Originally Posted by kevinquirk

The pipes and headers are most likely Hooker 50735's. They are a 4" pipe. You may want to check to see if it has baffles installed. They will quite the car down a bit if they aren't already there. I have them in mine and believe me, nothing gets lost in translation with the sound you want to hear. My wife can hear me coming form 400+ yards away.

As for heat shields, You're smart to install them. Nothing worse than a Hooker tattoo on your girls calf. I have several sets of the correct covers. They are 46" X 5" Diameter with the correct mounting hardware and heat insulation. I have Chrome, Satin Black, High Gloss Black and Gun Metal Gray. They are all new. There was a company near me making them. When they closed up shop I was able to get them before they went to dust bunny hell.

I also have a ton of C3 items from rebuilding my own car. All kinds of goodies. If you're interested contact me off line and I'll shoot you a list of what I've got with pics. I'm based in the North East.

As for polishing them you'll want to start with a strong, yet not too aggressive, Naval Jelly (Cut it at first. 50/50 is a good start. Don't leave it laying on there.) or other rust removal product. There are tons of types available. I think POR 15 makes a remover also.

Do yourself a major favor. Don't go at it with both guns blazing. Start with a mild detergent and grease remover. Build your way up. You can always get more aggressive if need be. But you can't put back what you take off. Patience must prevail. Fritz, Never-Dull and Turtle Wax chrome polishing compounds are good. Soft cloth, a Dremel with a small buff pad, A buff pad application for a drill (GOTTA BE variable speed and a soft approach). Once you've got it as best as it will come, you can apply a quality VHT metallic chrome paint. Just as a touch up for some of the harder to reach places (Harder to reach does not mean paint over gunk. Use a toothbrush for that cleaning. Then paint.)

All else fails, you can re-chrome them. Just the pipes figure about $300.00 for the set. And that's a very good price. Lot of polishing to be done.

Originally Posted by Racer C3

Those are beautiful. Who did you buy them through? Congrats.

Originally Posted by zuendler

Can anyone tell me why sidepipes were invented?

What is the advantage of having them on a racecar?

I think they appeared the first time on the Mako-Shark I as a design element.


I have Hookers on my 69 and like them. But i think not every C3 must have sidepipes. I like them without as well.
And its terrible to keep the hookers clean. If you drive in rain sometimes, or worse, have to pass a buildingsite with a wet sandy road
The front wheels spray them over and over with dirtwater.
The water evaporates direclty on them, and the dirty stays on the pipes and gets burned in.
If it was my daily driver i surely would not have hookers on it. Maybe the black ones, but not the chromed.

Originally Posted by 76_Stingray

Okay well i used to have sidepipes with hooker heads on my 1976, It came like that when i bought it. they looked badass but the burn your legs so bad if you touch them and they look a bit bulky especially when you dont have a chrome bumper C3. I put Flowmaster 40 series on it and i love the sound of it. The sidepipes were nice sounding but the flowmasters have a deeper tone. Also sidepipes rattled the right side of my car, and it hides the chrome skirt under the doors

Originally Posted by blckslvr79

What baffles/mufflers did you have in your hookers?
I had Flowmaster 40's before my hookers and I can say that my hookers with STS baffles are more mellow and quieter than the 40's. The 40's had a droan that would give you a headache. Also could not talk to my passenger at cruising speed. With the Hookers, they are mellow and quiet enough I can talk to my passenger and also get no headache. They're only loud when I stand on it.