

[fxdxharley]

anyone have thes on a 6.0l in a 2500 4x4? im think of going this route and was wondering what i might come across. dont have to worry about emisions cuz im in NH and the gvw is exempts me from it. just has to look like its all there. i have full stock exhuast now which is dual up to the muffeler the a single tail pipe. i will change that out to full duals. Boss that sounds sick! i cant wait to do the install and add a cherry bomb or flowmaster to it.

[biggsteve97]

Originally Posted by BossHogg69

Very cool - so how did the sound change with the stock muffler??

Oh and btw, give those headers a few days, they'll turn a nice blue color near the heads and have a gold tint the rest of the way down. Looks kinda cool to me.

I was able to get a pair of extenders for the rear oxygen sensors and the ses light has not turned on for about 3 weeks now. Did your engine have the guide pins where some of the retainer bolts should've been? Mine has two on the passenger side, one at the very front and one at the very back, and for some reason only one on the drivers side at the very front. I have a minor leak at the head near these pins and was trying to decide if i should put the stock multi layer gasket back in or remove those pins and and put bolts in their place.

[swb85]

Originally Posted by biggsteve97

Did your engine have the guide pins where some of the retainer bolts should've been? Mine has two on the passenger side, one at the very front and one at the very back, and for some reason only one on the drivers side at the very front. I have a minor leak at the head near these pins and was trying to decide if i should put the stock multi layer gasket back in or remove those pins and and put bolts in their place.

Guide pins? Sounds to me like you've got some bolts snapped off in the head, there's no header guide pins on these heads. And yes, absolutely use the factory gaskets over anything else. They can be reused many many times.

[biggsteve97]

Well, unless they left a perfectly smooth machined surface that happens to be almost the exact diameter as the holes in the exhaust manifold when they were broke then no they are guide pins. I also have a 6.0L from a 2000 2500 and it has the same pins in it as well. So apparently some off these engines did in fact come with guide pins. I will take some pictures tonight and post them on here.

[swb85]

Originally Posted by biggsteve97

Well, unless they left a perfectly smooth machined surface that happens to be almost the exact diameter as the holes in the exhaust manifold when they were broke then no they are guide pins. I also have a 6.0L from a 2000 2500 and it has the same pins in it as well. So apparently some off these engines did in fact come with guide pins. I will take some pictures tonight and post them on here.

I promise you, they're broken off manifold bolts and it's an extremely common problem which is why your other 6.0 has the same thing. The factory bolts aren't threaded all the way to the hex head, and most of the time they shear off right behind the head leaving a smooth shank sticking out of the cylinder head. I've been modding/building these LS motors for over 10 yrs, and I'd say 75% of the motors I've touched had at least one bolt snapped off, and probably 50% had 2 or more. Here's a pic of what the bolts look like:

[biggsteve97]

I took a look this morning in the sunlight. I stand corrected and do not know how I even missed it.

[biggsteve97]

Originally Posted by BossHogg69

Very cool - so how did the sound change with the stock muffler??

Oh and btw, give those headers a few days, they'll turn a nice blue color near the heads and have a gold tint the rest of the way down. Looks kinda cool to me.

This is the cat back Dynomax setup I am going to install on my Tahoe. Only difference between the kit and my setup is that I am using a 2000cfm polished round muffler instead of the 1800cfm oval muffler. hopefully a few more ponies will come out. I am trying to upload a sound clip of my current setup but I am having difficulty.

[biggsteve97]

Originally Posted by BossHogg69

Very cool - so how did the sound change with the stock muffler??

Oh and btw, give those headers a few days, they'll turn a nice blue color near the heads and have a gold tint the rest of the way down. Looks kinda cool to me.

Longtube headers with stock muffler. Sound gets a little distorted at higher rpm, hell im surprised the camera I used still works at all. My dog chewed it up good. But this is the best i can get. Would not download for some reason but here is the link.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ugsg4eQd0I[/URL]

[BossHogg69]

Here's a little update on the eBay header install. My wife got me an Addco rear sway bar for Christmas that I recently installed. However the brace in front of the spare tire that the endlink brackets bolted to was the same brace that my tailpipe hangers were welded to. So I cut off the tailpipes, and then decided "why not just redo the whole exhaust?" - most of this came from the fact that I do not like the sound of a 'dumped' exhaust, which I now had. But, since my mufflers had seen better days and I had bailing wire holding up most of the system, I hopped on eBay once again for some stuff to build a new 2.5" system. This is a small step up from the dual 2.25" system I had without a crossover. I love the sound of the Flowtech Terminators, so I will be using them again, just a new set.

So, I ordered (2) Flowtech Terminator 2.5" mufflers from The Driver's Seat ($61.95 ea, free shipping) and a 2.5" stamped X-over from Performance Curve ($30, free shipping). eBay total = $153.90. I usually order everything from Summit, but the same mufflers from them are $68 ea, plus $9.95 handling, and the cheapest 'narrow' x-pipe was the Flowtech one, and it was nearly $75. By going the eBay route I saved nearly $67.

