New exhaust setup

Im going to be doing the whole exhaust in my 99 z and this is the setup Im thinking Im going to use. Pacesetter L/Ts, catted y-pipe, Flowmaster American thunder catback. If anyone has done this, or has any input, I would love it. I have a 5 month old daughter so cost is a concern, otherwise I would be doing SLP L/T's, and SLP everything else. SLP costs big money though. Also, I was told by my mechanic Pacesetters gaskets are basic crap, but not having doen this before, I dont know which gaskets to use. Suggestions?

Use the stock gaskets if they are in good shape. If not then buy some new stock replacements. I would skip the flowmaster catback unless you like the sound. It will flow better than stock but not by much. Look into hooker or magnaflow.

new gm header gaskets, and a hooker exhaust instead of the flowmaster.

Ok, so I picked up the headers yesterday, and dropped them at the "shop" (actually my brothers garage), and so I could be sure i was paying him fairly, I called around to see what kind of charges were involved with the install. One custom shop told me "Yeah, we've done a few of those in the past. They were a nightmare, thus we don't do them anymore.... but call when they're in and we'll do the rest of the exhaust for you" and another response was, "Headers on an LS1? Yeah, we do em, two grand flat, and if we brake manifold bolts, yer on yer own..." :umm:WHAT???? and then the mechanic I used for my 86 Camaro after my brother swore never to work on it again (having to do with ridiculous fit of parts vs. size of human hands) and he said "Ive done em, lotsa work involved there, last set took 10 hours, and thats a conservative estimate. That cost around 1600 (again :eeek:WHAT???) but we did it for 1200. For you figure 650. Could be more as theres all kinds of other things to do, when you do headers you have to heat wrap the starter, plugwires, and all the egr and electrical..." Needless to say, I had no idea what I was taking on.:brick: I orderd the y-pipe today after finding out that will bolt up to factory exhaust (temporarily) and so I could have the headers put in while my brother is doing the oil pan, timing cover, and valve cover gaskets. And i ordered the 30$ starter wrap. Do I really need to insulate all the electrical? I tried looking on here and no one has mentioned this yet.

i didnt wrap anything on mine, i dont even have the metal plug heat saving thingy ma bobers:) i thought about wrapping my headers tho to gain some power and keep it cooler under there. i also just use stock GM manifold gaskets, they are great but i would retighten them after you drive a hundred miles or so. and as said befor skip the flowmaster, they arent very good for our cars if you do the 80 series, i went with magnaflow. you should try to do it yourself it took me and a buddy around 5 hours to do mine ourselves. do you have a manual or auto?

Those guys you talked to are a bunch of ass hats. On a lift with air tools headers are pretty darn easy. I did mine on jackstands with hand tools. $2000 to install headers is some of the funniest shit I have ever heard. I wouldn't even pay that for a turbo install with full dyno tune. You don't have to heat wrap anything and you are best off with Magnaflow or Hooker for a catback. Flowbastard sucks.

My car's a 6m with short throw.

any header install should not be more than $250 bucks, and 2 hrs labor by skilled professionals...

go find yourself a performance shop that close to where you live...

$2000, that's a joke. also i pray to god you didnt buy SLP LT's...

250? 2 and a half hours on an LS1? Thats impressive. No shops around here even com close to that. Even the speed shop (they specialize in Vettes, Camaros, and Mustangs) said somewhere around four or five hours. I guess I live in the wrong state when it comes to this stuff. And no, SLP's were a bit pricey for my budget. I went with Pacesetters, and it look's like Ill be doin Magnafow for the exhaust, but that wont be until next month. Any suggestions for High Flow cats? I have to get emmissions done next year.

yep, RPM here in the DFW area installed my headers last fall for $250 and i waited just a tad over 2hrs...$200 for install and $50 for the retune...

they did my front lowering springs about 3 weeks ago for $150 and had my out in about 1.5-2hrs...

magnaflow also makes high flow cats. slp is way overpriced and imo not very good. i have heard you lose major ground clearance with slp. i like my ebay full stainless steel headers for 350 bucks. you could also look into GMMG for a catback, that would be sick!

Yeah, Im thinking GMMG is going to be the way to go, along with a pair of electric cutouts. On the GMMG setup, someone on here had posted the name of another company and he claimed they made the exhaust for GMMG. Any idea who that was, or what company he said made the exhaust? Ive been scouring the posts trying to find it again, but I cannot.... so I use this last option and ask for help. There is a gmmg set on Ebay right now for 500 w/ the oval tips. Im so tempted to grab it up, even if I have to wait to put em on. But if I can get the name of the company that makes em, they might be less expensive directly from the source.

wow, i installed my headers on jack stands in 3 hours, never done it before on an LS1 car, people over charge so much

sweet!!