I am looking for information about these headers. The previous owner said they hung down very low. So low he had high centered the car going into shopping centers and such. His fix was to run the rear ride height up. If I put these things back on, I want them to be in the right place and for the car to ride level like it is supposed to.

They are supposed to be stainless steel. They are heavy and have no markings on them. Someone has welded on them with regular steel.

Knowing who made these and anything else about them would be helpful.

 

 

Not to offend, they look like they were made by Gabage Inc.
They look like they have had some type of welding done to maybe make the header pipes longer. You should get a grinder and grind the welds were the sidepipes attach, and try one of the headers first to see how actually line up.

 

No offense taken, i have no personal stake in them and the oil on them makes them look bad. The problem i have with fitting the headers up is... There is no engine in the car.

Matt

 

It might be best to make sure they fit before you start pouring time and or money in them.

 

They look like they would cost more to repair than to buy new.

 

In your opinion what needs repaired besides the mounting tabs? I can fix that for the cost of some stainless mig wire. Other than that they just need cleaned. Maybe painted.

Now having said that.... If they are made in such a way that makes them hang to low there won't be much i can do to change it.

Won't be a big loss, i am thinking the wife doesn't want to run them anyway, and it's her car.

Matt

 

My engine is out of my car.

Faced with the decision of re-working my not-so-chrome-anymore Hooker sidemounts with "holy" sidetubes or getting new black ones, the decision was easy.

New black sidemounts are sitting on my garage floor right now (my engine guy got them "scratch and dent" from his distributer for $300...no scratches or dents to be found) with new black sidetubes and STS baffles to be purchased when I get the engine back in the car.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with these unless I was making an EFFORT to spend absolutely $0 on my car.

Functionally, I have a real problem with how the pipes "stack" under the car. All 4 pipes need to sit in a pretty line to maximize ground clearance. Even then, you'll probably smack tall speed bumps.

The other problem I have is the amount of grinding you'll need to do to your valence panels to make these fit. You'll make them fit and find out they SUCK, then go out and get new ones like you needed in the first place. THEN you're stuck with butchered valence panels.

If I was being honest, I NEVER would have convinced my wife to add sidepipes to my car. But my car was purchased with the sidepipes. I asked her if she wanted to keep them or not and her quick reaction was "KEEP them...they MAKE the car".

Sidepipes are like golf carts. If you don't have one, you don't know what all the fuss is about...you're getting along fine without. Once you have them, you'll LOVE them and wonder why you ever had a thought otherwise.

 

The could be hooker but not likely. They might also be made by OBX. Like Raphiki said it might be easier to buy some new ones that look good and don't need to spend time cleaning, which by the way the burnt on oil stains are most likely forever. I just put a set of stainless OBX headers on my 75 and they look and sound great. I used OBX headers and pipes with hooker reverse flow slip in mufflers and they look and sound really good. All of it cost less than 1100.00. Save yourself the headache and either buy new sidepipes or just a nice under car exhaust.

 

I do not think they are hooker or obx...I think they are an earlier American made version, maybe Hedman or some lesser known brand....the OBX and similar Chinese made headers are literarly an EXACT copy of the Hookers. other than the OBX has a thicker flange at the head. I almost wonder if they were some type of street rod header and sidepipe system that was adapted...

if on a tight budget and cant swing sidepipes, but cheap, new headers and have a nice undercar system bent up..

 

The rocker panels have already been cut to fit some kind of sidepipe header. I think they were cut to fit an earlier set.

I am kinda in this same position. The car came with these things and she thinks they look good on there so we decided to run them (little investment) and maybe go to a full length system or a new set of sidepipes later. I know that the very moment she burns her leg on the things they are gone!

Matt

 

My 8 YO BRUSHED my sidepipes with her leg. Gave her a red spot through her ballet leotard.

Wife not happy.

I had "zinged" myself a couple of times, also. Oddly, that didn't bother the wife. I try not to think about it too much.

We ended up shelling out $400 for a set of SteelShields. AWESOME addition and, IMHO, a required purchase for any 4" sidepipe system (OBX, Hooker, or any other where the outer portion of the sidetube is the "pipe" that bears exhaust fume heat).

The chrome SteelShields is allowing me to replace my tired chrome sidepipe system with a black system which is far less costly. The cover will add the required "bling" while the black will make the whole thing a bit racier. Will post pictures when done.

 

Quickcat, just out of curiousity how do the tabs mount to the frame? Don't they need to have springs or some flexible mounts to allow for engine movement? Would this make the whole assembly hang lower?

When I homebuilt my sidepipes I put them as high and tight as I could get them, and solidly bolted them to the frame. I had to buy two stainless flexible exhaust sections and weld flanges to them so's they could bolt onto the Hedman side dump heders I used.

I kept the rubber mounts on my engine. I can watch the hedmans move and jump when I rev the engine. The flexible sections do a good job of absorbing the torque movement of the heders.

John

 

There are some mounting tabs welded to the sidepipes and they were attached to the frame with rubber isolators. The attachment method seems shoddy and done quickly. If I reuse these things I am going to have to put new tabs on there.

Matt

 

Clean them up and use em.

 

I doubt they are stainless steel. They may be some of the aluminumized ones put out years ago. I don't remember who did the sectioned ones like these with all the short pieces welded together. Check some old Corvette magazines from the '80s and you'll probably find them.

Getting the oil off will be nasty. Figure heavy sandblasting.

The tabs should sit between two rubber cushions on a bolt to the frame. Depending on the heat, you may have to replace frequently. Or you could run solid motor mounts and bolt the sidepipes directly to the frame.

They all sit low, so it could be he just thought they were lower than normal.

 

I think I am going to for now. The full length system I want to build is not going to be cheap.

Matt

 

The previous owner said they were stainless, and the magnet test seems to confirm he is right. It is strange though that the flanges are very magnetic but not the primary tubes. I will have to look into it further.

Matt