Exhaust and mail order tune
 

So I am forced to install my headers because my passenger side spark plug wires would not come off, I got all of them off except 6 and 8 eventually my dad got 6 off but due to lack of room and leverage about 5 people could not get it off.

I did some research and some people are having to jack up the motor to install the passenger side and some people are just going from the bottom with out jacking the motor up, which one is more likely with pacesetters?

What 02 sensors do I need? I heard corvette 02s have a longer wire? Which year should I ask for?

What diameter is the stock catback? I wanted to run ory to cut out to factory catback, which reducers do I need?

Finally i need to tune out my cat, rear 02 and erg and air what mail order tune options are there besides frost and pcmforless? I don't want to drive the car with out a tune.

I had to jack up the driverside of the motor to get those headers in. I also did poly motor mounts at the same time to help with clearance of the ORY once installed.

You dont need new O2 sensors, just extensions for the wiring harness. Plug and play wire extensions add 12" to the harness. You could also cut and splice the wires yourself if you feel comfortable soldering.

You can run the headers and ORY without a tune with no issue...I did it for 2 years and only a dash light stays on for the emissions. A tune will help with power gains but its up to you if its worth the money.

a mail order tune is a waste of money when you have so many tuners around you...

You ran with out 02 sims as well? After you jack the motor up did you get them in from the top or bottom?

They go in from the bottom. I ran O2 sims for the rears only to get rid of the ses light. I also agree that a mail order would be a waste when you can have it tuned correctly by one of the sponsors.

I agree there is alteast 6 tunners within an hour. mail order tunes get you in the ball park

Mail order tunes are only good for vehicles that no one likes to tune or to just make a small change quickly that is for something other than performance.
For anything performance or efficiency wise, you want a real in-person tune.

Also there is no "tuning out the cat", basically when you adjust the settings for the rear O2s, shutting then off and not having then throw codes etc, that is what makes the need for a cat no longer exist.

You can buy HP tuners to make the CEL adjustments, and to turn off the egr and A.I.R systems but then youd still want to go to a tuner to have everything else adjusted. Most tuners may even use your credits for HP(if they tune with HP) and cut you a slight discount cause it saves them a little money. Plus once you own HP, you can check trouble codes and make small changes down the line.

if you don't feel like jacking the motor up or grinding the tab off of the block you can just tap the drivers side firewall with a hammer so the flange clears, I installed pacesetters on a friends car and that was the easiest way to get it in, passenger side was no problem

I've read it's a bad idea to use solder on o2 sensor wires on the sensor side, the dissimilar metals can cause voltage issues and give weird readings plus the stainless/chrome/nickel plated whatever they're made out of is pretty much impossible to solder to

both Y pipes I had fit into my magnaflow fine, and my stock Y pipe fit into the magnaflow also, so I would think most Y pipes would fit into the stock catback without any problems

you'll be 100% fine driving it without a tune, just wait a few weeks and take it to a shop. buying hptuners is a good idea for the long run if you feel like making other changes and are willing to do tons of research and reading and learn what you're doing, but for just tuning out codes I think it's overkill. you could just buy a used diablo handheld if that's all you ever want to do with it.

Yeah I don't plan on buying hp tuners.. I didn't want performance gains I wanted to eliminate the codes and get rid of cags. What did you guys end up doing with the plug that went to air? Zip tie it? Unfortunately I won't be working on it today but ill try the hammer of the firewall.

Do you guys reuse the metal shields on the plugs? With or with out the springs?

Not the best advice....

I would suggest getting new O2 sensors. If the old ones need to be hit hard to remove them because they are rusted in place or stuck, it will be a short matter of time before they go bad. But, if you're putting in new headers, you are better off using the old O2's to run the engine and burn off any coating that might contaminate the O2's. I forget which O2's I ran but they had longer wires with the correct plug so it helps eliminate the need for O2 extensions. I can't remember if I went from the top or bottom to install the passenger header. I had emission's headers so they have some extra clearance issues getting them in. They were still easier than installing the LT1 emission's headers.

Not to be smart, but if you don't want performance gains why install headers, and off road y-pipe and cutouts? I think a tune us necessary if you make that big a change. Maybe I'm reading that wrong.

I'd leave the heat shields since GM thought they were necessary. But I defer to the LS specialists on that.

best? nope

did it work? yes

just giving another option if he has limited tools at his disposal as I did at the time

I'm not looking for performance gains on this tune because I am getting dyno tuned at ssp when I add an ls6. I was under the impression you NEED to run 02 sims or tune the rear 02s out...

Without cats with sims or the rear 02 codes not deleted youll just have a CEL... no performance issues at all.

Finally gonna work on it today, JW. What the hell is an oil diverter. I've been reading up on tech and it said to remove it. I'm praying I don't have to undo the steering as well.

The exhaust tip inlet isn't 2.25 is it?

right above the oil filter there's a small plate that's held on by 2 bolts, (I believe 10mm) that will probably get in the way, you'll see it when you try to put the driver's side in

My god damn jack broke.. This sucks. I got no work done!!!!! Hopefully I can borrow a jack or pick up a new one, fix the old one and unload that.

Damn I have never ran into all these obstacles installing long tubes. Good luck.
I think I removed the coil bracket to save my forearm. Just a FYI.

Go to Lowe's. They are clearing out their jackstand/3 ton floor jack combos. I got a $130-$140 kit for $90.

I think I ended up removing the oil filter to get the driver's side in easier. The driver's side header was real close to the A-arm, I think they were the old LPP Stainless headers and I ended up clearancing the A-arm with a file so the header wouldn't hit when the engine rotated. I wished I had done the motor mounts and that is something you definitely want to do.

hahah oh man, I did motor mounts a few weeks ago

I read and read how awful it was and couldn't believe it would be nearly that bad at all, but it ended up taking me like 6 hours

Yeah. I wanted to do motor mounts but I need to have the car done by Sunday night so I can take the risk. Luckily in the very near future I will be swapping doing a k member/motor/forced induction dd build..

This day is going no where. What size is the motor mount bolts? Nothing I have is working! Edit Driverside is a bitch. Can I just cut the wire for the rear 02 ? If I trace it back to the clip do I still need to remove it?

Don't cut the O2 wires, get extensions. Once you mess up the wiring to the sensors it could lead to bigger problems.