Knock-Off Headers (Pace Setter, Autochrome, Chinese, eBay, etc.)

That sux :/

There's always medical testing if you want them bad enough

Well I finally caved and bought a set of SLP knock-off headers from ebay.

$222 shipped to me.

I guess we'll finally know if they fit on the riviera. I predict: shoddy build quality (p!$$ poor welds), much swearing during installation, clamps that don't actually seal if they are supplied at all and a 40% chance of missing parts. Lets see if they work $520 less well than the SLPs.

I am hoping underhood heat won't be an issue. 321 stainless radiates less heat than 409, but being uncoated I am crossing my fingers that I won't be frying spark plug wires.

I plan on removing the cat and editing out the DTC with the powrtuner.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Congrats. Maybe you'll be lucky and get what you've paid for. My guess is, they'll perform just as well as SLPs, question is how long? Are you thinking of getting them coated?

I doubt under-hood heat will be much worse than any other header. It's going to be hotter without the coating, even if the steel suggests it contains the heat better.

I still don't understand the fear of melting spark plug wires. If the jackets don't touch the header pipes, there's no problem. Headers give the wires a lot more room to live. I've never had a problem with mine.

In all honesty I can't imagine these being measurably different than the SLP's. I don't really care if they change colour or tarnish due to the heat, and being stainless, they aren't going to rust. The flanges are mild steel, so that would be the only problem area I would suspect. What is the flange made of on the SLP's?

My fear of melting plugs comes from the headers available on the LT1. A lot of people have fried wires on those. The difference between a ceramic coated and uncoated header is tremendous.

I'm not saying the 321 SS will rust, but I have to wonder what extreme temps will do to the steel from the inside. The inner coating is supposed to protect the steel from stress as well as contain the heat.

Read: http://www.viperclub.org/faq/techfaq.html#hedconcerns

(304 stainless has virtually the same properties as 321)

I received the headers! I was away on a survival course and had received an email from ebay saying the seller had their account suspended and that I should cancel any payments if they hadn't been received yet. I was pretty worried. But when I got back, my tenant had a box with headers in if for me.
The seller even listened to my request for USPS and didn't charge extra, even though it cost him 20$ more. That way I didn'T have to pay UPS' bogus brokerage fee. He also put down that the pipes were a commercial sample so I didn't have to pay taxes on the product.
I suppose his account was suspended for selling copyright infringing parts.

The headers look exactly like the ones that were shown on regalgs.org. The welds aren't spectacular at all. One of the primaries is made of 2 pieces, as is the cross-over pipe.

There is no 02 extension or clamps so I will have to order the slp installation kit.

Does anyone have problems with headers leaking? My brother hates headers because he says they usually leak, and he is the exhaust specialist dude......

Mine don't leak now, but it took a while to seal them up. The instructions make it seem like you can just clamp everything together, but all joints need welded except the x-over, which needs clamped very tight with high-temp silicone to seal.

Even when sealed, headers aren't going to be as quiet as the stock iron manifolds. Flex pipes tick, pipes resonate, and the noise just gets out because of the lighter, thinner steel used.

I've had good luck installing the stainless steel ebay knock-offs that were floating around on ebay a while back. 220$ shipped to me in Canada. An hour or so of grinding the crappy welds, an hour or so of adjusting the bolt holes, and they went in without a hitch, except that I broke 2 dremels and 2 drills (and countless drill bits) on them. I'm glad they were mastercraft tools which are guaranteed for life, but the clerk at the store was giving me the stink-eye...

I doubt the headers would be measurably worse than real slps.

I was going to say I haven't seen any for a while (because the sellers inevitably get shut down for copyright infringement) but there is a set on ebay right now! # 150204134247

If you can get this set for 200$, I say go for it. I'd hate to have to buy another set

http://www.ssautochrome.com/level.itml/icOid/1886


bomb deal........

users who sell these on ebay (including ssautochrome) lose their ebay privileges. I didn't know they still sold them on their website. When I was looking for them, ssautochrome said they were out of stock and didn't plan to get more.
Snatch them up if you can at $200

i know some local dude that has them and likes them alot........ after running 100 shot threw the engine they have a MINOR red glow they look sweet

If they're really really really that good I may not be able to resist . . .

I don't mind a little metal reshaping with the dremel. That's what I've got it for!

I have a set of these. The welds are crappy looking and they didn't come with any exhaust gaskets or clamps for the pipe joints. Oh, and the slices to let you clamp them down were cut wrong so you have to dremel them open a little with a cutoff wheel or you can't tighten the joints. After that it was okay. Total installation including the headers was about $350 after welding.

Overall I was not impressed with the craftsmanship but they do the job.

The slps do not come with exhaust gaskets or clamps either. You have to pay for them in the "installation kit" 90$.

To install these you will need
2 "mikalor" type exhaust clamps
1 set of exhaust manifold gaskets (available for around 10$ from napa, or reuse your stockers as the slp install kit supplies new gm parts)
1 02 extension (it is supplied with the ones in the auction I linked to)
ultra copper

the total cost, even with inflated Canadian prices on the exhaust manifold gaskets ($26) was about 1/3 of the price of the SLP install kit.

The welds are crappy looking but solid. Taking an hour to grind them all down is probably worth it. I was not impressed with the craftsmanship, but for 220 shipped to my door, I was impressed overall, especially considering they are made of 304 or 321 stainless.

oh yeah, I forgot about the O2 extension. It didn't come with mine either. I found one at caspers for $25 so I decided to make my own for $2.

here are some photos of my "new" exhaust setup. I had never put the photos up before.

SLP knock-off headers into a round magnaflow muffler. 3" all the way to the the muffler, where there is a 3-2.5" reducer followed by a hooker maxflow 2.5" muffler and slant-cut tailpipe. The 90 deg bends in the pipe are mandrel bends, but the deviation in the centre of the car is crush bent.

if anyone wants to host a small video file for a soundclip, let me know.






excuse the last one. I went to snap the pics in my garage and just noticed it was blurry. I'll get a better one up eventually.

Nice!

Post a sound clip man, I have a similar setup except mine is the stock 2 1/4 also i'm using a 3 in. maxflow. I wanna hear the difference running the ssauto headers so I know what to expect

soundclip

Mostly a boring idle clip, but I give it a little gas at 1.05.

I'm sure you'll notice the car didn't start too well. It's been sitting since November, so cut it some slack. It's -22 outside and you would sound crappy too if you were out there.

Nice. Thanks for the pics!

Is that the clamp in question shown in the first pic?

Jason wrote:

soundclip

Mostly a boring idle clip, but I give it a little gas at 1.05.

I'm sure you'll notice the car didn't start too well. It's been sitting since November, so cut it some slack. It's -22 outside and you would sound crappy too if you were out there.

Looks good Jason, the headers are sooo tempting...

BTW, it was +40 F in Fargo today, and I had a lake in the street until the storm drain melted thru. I love spring thaw. Supposed to rain tonight.

RhinoFLA wrote:

Is that the clamp in question shown in the first pic?

Yes, you'll need to buy two torca or Mikalor (brand name) clamps for the crossover

http://www.thrashercharged.com/store_htm/exhaust_headers.shtm

at the bottom is says it fits the riviera, ive heard just the slp's fit for sure