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So I really love the looks of side pipes and my state lets me get away with that so which do you all recommend? I see so many people brag about Hooker Headers but the ones I found are 18 gauge while Doug's headers are a little cheaper and a thicker 16 gauge. I have not looked at other brands so feel free if you have suggestions. Thanks all as always.
I have Doug's and they are very good. The only thing I sort of messed up on was I bought the black ones, which I love, but I assumed they were painted. I took the car out in the rain once and they got all pitted up. Apparently it's just a primer (called them and complained... yada yada) So I took them off and painted them nice with header paint and they are fine. As far as the fitment they were fine. I had to do some 'adjusting' on the holes in the frame but that is pretty normal and it's not difficult. I think Doug's is pretty good quality.
I don't have them installed yet but just received Doug's Headers ceramic coated headers/side pipes for my '79. It took 4 sets for me to get one that hadn't been damaged in shipping and Summit agreed to package them better on the last one, which worked - all 3 previous sets, the flange of one header had punched through the side of the box. I slightly prefer the look of the Hooker set, but the price difference was too great for me to be that worried about it. The Doug's set looks great.
I wanted the ceramic over stainless, personally, as I have concerns about temps both under-hood and the side pipes themselves, though I most likely will still get shields for them. I also live in a place where I don't really worry about rust, so that helps.
Also I didn't think about it at the time for some reason, but I had planned eventually to go to an EFI setup...so much for that, because I'm not getting my headers re-coated after drilling for an O2 sensor. Carb it is!
Last edited by discovette79; Mar 18, 2019 at 12:21 PM.
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1981 Side Pipes, Hooker or Doug's?
