I was in Cali before. The Cutlass is 1 of the cars they look extra close at when it pulls through. It's nearly impossible to do headers in cali. You have to do either the stock setup exactly, or the setup I went with. I've got flowmaster 40s from a y-pipe. It sounds really nice but it didnt result in a performance gain. I dont know where you're at but I got it at an exhaust shop in Concord off the 242. You should just go with the stock system and downpipe. If you have to go back to the smog station several times, that's you losing hundreds of dollars. If you arrive at the smog station with anything but single exhaust and manifolds they are going to look for excuses to disqualify you. Some smog stations do look for the EGR valve and if it's not there or doesn't work you are disqualified. Many headers systems make it virtually impossible to retain the working EGR so it's not that it cant be done but its adding a lot of unnecessary work for no reason; better to just arrive w stock single. Get plates, then do w/e you want afterward - not before..
Exhaust System for Olds 307 Vin 9
- Thread starter T.Wagner
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Headers do help but only maybe 25 HP with a good exhaust system. DoubleV $1000 headers are supposedly worth 40 HP over the performance BBO manifolds. The stock manifolds and crossover suck something awful but are necessary for you. I had the stock single exhaust with a glass pack on my 403 and it went flat after burning out of the line. I installed the Hooker cat back when it still had Aero chamber mufflers. I used a test pipe in place of the cat, it went noticeably faster. A high flow cat will be much better than the awful factory one. The manifolds, crossover and cat had to of cost a good chunk of power. Olds came good out of the gate in 83, their 5L HO had more power than the 5L in the Mustang or Camaro but Olds gave up after that.
Do you still have the AIR pump and all the assorted pipes/valves? I don't think they fit anymore if you add headers, though I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming they are gone since the car has headers. That's another decent chunk of money to replace that stuff. If you can find anyone that can still get it. Last time I checked, none of the items for the 307 Olds were available within the company I work for.
jiho said:DoubleV said:
The OP hasn't addressed this point. With headers and no cat, it seems likely whoever did that would also remove the smog pump, there being nothing to hook it up to.
If the computer was removed, but it still has the computer-controlled QJet and HEI, that could explain why it runs even worse than it should.
Then there's the EGR, the ThermAC air cleaner....
kustomkyle said:
I believe I still have the computer as I have all the sensors still hooked up and my check engine light comes on every now and again. As for the AIR pupmp (smog pump?) I am not sure. I was reading online that it has the cruise control on that? If so I believe I still have it in my car but I am not sure if it is hooked up or works. My mechanic will take a look at it today and let me know if I have what I need in there.
I have already lined up original manifolds, a crossover, and a downpipe but I'm worried that this will cost way more than I am thinking if I am missing the AIR pump...
An entire air pump setup isn't going to cost much since nobody wants em. Its locating an entire setup that's going to be difficult but even that shouldn't be too hard.
You should learn more about your car so you know what's going on. Don't ever rely on 'my mechanic' because so many are hacks ( I don't give a crap how great they tell you they are ) and even the good ones know squat about anything related to the CCC system, not to mention Olds in general.
You should learn more about your car so you know what's going on. Don't ever rely on 'my mechanic' because so many are hacks ( I don't give a crap how great they tell you they are ) and even the good ones know squat about anything related to the CCC system, not to mention Olds in general.
DoubleV said:
I try to research as much as I can to learn about it! There's just lots of information so it is hard to learn/find it all.
olds307 and 403 said:
It totally depends on the application. My ARH barely did anything on my weenie 350 vs manifolds utilizing the exact same exhaust system. With the right setup they would have worked much better.
Most of the people who are spouting out big HP and/or ET claims are almost never making a true A-B comparison. They add on headers AND a much better exhaust system and they tell you that the headers were responsible for everything. Either that or their engines are built up so much where headers are an obvious big power gainer over manifolds and then try and tell everybody and their brother that they'll see the same gains too, even those with stock weenie engines. Totally not true!
To be fair it was a BTR 496 and you are right, the whole exhaust makes a big difference. You could get the Walker Vin 9 replacement but use different mufflers. Either something like Aerochamber, Maximum flow, Magnflow or Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers.
Where exactly is the AIR system located on the '83 Cutlasses? I believe I may still have it on my car still. I bought it used but as I've done little repairs on my car I have noticed that whoever did the exhaust went to great lengths to keep all the sensors and stuff in tact. For example, welded to my exhaust where my cat should be is a tube that goes up to the left hand side of the engine compartment. Is this an AIR tube? I know that it is supposed to connect to the cat, so that was my thinking. If it would help I can take a few pictures of my engine compartment tonight for you guys to look around?
Thanks!
Thanks!
That is the AIR pipe to inject air into the cat during startup to keep emissions down.
There are also AIR tubes that connect to the heads that are used to inject air into the exhaust during startup during rich conditions.
When performing emissions make sure your car has been on for an hour and is nice and warmed up.
It also doesn't hurt to get on it a few times to get things flowing and help burn up deposits...
Take a few photos, I can tell you what you are missing.
There are also AIR tubes that connect to the heads that are used to inject air into the exhaust during startup during rich conditions.
When performing emissions make sure your car has been on for an hour and is nice and warmed up.
It also doesn't hurt to get on it a few times to get things flowing and help burn up deposits...
Take a few photos, I can tell you what you are missing.
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