Headers

[Zulu28]

Long tube header review. 2014 Z/28 50K miles, all highway. All of my previous cars (2001, 2003, 2005, 2008 Corvettes) had headers. All were LG except for the 2008 Z06 which were Melrose Monster-Flow. All of Lou's products are top-notch so I went with them again for this car. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!

Pay the X-tra $ and get the ARH. LG really dropped the ball on these. The passenger side goes on with out any problem but the driver side does not fit without hitting the oil cooler. I ended up taking a hammer to the down tube in order to make it fit. I mean; the thing would not even bolt up until this was done. The rubber boot on the steering shaft hits the header. So far, it has not caught fire or melted but it is in direct contact. For performance; of course I threw a code even though I went with the hi-flo cats. Before tune, I lost torque down low but picked up HP on the top of the RPM band. A tune is imperative with long tubes on these cars. After the tune (done by DBR in Spring Hill) regained the low-rpm torque and gained HP throughout the RPM band. Hindsight; I would do it again but go with ARH. They just fit. Did not have any pre-header or post-header dyno done but I can tell a noticeable difference in the car.

[O.F.]

Good info. Any word from LG?

[Zulu28]

Actually talked to Anthony at LG and he said they were probably not going to continue to sell that product for the 2014/2015 Z/28 since they had other customers with the same issues. Unfortunate as the merge collector and fire-cone are very effective.

I did the LG's on my 2008 Z06 in a little over 2 hours but these took > 6 hours with all the problems. Also; the step-down pipe does not fit if you are looking to use the OEM mufflers. I had to fab up some stock 3 inch pipe and bend it to fit. Pain in the a$$ for $1600.00

[bowtieman_racin]

Thanks for the post. I've been looking to get headers. I thought ARH and Kooks were the only companies that makes headers for the Z. Not sure if either of them are better than the other.

[hjdca]

Originally Posted by Zulu28

Long tube header review. 2014 Z/28 50K miles, all highway. All of my previous cars (2001, 2003, 2005, 2008 Corvettes) had headers. All were LG except for the 2008 Z06 which were Melrose Monster-Flow. All of Lou's products are top-notch so I went with them again for this car. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!

Pay the X-tra $ and get the ARH. LG really dropped the ball on these. The passenger side goes on with out any problem but the driver side does not fit without hitting the oil cooler. I ended up taking a hammer to the down tube in order to make it fit. I mean; the thing would not even bolt up until this was done. The rubber boot on the steering shaft hits the header. So far, it has not caught fire or melted but it is in direct contact. For performance; of course I threw a code even though I went with the hi-flo cats. Before tune, I lost torque down low but picked up HP on the top of the RPM band. A tune is imperative with long tubes on these cars. After the tune (done by DBR in Spring Hill) regained the low-rpm torque and gained HP throughout the RPM band. Hindsight; I would do it again but go with ARH. They just fit. Did not have any pre-header or post-header dyno done but I can tell a noticeable difference in the car.

Are all the long tube headers lower than the bottom of the car ? ie. more chance of scraping on speed bumps ?

[Stephen12ZL1]

Originally Posted by Zulu28

Long tube header review. 2014 Z/28 50K miles, all highway. All of my previous cars (2001, 2003, 2005, 2008 Corvettes) had headers. All were LG except for the 2008 Z06 which were Melrose Monster-Flow. All of Lou's products are top-notch so I went with them again for this car. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!

Pay the X-tra $ and get the ARH. LG really dropped the ball on these. The passenger side goes on with out any problem but the driver side does not fit without hitting the oil cooler. I ended up taking a hammer to the down tube in order to make it fit. I mean; the thing would not even bolt up until this was done. The rubber boot on the steering shaft hits the header. So far, it has not caught fire or melted but it is in direct contact. For performance; of course I threw a code even though I went with the hi-flo cats. Before tune, I lost torque down low but picked up HP on the top of the RPM band. A tune is imperative with long tubes on these cars. After the tune (done by DBR in Spring Hill) regained the low-rpm torque and gained HP throughout the RPM band. Hindsight; I would do it again but go with ARH. They just fit. Did not have any pre-header or post-header dyno done but I can tell a noticeable difference in the car.

