When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I've been working on getting a set of Hooker ceramic coated sidepipes onto my '77 and now I'm at the stage where I finally need to pull the trigger on some sound deadening so I can drive to school in the mornings without getting too many tickets. I'm stuck between STS baffles and Hooker Maxflow glasspacks. I love the sound of the STS, but I noticed that I needed to drill some holes in the pipes and I was concerned that my ceramic coating might start to crack and flake if I try and drill into it. Has anybody had any experience with this? Secondarily, has anybody noticed any noticeable performance difference between the two? I'm running a 350 w/ vortec heads @ about 375 HP. Thanks in advance.
Did this on a '69 I had a long time ago. Ran the STS baffles and drilled the holes in my ceramic coated Hooker sidepipes. No issues. Just measure twice, mark and drill. The instructions tell you to start with a smaller bit and then progressively drill it out to the proper size. It's really simple honestly, and I never had any problems with cracking/flaking of the coating. Also, when I first installed the sidepipes, I had the Hooker reverse-flow glasspack inserts. Those are probably more restrictive than what you are considering. But let me say this... my mildly modded big-block literally would not rev past 4500rpm. It was awful. I thought i had killed my car. I ripped them out and ran open for awhile til I just couldn't bear the noise level. Went with STS and opened up both ends of their spiral muffler inserts for max flow...and I could not tell any noticeable difference in power between running them and running open, but the noise level was reduced in a good way over running straight open. Engine made 460+rwhp, so around 540hp crank.
Drilling Into Ceramic Sidepipes
