GHL headers worth it?

930Chas · 930Chas's Garage

Are GHL headers worth the price? I have read that they are lighter weight and will add power, which of course we all want, right? By the way, they would be for a 911 turbo. Just wondering what your experiences are with them. Thanks for any replys.

lukeh · lukeh's Garage

I went with B&B but either will give you an extra 35-45 hp, but more importantly, either will also reduce turbo lag.

john walker's workshop · 12:37 PM

when you bolt on the turbo, and hang the muffler on, you will notice the right end of the muffler is 2" or more, lower than the left end, unless they fixed their jigs. they claim the jig is fine, but others have posted the same complaint. search the archives for "GHL" for the hell of it.

carnut169 · carnut169's Garage

I am not sure if this will help you, but I purchased a cat test pipe from GHL and although it did not work for me the build quality was 1st rate. Very nice welds, etc. I understand that exhaust modifications on a 930 can result in huge hp gains. Good luck.

expat · 06-19-2002, 06:53 AM

Geez.....I'm so bloody dyslexic for the last 15 minutes I went looking for GHL jpegs (pictures) of their muffler setup with a 2" difference from left to right.........ohhhhhh......jigs

Cheers
Mark

79930 · 06-19-2002, 07:29 AM

I purchased the headers and exhaust system from GHL. They are nice units, but they were not very easy to install and offered no help via email or phone. I was instructed that these unit are to be installed by a qualified mechanic and the questions I had were simple and any shop could handle. This comment made me very mad

, I am not unfamiliar with a wrench and have rebuilt a couple of cars, but they offered no assistance. If you are installing this yourself don't look to them for any help. I would be happy to assist you with any problems you may have.

Kevin

_______

79 930
53 MGTD
84 CJ-7

BlkBird · 06-19-2002, 10:32 AM

Let me know if you want to buy a muffler. I got seriously screwed in the middle of a cat fight between the shop which did the installation of my GHL header/muffler, and Windward Performance.

To make a long painful story short, the GHL header/muffler system works wonderfully, but anyone who tells you it is easy to install should be tarred and feathered.

The shop couldn't get the muffler to fit right. Windward sent a second muffler which turned out to be identical to the first. The shop found this out by installing the 2nd unit (remove 1st, install 2nd at $70/hour) and then decided to use heat and a damned big prybar to modify to fit. In the end the muffler works very well, but Windward claims the shop should have worked on the 1st unit (off with the 2nd, back on with the 1st, all at $70/hour) and they now refuse to accept return of unit #1 claiming it is used.

Which it is. All of ten miles on the 1st while waiting for Windward to ship the 2nd muffler. Did I mention Windward forgot they had committed to sending a 2nd muffler? Had to wait a week for the replacement, call three times to remind Windward and they ***** about ten miles on the 1st muffler.

Both companies agree it is not my fault. Both companies blame the other. So Windward went ahead and billed my credit card for a second muffler, which they said would not do. They later told me it wasn't my fault (again) but somebody had to pay. Fill in your appropriate four letter adjective describing their business practice. Now neither firm will get my business. Pretty dumb of Windward too since I was looking at the K27 turbo, but now will go elsewhere.

Its a great muffler. So great, I have two of the damned things. Let me know if you want one.

chuckr · 06-19-2002, 04:39 PM

I keep hearing these problems with GHL and the fit.Is this just a muffler... or.. is it with the header/exhaust system ?
I have installed the header muffler system with absoultly NO problems and a very beautiful fit and sound !

BlkBird · 06-19-2002, 05:06 PM

Chuck,

I believe the problem arises when changing both header and muffler. The problem is exacerbated by the dual outlet muffler of course - a single outlet muffler wouldn't present anywhere near the difficulties in "leveling".

I have never seen a GHL header with a stock muffler. Kind of seems like it would defeat the purpose. But the GHL muffler would work fine with a stock header - assuming the alignment worked out.

Sigh. The quest for reduced turbo lag, or, the best laid plans of mice and men....

BlkBird · 06-19-2002, 05:09 PM

john walker's workshop · 06-19-2002, 05:23 PM

it's not the muffler. the flange on the header that the turbo bolts to is not clocked in properly, ie: the turbo sits cockeyed. then the muffler bolts to the turbo and it in turn sits cockeyed. the cure, until they fix the jig, is to drill the bolt holes larger in the turbo and the flange, so the turbo can be twisted counterclockwise a bit, then piecut the muffler inlet pipe just beyond the inlet flange, bend the muffler up until it's level, , and reweld it. some may actually fit, but i've had two this way, and there have been several posts on the board about the same thing. listen up GHL!

RarlyL8 · RarlyL8's Garage

GHL Exhaust ~$2500
GHL Muffler ~$1000
HP gain ~ 30hp on a 930

Surely you can do better than $100+ per hp.
Euro exhaust @ $500 does about the same for performance.

mike f · 06-19-2002, 07:38 PM

What exactly is the difference between the US and euro exhausts? I assume it's not just lacking the cat, otherwise a test pipe would be all thats needed.

chuckr · 06-20-2002, 04:05 AM

From what I am hearing it seems to be with the turbo exhausts.
The exhaust I installed was a non-turbo 3.2 88 911.

930Chas · 930Chas's Garage

Hey, Blkbird, I am interested in purchasing your other exhaust, #1 of #2. What an ordeal that must have been. Anyway, from what I understnad hooking just the muffler up with the stock headers isn't too difficult, but hooking the muffler up to the GHL headers is the difficult part. Is that what you experienced? My email is westcoastcharlie@yahoo.com, if you want to carry this on in private.

RarlyL8 · RarlyL8's Garage

Mike - the Euro turbo exhaust is very different from the US version. The heat exchangers look like small SSI units that face backward. They dump into a common pipe that runs into the turbo and wastegate.

This relatively inexpensive mod will allow all other mods to work optimally. You cannot get significant performance gains using the stock US system. Too restrictive.

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

I have heard complaints about ALL manufacturers of stainless steel systems. The bottom line is that GHL stands behind their product (at least in our experience). We don't sell systems from other manufacturers because they have said "too bad" when there is a problem and don't want to fix it. GHL is a good company - not perfect, but probably the best that is out there right now...

-Wayne