yeah, i know headers are supposed to be better than downpipe and plog. ive read all about it now. since the good headers are out of the budget i'm stuck on what to do. i'm scared of the sd and ssac headers. they look cool in the car. no doubt. but not knowing how they are going to install is bothering me. i can do bolt on, but i don't want to be cutting and welding and bending for something that doesn't fit right, or pounding in firewalls. i will have to pay someone else to do that stuff. and buying different clamps the hidden costs go up. plus, i want (need, depending on what you read) to have a cat. so that is going to drive the cost up too. and it seems that there is no way to know what you are going to have to do and how it's all going to fit until you start actually doing it ( i can't figure this out, really. seems if you are going to sell something for a mass produced car it should fit with no issues).
the plog and dp is easy. and i'm not planning on running anything lower than 3.4 ever so i don't know if headers are really going to be worth the hassle.
which leads to two other questions...on zzp they say that anything 01-03 must run the 3.5 pulley in the same circumstance that a 97-00 would run a 3.4. i've never come across that on gpf so i'm wondering why and if any 01-03 people run the 3.4 with the standard mods to get you there.
and....i was going to order their pcm and am wondering if that tune is done with specific mods in mind or if the tune is flexible depending on what you want to do. its 130 bucks. that would be good if i could find a tuner in kc area that could do that for around the same price but i'm guessing i'm going to be hitting 300+ for that.
i'm looking at spending around 700 total. plog, dp, pcm, 3.5 pulley, belt, snout seal, and renting a puller is looking to be around 550 (if I remember right). but i can do all the work myself this way and i'm more confident it will fit right. i have some other odds and ends to do, like make cai and maintenance stuff.
p.s. the downpipe, i'm thinking 2.5, not 3", since there is no other point in they system that is 3"-- is my thinking correct? also got two conflicting messages about the effects on the zzp tune for the transmission. one side says it will be better for its life and the other says it will be worse because of firmer shifts (max pressure, if i remember something like that).
i'm not going to be dragging the car or wot a lot (maybe more than i normally would, though).
sd are 240 on website now, no shipping. ssac are 175+50 shipping.
