best header for ecotec?
 

what is the best, most reliable header available for the 2.2?
my budget would be about $250. i need something that will bolt up directly to the car, and to the stock cat or what ever because i have no welder and i can not get an aftermarket cat.

future plans are supercharging, so im guessing a header will also help that when it comes.
i have heard pace setter rotting out in a year, tsudo being leaky and un-reliable and so on..

If you only wanna pay 250 for a header pacesetter rotting would seem better than what your going to get

There isn't anything that will bolt up to the stock cat as far as I know. Armorcoat Pacesetter for the 2.2 L61 or 2.0 LSJ (Cobalt SS Supercharged) is your best option but you'll need to have the downpipe welded to your exhaust. If you do that, I'd recommend cutting off the flange and getting a v-band and flex pipe welded on at the same time but that would put you over your budget. I'd recommend saving some money, getting the painted pacesetter, modifying the downpipe and getting it coated yourself if you want longevity out of it. The armorcoat one will not rot, mine's been fine for over 5 years, the coating on the flange has peeled of and it's got some surface rust there but the rest is holding up fine.

does that bolt right up to the stock cat back?

I still have my header laying around. I made a couple posts when I was getting close to having my exhaust done and from what I heard it would be fine but getting a new gasket was recamended. apparently the pacesetter ones have a bad rep. the painted ones are fine as long as you do some work yourself instead of just pulling them out of the package and putting them on. I was going to paint mine with my leftover caliper paint to protect it and color match with the rest of the car, but never got around to any of that. :lol:

You can coat the header with Caliper paint? Is this the same as Engine Enamel? And what is the Armor Coat? is this just a silver/metallic Enamel? if this is the case it makes much sense to just but the black header and coat it yourself.. right?

Yes. caliper paint is just like about any other high heat paint, and its good stuff. mine have the black coating on them that pretty much comes right off once they get heated up. if left like that they'll rust rather quickly. thus, I was going to sand that crap off and paint them before installing.

So right out the box you would have to sand the new header down first before coating them with any high heat paint? Or can you just coat it? if its brand new..

Id use header paint, caliper paint is only like 500 degree resistant.... Header paint is like 2000-2500 degree resistant.

Dont listen to papa, he drives a mustang. ;)

So sand first or no?

Oh sorry, i would yeah..

Well lookie here. The solution to you problem lies in this thread here....

http://www.aleromod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37160