Which size inserts did you decide on?

 

Eastwood make a header coating to coat the inside of headers to help trap the heat inside the primary tubes.
I’ve never used it before, but plan to use it on my new ceramic coated Herman’s to help cut down on some more heat.
Has anyone else used it?

 

Ill have to look into that Eastwood deal. Sounds like a bit of a paid to apply but if it works, would be worth it.

I have not decided on the insert size yet. I am planning on going as low restriction as my ears could handle as that thing is a bit of a dog being all stock...at the moment.

 

I tried the stuff from Eastwood. Hard to know if it actually works but highly recommend the covers. You can rest your hand on them after a long drive.

 

Thanks. I was curious as the ones on my Harley dont work that well.

as anyone seen a place that does custom covers? I am looking for a place that would do a custom cut design based on a drawing I provide.

 

I have a practically brand new set of sweet thunders sitting in my garage if interested.2.25" which I dont see offered anymore. I switched to vettepacks since the drone gets old.
if you want stainless sidepipes I would consider looking at the "other" popular options that are identical but cost much less than the hooker stainless version. I have OBX Ive had them on my car for 9 years now and they have held up great. They were only $650 shipped new back then.
BTW I used the eastwood internal coating on an old vw I had and saw no difference in heat YMMV

and I bought some cheap covers on summits site which I decided to paint black because I didnt like the look of chrome on stainless. they help tremendously as they never get hot enough to burn.

 

I Agree.

 

Yes, the covers keep you from getting burned getting in and out of the car. They get still get hot, but not enough to burn you. I wouldn’t run side pipes without them. I like the simple look of the Cobrastuff covers and are pretty reasonable, but there are lots of choices.

You still have to be careful leaning over the engine compartment, I’ve burned myself doing that.

 

Augiedoggy - the OBX version is $1489 v hooker at $1685.

I am interested in the inserts and will get back to you once I have the pipes and we can work out a deal then. Sweet Thunder has 5 sizes from 1.75 to 2.75. 2.25 is in the middle, but I need to figure out what my preferred level of sound is, exactly.

 

I have STS spiral baffles in my Stainless Hooker side pipes. I still have the caps on with a 1/2 inch hole drilled in them. They are not obnoxiously loud at all at normal driving speeds but will wake up when you jump on it. The cool thing about stainless is they will never rust and will turn a slight gold color over time.(looks good with my Maroon paint)

 

Most of the coated headers today are probably sprayed inside anyway when they were made. That is what I have been told by the companies that coat the factory headers commercially. There are different coatings based on the temperature range they are designed to work in.
The coatings do not like the higher combustion chamber temperatures of a new engine breaking in or an old a Big Block running high compression.

 

I also liked the look of the side pipes, but wanted a better muffler design / minimize lost performance. I've used the STS baffles in the past, as well as the 'glass-pack' type of insert. I finally decided to use Borla mufflers, but modified the tubes on a set of SS hookers that I had. Then I attached the heat shield to both cover everything up and protect my legs.

Here's the initial mock up with the opposite pipe for comparison:



I used a 4" to 3.5" reducer to get to the correct size of the Borla muffler. I then sized it back up on the outlet.

Here are the pieces put together before the heatshield:



Here's the final pipes with the heatshields attached:



Hopefully these will be a good compromise between looks / performance / sound...

 

I wish someone made BB sidepipes in stainless steel. Does anyone make them? Custom? thanks

 

Since you live in Torrance, contact Sanderson Headers.
They have been building custom headers for over 50 years from their Torrance CA facility.
They manufacture the best quality headers in the industry.
I really wanted to put their headers on my 73 big block, but they only manufacture short tube headers for big block Corvettes.
When I talked to them, they said they would be more than happy to build me a set of long tube header for my build, but they would need my car to custom build me a set.
If I was local to them I would have dropped it off and let them perform their magic.
It would be worth a shot!

 

The price has gone up considerably in the last 9 years thats for sure. back when I bought mine. Resellers were testing the waters against Dougs and the then Mexican made Hookers. They sold them under the OBX name for $700 or less and then someone got the idea to also spent 20 minutes or so polishing the welds with a dremel and offer them as maximizers from the same manufacturer (these sold for over a grand back then). I had already used OBX brand headers on a dodge I owner so I took the chance despite all the negative comments about them, Mostly from those with no experience with them. The maximizer name was also a branding attempt to further disassociate the product from its chinese roots with better marketing and support along with the higher price tag which automatically equated to better quality in manys minds even though they were the same product. Eventually it caught on that they were a great value and good quality regardless of branding and the prices climbed.

Still they are available for less than $1500....many offer them for about $1250-1300 shipped
Where are you getting your prices?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/11465361899...evt=1&mkcid=28

 

Both Hooker and Doug's makes them, look at Summit Racing.

 

if you google c3 stainless sidepipes you will find the BB version is the most plentiful version available. The OBX/maximizer version is all over ebay for big blocks. here is an example. https://www.ebay.com/itm/20247351747...evt=1&mkcid=28 im sure there are plenty of other resellers as well possibly even forum sponsors.

 

Ive seen the full ceramic coats dougs version for around $1300 which seems like a good deal but unless stainless they still rust out eventually.
EDIT* found them,
https://www.corvettecentral.com/3224...8aAo6oEALw_wcB

 

Not sure if you need any more opinions or not but I'll throw in my 2 cents... Selecting sidepipe inserts is a very subjective process. Just be open to possibly changing them out for different ones and you will be OK. They are removable and not too difficult a job. Not an easy job or something you want to do every week, but a couple times a year maybe. I started out when I got my sidepipes with the Doug's D950, the medium loudness ones. They have three loudness levels depending on the center opening. I liked them and they sounded good but I thought I might be choking the engine a little especially since I had also swapped in a 383. So then I went with STS spiral baffles which were a lot different. They were a lot louder and raspy. I liked them but thought they might be too loud. so then I went back to the Doug's and I hated them with the new motor. So I thought I would try VettePack chambered inserts. That is what I have now and I love them. Great sound and flow. It takes a while to get the feel of the sound and to compare it to what you had so I created a video to compare the Doug's and the VettePackss:


So my advice - go with what you think you will like, and if you don't swap them out for something different!

As for heat shields, I never cared for them and have never burned myself. Sidepipes are just so damn cool I don't really care if they are loud. My wife and I can carry on conversations as long as we shout directly at each other. HAHA just kidding we don't have to shout.

Sidepipe inserts compared- Dogs and Vettepacks - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion



Jim

 

Which Vettepacks are those, 2.5 or 3 and with or without resonator?
Are they louder on the highway at 3k rpm than Dougs?