Per popular demand, I went out on a limb and bought what I will call the Ching Chong ZZP Knock Off Header (aka The eBay Longtube). [The voting thread https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/loun...review-304227/ because Dama is le ghey.] The following are pictures, videos, and comments on the product.

First up, the packaging sucks. There is no cushion or paper stuffed in the box to hold it in place. The 2 pieces are free to fly around inside the box and knock into each other. They were wrapped in bubble wrap which protected them from scratching, but a crappy USP man and your header will be arriving dented for sure.























All and all it looks nice, it feels nice, and the welds look good. There are no obvious signs of any weak points and the flange is flat and not warped. The flex is a weave on the outside with an accordion style underneath it (similar to OEM). The "cat" is not really a cat but instead made to look like one. There is a built in angle bung for the rear o2 in an attempt to not throw a code. The V-band locks on easily, cleanly and tight. The included gaskets, well, they are **** and belong in the trash. Also, there is no V-Band gasket in this either. There was one spot the welder did not finish, it needs a tack on it before install.

The missed weld:


Down the Pipe:


Gasket:






OEM Gasket match pics.....

(keep in mind this is half of the OEM gasket as it was the old one and separated. it is warped.)












I took no pictures of the install or any of that BS, there are plenty of "how-to's" on that. My only suggestion is to serenade and talk dirty to it before the install so that it does not fight you the entire time; maybe rub your ***** across it.

Anyways...

The fun stuff, videos.





Issues:
Needed welding to be installed immediately.
The included exhaust gasket sucks.
There is no v-band gasket included.
The v-band is about 15 degrees off make it a fight to get clamped in.
Flex section is too short to allow adequate flex for the offset on the v-band.

Positives:
Cheap.
Quality seems on par.
Bolt pattern lines up.
Welds are good.
Primaries are 1.75" and clean.
Merge collector is clean.
J bung for rear o2 did not set a code.
Exits to a 2.5" 2 bolt flange that is flat.

Facts:
You need to extend your bank 1 o2 sensor.
You need to weld in your own wide band sensor bung.
The "high flow cat" is a hollow pipe made to look like a cat.
Source an OEM exhaust gasket.
Catless makes your car as loud as an angry black woman.
Eat your Wheaties and rest, you will be wrestling to get the down pipe and cat back bolted in.

I paid $208 shipped for the header and spent another $51.00 (shop minimum) to have the weld fixed and o2 bung put in. For $259.00 I do not have too much to compain about. Meaure and mock up before you have another bung welded in as the size of the DP takes up a lot of room in the exhaust tunnel; I ended up taking a sledge to my exhaust tunnel.

Would I buy it again? Yes.
Would I recommend it? Only to someone that is willing to put a little extra work in for the install and some extra time and money to get it fixed.

I will update with longevity posts as long as I own it.

Thanks.

 

Good review.

 

x2 Thanks for putting the effort into this.

 

You have an exhaust leak somewhere. I know that sound all too well.

I would love to hear this with a cat and car chemistry baffle along with the stock catback and muffler...

 

if he used the oem header gasket yeh it will leak, the oem gasket is designed for stock primary tube diameters, thats why there is that gigantic space.

 

Very possible. The downpipe fit is rough, possibly the rotated engine mounts. I have to pull the downpipe off to hammer on the exhaust tunnel some more. I am going to install the v band end first and then force it to the cat back. Ill probably so a sea foam soak to see if I can find an exhaust leak that way.

 

Nice review man!

 

Thank you guys.

Hopefully this helps others in the future.


Also, I will be doing two more in the next couple weeks.
The BPS one I have not finished yet, and the new OTTP STS.

 

Solid unbiased review

 

Very nice; besides the leak sounds decent considering its catless! thanks for doing the review bud

 

awesome info, nice to see guys doing this stuff still

 

Sounds good! Nice right up.

 

Little loud for my taste but very nice review. glad you like it

 

I wouldnt consider the v band gasket a band thing......v band gaskets are generally junk and if you have to undo them more then a few times they tear apart no matter what the quality of gasket is. Copper rtv the way to go for v band flanges

 

Stuff like this is awesome man!!!! Items like this on ebay some times work out ok, but if you didnt do this and made a thread asking if you should or not (somone probably has), i bet everyone will say avoid the ebay POS you get what you pay for ect. Granted it needs a little touch up but you saved what $200?

 

he did make a thread and ask, and we all said to try it. LOL

 

Optioned out about 250 in savings.

I wish I had a ZZP long tube to compare too.

I made a thread about it; it is in the OP lol.

 

So there is an exhaust leak on this thing, it is the v-band flange. Apparently they left some room in the band to accommodate a gasket. I took it off and used some copper RTV, but it only sealed it for about 20 minutes. I am ordering a v-band gasket from OTTP and putting it in bit some copper on each side. This should seal it all up and make me happy.

 

I didn't know there was a cheech n chong brand header.

Don't be surprised when you car starts smoking *****!

 

Dont troll the reviews asshat. Keep it to the lounge and "problems" sections.

 

^ i wonder if that's where my leak is coming from with my zzp longtube

 

Do you have a gasket inbetween them?

 

v bands shouldn't need gaskets



almost every exhaust leak I've seen on a cobalt came from the head/manifold flange

 

I dont think so though. When I threw some copper on the v-band and put it back together the leak was gone.

I will probably replace the eBay gasket with OEM, but I was told the OEM on the long tube will leak.

 

One of the OG members with the ZZP LT setup. Going to chime in here about the VBand issue where your leak is likely coming from. I had to have my local muffler shop cut it off and they welded the 2pcs together. The VBand or flange appeared to be warped and would start leaking after 20mins of driving. Will be a bitch to uninstall if I ever cross that bridge, but i'm a happy camper now with no leaks.