The driver's side header is a PITA even with ARH which I have. I had to unbolt the oil cooler and associated coolant lines then place the header in position. The steering shaft clearance is excellent with ARH.

[D2M]

Originally Posted by Zulu28

Long tube header review. 2014 Z/28 50K miles, all highway. All of my previous cars (2001, 2003, 2005, 2008 Corvettes) had headers. All were LG except for the 2008 Z06 which were Melrose Monster-Flow. All of Lou's products are top-notch so I went with them again for this car. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!

Pay the X-tra $ and get the ARH. LG really dropped the ball on these. The passenger side goes on with out any problem but the driver side does not fit without hitting the oil cooler. I ended up taking a hammer to the down tube in order to make it fit. I mean; the thing would not even bolt up until this was done. The rubber boot on the steering shaft hits the header. So far, it has not caught fire or melted but it is in direct contact. For performance; of course I threw a code even though I went with the hi-flo cats. Before tune, I lost torque down low but picked up HP on the top of the RPM band. A tune is imperative with long tubes on these cars. After the tune (done by DBR in Spring Hill) regained the low-rpm torque and gained HP throughout the RPM band. Hindsight; I would do it again but go with ARH. They just fit. Did not have any pre-header or post-header dyno done but I can tell a noticeable difference in the car.

I am surprised to hear about the low end torque loss. I have ARH with cats and that's where most of the gain was felt, right off idle through the mid range to about 6500 / 6600 RPM. I was shocked at how much torque at low RMP it had gained as I was prepared for a loss not a gain. I have no tune and no plans for one.

[D2M]

I did some research before purchasing the ARH and was also considering LG but it did not look like they had a Z/28 specific fitment header. I believe its a ZL1 header that they are hoping will fit a Z/28. My first choice was Kooks but they were on eternal backorder. ARH is about 2 hours drive from my house so I got them next day. The ARH are decent but the gaskets are shit and I used MLS OEM gaskets and Ebay O² sensor extenders to keep the CEL off.

[Stephen12ZL1]

Originally Posted by D2M

I am surprised to hear about the low end torque loss. I have ARH with cats and that's where most of the gain was felt, right off idle through the mid range to about 6500 / 6600 RPM. I was shocked at how much torque at low RMP it had gained as I was prepared for a loss not a gain. I have no tune and no plans for one.

the low end torque is definitely improved which surprised me as well. In my ZL1, it seemed like the low end torque with headers was less. No tune for me either.

[Zulu28]

Without before/after dyno #'s it is academic. I FELT like I lost torque but gained HP. On the LS7 in my Z06 I did not have the same sensation. The tune restored the torque at any rate...

[StormTrooperZ28]

I just put my ARH Longtube headers on my 2015 Z28 and they went in with ease, they fit the car perfectly and only took me 2 hours. I did the LT and the Catted Xpipe kit from them. The passenger side goes in without having to remove anything, the drivers side I had to remove the steering shaft from the steering rack but that was very easy. Also don't waste your time taking out the spark plugs or taking apart the stock manifold and cats. This is my second set of headers from them and they are the best in quality and fit and finish by far. My other set is on my 2009 C6 Z06. If anyone wants to do headers I would highly recommend them.

[oakaro68]

anyone tracking their cars with headers but WITHOUT a tune? wondering if air to fuel ratio stays where it's safe.

[Stephen12ZL1]

Originally Posted by oakaro68

anyone tracking their cars with headers but WITHOUT a tune? wondering if air to fuel ratio stays where it's safe.

D2M tracks his car frequently with no tune and headers. I plan to do the same as the PCM can adjust fueling for exhaust only changes. The commanded AFR is the same as stock and the PCM will adjust fueling accordingly to ensure the car isn't lean or rich. I tuned out the rear 02 sensors and cat over temp but left the MAF values alone. The 1-4 skipshift was also tuned out. I need to adjust the "fan on" temps with the a/c off as I forgot to make this adjustment.

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

I run Kooks in 1 7/8 size with high flow cats, no tune no light in the dash, track it all the time and car runs hard.