I bought the stainless pacesetters in '05. Back then they didn't have the fancy names like "Jet Hot" or "Armor Coat" like they do now and you could either get stainless, black powdercoat or ceramic coated.
Not knowing if what was underneath their ceramic coat was stainless or just a regular carbon steel, I opted for the stainless and had a local shop coat them inside & out. Going on six years and they pretty much look as they did the day I put them on.

You cannot keep the cats in the stock location with ANY long tube header and if you use the pacesetter "off-road Y" I can't see any way to retain the cats at all. The Maggy would be your solution. I had a local muffler shop make me a "Y", about the same length of the Maggy, but mine isn't stainless and although a LOT better than the stock "Y", it's not quite as open as the Maggy.

Even though I've been welding since I was about 13, I removed my exhaust manifold, cut after the cats, installed the headers and then drove it down to the muffler shop to have them rebuild from the collector to where I cut. It would have been unrealistic for me to do it with the truck on the ground. All I had to do was cut and splice in extensions for the O2s when I got it home. Because I did most of the work, the shop only charged me $75 labor plus I think it was about $30 for the fabricated "Y".

If you want to play it safe, there are some CARB certified mids and shorties out there that would pass inspection in any state. Not the same gains as an LT, but still a lot better than the stock manifold...

 

I'm thinking of going with these - http://moesperformance.com/index.php...oducts_id=8978

this means the only other thing I need to buy would be http://www.autoanything.com/exhausts...A2680A0A0.aspx ?

Matt I was wondering how much you would want for the Y pipe since apparently autoanything is running them for about $27 with free shipping

 

I dunno. $20 shipped lol

 

ill probably bite the bullet on the headers when my rent goes through the first week of next month. If it's still available then ill hit ya up! From my research the jet-hot coating seems pretty solid. I've got Swain tech right up here and i've heard good things but it's more expensive and looks horrid haha. The jet hot coating should suit my needs. Moe's is even upgrading from the 1300 degree coating to 1700 for free

 

I've not heard any issues with the JetHot either. Like I said, back when I got mine, they didn't have any fancy names for the coating. I hadn't heard about any issues then either, but my like performance shop guru turned me on to the place they used and he claimed he measured a good bit less heat coming off of them during engine operation. It cost me about $125 more to order them and have them done locally than if I had ordered the coated ones.

 

If its 3" in and out then i will take it.

 

You ever measure the gains hammer? Those look nice. I feel like you can butt dyno a set of headers/y pipe

 

Nah, never been on a dyno. At one point I had a plan for the truck which got about 75% done and then I ran into some really bad family health issues, so the truck mods have been on hold for a while.

I actually had a cam custom ground that sat in my garage for over two years, but I recently sold it. The cam/springs/retainers/rods, custom tune & torque converter are what was left. I will probably do it all one day and if/when I do then I'll do a dyno...

 

Aye. Yeah cam and torque converter are definitely on my list along with gears but my pockets aren't quite deep enough yet. Ill be happy if I can push 300-350hp to the ground when im done.

QUOTE=HammerZ71;2389750]Nah, never been on a dyno. At one point I had a plan for the truck which got about 75% done and then I ran into some really bad family health issues, so the truck mods have been on hold for a while.

I actually had a cam custom ground that sat in my garage for over two years, but I recently sold it. The cam/springs/retainers/rods, custom tune & torque converter are what was left. I will probably do it all one day and if/when I do then I'll do a dyno...[/QUOTE]