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Engine & DrivetrainDiscussions about the engine and drivetrain of your vehicle.
This is a discussion thread titled "SSAutochrome Headers Installed - Great!!", within the Engine & Drivetrain forum, part of the Technical & Vehicle Assistance Forums category.
Just treceived the SS Autochrome Y pipe today and it is 304 stainless like the headers, once again it appears to be very good quality. One confusing issue is that they web site says bolt in construction but the old Y pipe is welded to the cat???
As far as working with you duals, Hov do you have true duals or a cat with dual outlests? I'm running the headers with the side exit dual Borla and it works great.
On another note, SS insists their O2 sensoe location is the EXACT same as JBA and TRD according to their professional installer. I've sent close up pictures of the JBA's so they can see what I'm talking about. I hope to hear back soon and I'll post the conversation.
Agreed! The two flanges bolt to the cat pipes and then where the Y is there is open pipe that looks like it is meant to be a slip joint at the third cat? Problem is on the stock exhaust where the Y comes together, that is what is welded at the third cat?
I'm not sure which questions I'm supposed to try answering but here goes: Yes, 1/2" flanges would be an advantage because they should be less likely to warp or leak. This is providing that the SS headers have a raised area around the ports on the head side like the JBA's (not sure that they do). I haven't seen their Y pipe but it's possible that it's bolt in if it eliminates the 3rd cat or resonator. In that case the muffler would clamp directly to the end of it. Otherwise perhaps you cut off the old Y pipe at the 3rd cat area and attach it with a clamp? I'm just taking a guess here. I don't think I would put mild steel headers on anything for street use since they would rust out pretty fast. This might be especially true where they put chemicals on the roads. I don't know if this would get up onto the headers or not but it could if you were driving in heavy slush, etc. I guess the coating helps in this area though. As far as the O2 sensor location, the description I've heard given sounds like they are in the same place as on the JBA headers. I have JBA's and the driver side unit points almost straight down and the wire is a tight fit. The passenger side unit points almost straight in toward the back of the engine block. There is probably just barely room to remove it. I put mine in the headers before installing them.
Bob
__________________ ADDING POWER HAS NEVER BEEN SO FAST!
Figured I would tell you guys that my headers came in today. I got the SS Autochrome Intake yesterday and put it on last night. Then I got home from work today and the headers were waiting at my doorstep. Glorious!!!! I can't speak highly enough about the service from SS Autochrome. The guy charged me less than $20.00 to ship the headers, and they got here in three days. Not only that but it was a Saturday Delivery. I have the day off tomorrow so I will probably be installing them then. I like the intake so far and can't wait to get the headers on. I will keep you all posted.
Agreed! The two flanges bolt to the cat pipes and then where the Y is there is open pipe that looks like it is meant to be a slip joint at the third cat? Problem is on the stock exhaust where the Y comes together, that is what is welded at the third cat?
Thanks for the help,
bomber
Bomber,
I checked the S&S Autochrome y-pipe pic out and it looks like my JBA y/p that I just installed. The pipe right before the 3rd cat was cut and they welded the pipe to the opening on the y/p. Check it out...
Thanks Jack. I was sure there was some welding to do and you pictorial explains that. If I just had a welder. Oh well, shouldn't be too bad at the local muffler shop.
Originally posted by bomber Thanks Jack. I was sure there was some welding to do and you pictorial explains that. If I just had a welder. Oh well, shouldn't be too bad at the local muffler shop.
ciao,
bomber
No Worries..!!!
I paid $35.00 + a $5.00 tip for the install. It took about 25 minutes total for the install. JB
I have been thinking about gettting headers for some time but they always were a little out of my current price range. When I saw the SS AutoChrome headers I thought they were too good to be true. Are you guys still happy with them? Overall it sounds like they are a good buy but they don't give you the extra performance in the right rpm range, is this right? Does anyway have any numbers yet of hp difference? Thanks for the input.
For what they headers are meant to do at the price they are offered, they exceed expectations. The build and material quality are top notch, the welds look great and performance is predictable for a short tube header and they are inexpensive. If you are looking more for top speed perfromance than they will satiate that desire. If you are looking for more 'pulling power' than you will not realize a big difference from the stock exhaust manifolds. Like I said previously, the jury is still out and will remain out because of different performance needs for different people. I'm very interested in the long tube S&S headers that will give a much better lower end power but I'm concerned about high end also. For me, towing an occasional boat or trailer, I'd like to see something in low/mid to mid/upper range.
bomber,
Have you actually towed with your new headers yet?
I know we are just talking seat of the pants here but my "results" are quite different...
I just pulled my 3500lbs boat last night and what a difference... Before headers, from a stop light the truck was VERY slugish until about 2900 rpm and then it would take off. Made for nice easy starts but it felt like the truck was working really hard to get things going and I would have to watch the throttle modulation in order to keep the acceleration smooth.
After the headers, The power curve is much smoother and the slow hard working start is gone! I can ease into the throttle and off it goes. It no longer feels like its working hard to get things moving from a dead stop.
Just another observation...
One other thought, I think my stock manifolds where cracked so maybe some of the improvement i am seeing can be attributed to a reduced performance baseline.
Yep, took the boat out last Saturday morning. I agree that when you hit the peddle a little harder on takeoff (not flooring it), there seems to be a little more there and it's not working as hard but not a huge difference and, of course, nothing was measured to substantiate any claims. BUT, the performance increase is no where near what happens at about 3K RPM.
Just to clarify, I think the SS Autochrome headers are a fantastic buy for the audience they are intended for. That is the majority of the folks that are looking for a reliable, good looking, easy to install, inexpensive increase in performance. They accomplish that goal in spades and I'm not disappointed that I purchased or installed them. I just want to be clear with the folks that are thinking about purchasing them that they need to "seat of the pants" know what they are buying and getting versus expectations. They are a mid to high RPM performer.
When i re-read the dyno comment I can see the offense - sorry about that...
What i ment was that it would be nice to have a published dyno from SSautochrome so we could all quit guessing!!!
I noticed that you have the borla cat back... I am sure this is why you noticed the top end more than i have. since i have a stock exhaust i have not noticed much increase on the top end.
As we all know its no one single part that affects perfomance but the combination that makes all the difference...
So my conclusion would be....
headers & free flowing exhaust = little bet
Otherwise they should work great. Note that the headers are stainless and have 1/2" thick flanges.
Check out these pics...