I did use Summit for a couple of 4' sections of 2.5" pipe ($13.95 ea) and 3 Walker Stainless Steel band clamps ($8.95 ea), plus $9.95 handling. I wanted to be able to take the middle section of the exhaust loose, that's why I ordered the band clamps. I will be welding up everything else.

So far, I'm into this new system for a shade under $220, but I'll still have to hit up my boys at Arkansas Performance Exhaust (A.P.E.) to bend me up some 2.5" tails after I install the parts listed above.

[BossHogg69]

Also, it seems as though Flowtech has slightly changed the design of the Terminator mufflers, since the case on one is a little bigger than the other, as you can see in the pics above. The louvers on the inside are a little different on the bigger muffler as well. The smaller case muffler is the old design, which I currently have on my truck in the 2.25" version.

I hope the new bigger case and bigger louvers don't make it quieter!

[BossHogg69]

It's raining outside as I type this, but I'll take plenty of pics tomorrow when I cut out the old system and install this new stuff. Don't worry, I'll definitely be getting a sound clip to compare the sound of the old vs. new! I'm pretty curious to see how it sounds with slightly bigger pipe and an 'X' added in there.

[BossHogg69]

Well, it quit raining long enough for me to get started on this little project. First, I broke out the good 'ol DeWalt reciprocating saw and did away with the old system, but not before I took a few pics. I cut it off right behind the transmission crossmember, as this is where the X-pipe will go in, approximately 18" behind the passenger side header collector, and right after the bend of where the driver side pipe crosses over from under the tranny. i also included some pics of where the sway bar brackets interfered with the tailpipes I had before. When I originally chopped off the tailpipes, I took the tips and welded them onto the cut off pipe on the mufflers to get back the exhaust tone I lost from taking off the tailpipes.

[BossHogg69]

Here's the beginning of the new stuff. I mocked it up and marked the pipe, then took it all out so I could weld it without doing it under the truck. Slag and sparks falling in your face just isn't a good way to spend a Saturday! I installed the mufflers edgewise just like they were before, tucked up high as possible. I will get some more pics after I get the new tailpipes installed on Monday.

[thekevin]

Is your exhaust still ran out the back like in the video, I would like to see a picture of how that was setup. I like the angles of it, I have a dual out flowmaster with turndowns in front of my axle but I need to get the noise out from underneath the truck.

[BossHogg69]

It's run pretty similar now, I actually just welded the tips on today. Since I have the sway bar out back and went with a little larger pipe (2.5" now) they aren't turned down quite as steep as before, but close. I had the exhaust shop run the tailpipes and put the tips on, but they stuck out a little too far, so I cut them off and brought them up and in a little bit. I'll catch a video of how it sounds in the morning.

[BossHogg69]

thekevin - here's another pic from behind of how it was before. I used the exact same style tips, just a new set for 2.5" pipe. I don't have anypics from before of how the pipe kicked up and then turned down. I would've liked to have done it that way again, but the swaybar endlinks are right in the way now.

[thekevin]

That looks awesome, I am going to take these pictures to the muffler shop when my tips get here and tell him that is what I want.

[BossHogg69]

Too bad you live a little too far from here, my boys at Arkansas Performance Exhaust here in Sherwood can hook you up!

[BossHogg69]

Video/Sound clip for those who care...

To me, the tone has quite a bit more bass to it, and this setup doesn't 'rack back' on deceleration near as much as the smaller pipes w/o the X.

gmc pipes_0001.wmv - YouTube

[thekevin]

That sounds really good, I bought some 6.5" long 2.5" in and 3" out stainless tips, they should be here sometime this week. I just have a single in, dual out 50 series Flowmaster on mine with turndowns now. I will post a sound video of before and after the rest is put on. It doesn't sound as good as yours.

[BossHogg69]

Thanks Kevin - I bet yours will sound good once you get your tailpipes on. I like the 50 Series FM's, they are a good sounding muffler. Mine sounded like crap before I got the new tailpipes on - I was actually a little worried that I had made a mistake redoing my exhaust, since I really liked it before. I'm pretty sure you'll have a good sounding rig after it's all finished up. Don't forget to post up a video!!

[BossHogg69]

Well, this should add a little more rasp the exhaust note... So much for leaving the engine stock!

Comp LSR 265 for cathedral port heads, Comp 1 pc pushrods, Lunati Spring Kit
(it's just a baby torque cam, 215* @ .050, .604"/.610", 112* LSA)

Yank Truck Thruster 2600 Converter

I had to really be honest with myself and not go overboard with the cam & converter. This is a 5300# truck with me in it, not to mention the fact that I do use this truck for hauling junk iron, doing small roofing jobs and towing my 18' car hauler. I think this cam/converter will give me a nice bump in torque and have really good response.

[Diggerdan11]

Wow I search ebay all the time, and have never seen any headers for that cheap. I would buy some in a second if they were that cheap