Cascade Crew

[Demon]

basically taking the task on alone, with a jack and some 6 ton jack stands...

should prove to be fairly interesting, but it should make my GMMG sound like something straight from hell...

only bad thing is, installing headers on an LS1 car is a bitch compared to a truck or 3rdgen (or even LT1 4thgen)

my list of things included with the install
Stainless Long Tubes (no emissions)
Stainless Off Road Y (no cats)
O2 Extensions (being cheap, don't want the corvette O2's yet)
MLS Gaskets
Stage 8 locking bolts
bunch of stainless strappy things
12 ice cold messican beers (Negra Modelo)
Jack/Jack Stands
NGK TR55 Plugs

its going to take me forever

[Schultzy89GTA]

Go get 'em duder!

You should get sound clips before and after

-Schultzy

[Demon]

[Schultzy89GTA]

Good luck on the install Aaron.

-Schultzy

[Demon]

O2's, stock Y, and stock cats are off, plugs and manifolds are next, and the car got its first sacrifice... my left pinky finger has a bruise the size of the O on the O key for a keyboard... under the nail

getting the manifolds off should be cake vs. the cats/y pipe... back out into the heat (stupid texas)

[blue89]

how do the long pipes sound different than the shorties?

btw, the gear you purchased looks niace.

[Demon]

long tubes generally sound better, and make more power as well... i think most shorty headers are 1 5/8" but I've seen smaller... the LT's are 1 3/4"

I've started feeling pretty bad, dizzy and whatever, not sure if I need to eat or if its the heat... but the car got its second sacrifice... a bigass chunk of my left pinky nail .. as if the bruise under the nail wasn't bad enough, i made it worse by shredding my stupid nail off on the outside

[Demon]

so... it was quite the interesting task by myself...

took me a lot longer than expected, and I have a few slight leaks but it's mostly due to the smaller strap clamp not being wide enough for the Y pipe/Intermediate pipe connection ... and, possibly a miss or two, since i fucked up two of my stupid plug wires...

Sacrifices:
Left Pinky ~ O sized bruise dead center in the nail
Left Pinky ~ Large chunk of missing fingernail (35 minutes after the bruise)
Many large and small cuts, bruises and otherwise on both arms and neck.

My entire body is sore from the waist up, being on your back and having a car up in the air on 4 jack stands makes things a lot more of a workout than if I were to have done it on a lift ... not to mention way more time consuming.

the old stock Y pipe, manifolds and cats came off fairly easilly, had a bit more of a challenge getting the drivers side off as it was hanging up on the O2 sensor and I didn't realize it at the time...

putting the headers back up was a breeze, I've always heard bad things about doing LT installs with many big name brands such as Kooks, QTP, SLP (which I have avoided like the plague) and Pacesetters (being the only non-stainless steel header of the bunch, thus much cheaper) about people having to trim off a strip of the K-Member, or having to trim a casting tab on the engine block itself... thankfully, I had to do neither of those, and they slipped right in without much of a hassle. Not bad for a fairly unknown brand with some good quality stainless steel ... they've only been around maybe a year now, starting off much like Pacesetter did on eBay... but considering their stainless headers/y pipe setups run for half of what QTP or Kooks want for their stainless headers/y pipes, I think they've got something good going for them.

Some creative work with the jack under the car keeping the headers up helped me align the headers fairly quickly and got the gaskets seated without any problems (Percy's Seal 4 Good MLS gaskets kick ass), something to make it easier, but much more costly, would have been ARP header studs.

The Y-pipe, which isn't too fantastic of a design but better than most, took some work to get adjusted right, and in the end, I couldn't get the intermediate and the Y to match up without some help, so I called and begged a friend to help unbolt the catback so I could position the two together and get them as close together as I could. The length of the Y caused my tips to stick out slightly further than before, but it doesn't bother me much, thats an easy enough adjustment. 3 strap clamps for the headers/y connection and one to keep a second part of the Y together worked quite well, though I do have a slight banging from the Y at lower RPM's as it rests maybe half an inch from the floor board... time to stick a heater hose on the thing until I do my k-member/motor mounts swap later on.

The spark plugs?
I don't want to ever hear anyone complain about changing spark plugs on any car ever again... on an LS1 F-Body, it's damn near more time consuming than doing the plugs on an TT 300ZX ... the rear two passenger side plugs are easier to get from under the car than up top... makes that job a bitch and a half... not to mention trying to get the plug wires on (short as they may be)

Well, that's my install story... I'll post a new sound clip thread in the morning... you'll notice that I'm in dire need of tightening up a few things and getting some new plug wires... but what you'll probably think most is "Damn, that thing needs to be tuned" ...

My next install actually comes for Thursday as well... ported throttle body and a quick spray down of my MAF ... should prove to be interesting as well.

So, until the AM, that's my long BS... if you've actually read it, well, I'll be surprised.
If not...

here's the cliff's notes:
Installing LT's on an LS1 4thgen isn't too difficult, you spend more time doing the plugs than anything else.
I suggest never doing LT's on these cars without a lift.
it sucks.
and it's painful.
I love stainless steel
the reason it's taken me so long to post is because my internet just came back up this afternoon stupid internets

[Schultzy89GTA]

Any good car project requires a blood sacrifice.

Glad you got 'r' did

-Schultzy

[Demon]