whitehause

At least the SS ones shouldn't rust. I have a set that was on my BB when I bought it. Same issues with crappy welds and steering box clearance(had to put a small ding in them to clear) 1 year later....rusty junk. This car is stored inside and doesn't get driven in the rain, but still rusted at every seam and weld. I'll get another set next year, but I can tell you who won't be getting my money.

Bob Heine

I think that says it all. Product quality is pretty bad when you have to modify it with a BFH to make it work.

OMF

Just wondering.....with all the problems you had with this set, why didn't you just send them back with a nastygram expressing your dissapointment with their crap products?

Corey_68

I guess I lucked out with mine, had plenty of clearance and no issue with the welds.

lars

Because I'd like to have my car running this year... The last guy I talked to who did that went through a 6-month ordeal before getting a good set of headers.

It iritates the poop out of me to let them off the hook so easy, but I've now spent 4 evenings of my time, removing and installing the headers 5 times, modifying the tubes, bending the collectors with a Port-A-Power, re-fabricating the sidepipe mounting standoffs, and getting the pipes level and parallel. The entire system is now installed. I didn't buy headers and pipes from Hooker: I obviously bought a "fab-it-yourself" kit. I can't imagine someone doing this amount of modification and fitting with the body on the frame or working on a car on jackstands: I'm "lucky" to be working on a rolling chassis with no body and having my own lift in the workshop with tie-down anchors in my concrete floor...

Lars

MrJlr

So who DOES make a set of headers that will fit right out of the box ?

99 Black Bird TA

Now I'm afraid to go by Fed Ex today and pick up my Hooker Super Comps that just arrived...I'll post details of what I find later tonight.

The Hookers for my LS1 Trans Am fit fine back in 2002. Only problems were the sloppy welding in the collectors, the slag in the 02 sensor hole, the fact the o2 sensor hole should have been located differently, the flanges not being flat. Other that that they were good.

Sounds like Hooker QC has just gotten worse...

Swift_C3

there shouldn't ever be any slag, especially in a O2 sensor hole. That's just plain ridiculous, I used to do component level repair on electronics and if you left any excess solder on the board it usually didn't help any fix. Plus QC would immediately kick your part back. If I found slag on a part which it may or may not affect the overall performance I'd thoroughly check the rest of the part.

When someone says the only problem I had were..... and they list more than 1 or 2 things, that means the part wasn't up to par... at least in my eyes it isn't

[Begin Rant] on a side note... if we got rid of some ridiculous group of people who for employers to drive up prices to increase the workers wages for doing less work. (Unions in there current form are the Devil) I've seen and heard stories of people belonging to different organizations (construction mostly as that is my friends forte) where the guys get whats required to be accomplished for that day and then basically lounge around for the rest of the day. For instance the wall had to be framed and hung which took maybe 2 hours... they'd sit around the other 6 hours of the day because they are required to be there for the 8 hours. If you live in California, watch the Cal Trans guys, they have 7 standing around watching 1 guy dig. Maybe hooker/holley has this problem the guy is required to have 3 sets of headers done every day he gets them done quick as possible to watch world cup undisturbed. (Unions weren't always bad and they were needed in our history to get the labor laws to where they are today, however in their current form they ruined GM, even though GM is now making a comeback) [end rant]

Blown 79

I also have been considering putting Hooker Side Exhaust on my 79 but not anymore. So the big question for me is who makes a high quality set of side exhaust for my car? Is there a company out there that most people agree on?

l88rocket

i built a set but there pain in *** and not cheap to build

Raider74

Well that sucks big time man. 1000 for a set of headers and you have all that garbage to deal with?
I got myself a set of 100$ summit racing brand headers for my smallblock and they were a bolt in fit.... same issue with crappy gaskets though. After I got decent gaskets They bolted right in... cleared everything beautifully and my car is a manual. I only had to take the z-bar out on the drivers side, and once the header was on put it right back in. I give a big thumbs up to summit racing brand headers
IMO everyone could get those cheaper headers from summit and just chrome/powdercoat/polish/ceramic coat, them themselves. Bolts right in and lines up with the collectors... no issues with spark plugs... no issues with steering column or box... no hassle. The welds could look a little better I'll admit though, but they are not bad.

99 Black Bird TA

Lars, good luck with making the Super Comp side exits work out the way you want.

Picked up my Super Comps today, not the side pipe type, the out the back type. Overall, the look ok, a lot better than the LS1 Hookers my TA got. I don't think I'll have to grind slag out of the primaries this time around. Jet Hot must have cleaned them up before coating this time around. The test will be the fit.

mikejpss

eagle275

are those headers in production?

eastltd

It sounds like you just gotta suck it up Lars.

Unfortunatley it happens to the best of us at some point during a build.

If it wasn't the pipes, It would probably be something else.

Fortunately you have the skill and equipment to put it right.

Maybe some pics of this project would be nice.

RATT7

The product quality does not sound good at all, for that kind of money it should be a direct fit, no exceptions. It seems that everyone now is using the direct fit term rather loosely. Hope it works out for you Lars.

Wrencher

Stahl (http://www.stahlheaders.com/Frame%20New%20Drag.htm ) makes a real quality piece, at least the two sets I've seen, but they are designed more for race applications and may not fit a street car. They have a good customer service rep as well, so I'd check with them first. Surprisingly, I have had real good luck with fit on the few customer's cars I have done using Heddman products. The sale is usually price driven, but so far so good. Years ago I swore by Cyclone products, but I haven't seen them around for a while.

I have a set of 2" super-comp long tube Hookers on the BOSS and I agree that they just don't give a s##t about quality, but they were the only game in town for that car. First set was garbage, the second set I recieved I had to fix a weld and dimple the tube next to the steering box, but I went ahead and used those. Oh, and they might as well have shipped them bare metal as quickly as they rusted.

The only consolation is that they would probably stick up through the hood if they were made in the people's republic of junk!

Hans

glackore

I've got to replace my Hooker Super Comp's and tubes very soon! I had been using exhaust wrap and after several years of use #6 cylinder popped a hole in the tube up near the exhaust port; about 1/2"x1/4". They were rotting out anyway. The wrap holds heat in and creates hot spots. Works to keep heat from under the hood though.

I think I'll get my painted set, fit them, and then send them out for ceramic coating once I know they fit. I might call Jet-Hot and order a set pre-coated but am skeptical based on all the horror stories you hear about regarding product and fit quality.

Billysvette

Yes they are i found out the hard way too,mine did not fit right either.And was told that its a roll of the dice when you buy a set of headers from them,its a shame.

SmokedTires

So for a thousand bucks, looks like I'll make my next set myself. That just plain sucks!