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Ebay sidepipes question...

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Old Dec 28, 2004 | 10:04 PM
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Default Ebay sidepipes question...

I am asure that everyone has seen this seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...514777528&rd=1

I keep seeing these sets listed week after week. The guy has good feeback about them but I want to know if anyone on here has bought a set from him. If so, how is the fit and finish? Do they come with ALL needed hardware? Any pitfalls and "unknowns". No mnetion of mufflers so I assuming LOUD? How do they look when complete? They would seem to be well worth the $180-200 that they are consistently selling for. Looking at his past auctions, the chrome heatshield seems to be covering a "blued" pipe and the rest is chromed. Is this the way all of them are?

Any questions or comments or advice would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to mess with headers and want to keep my car low budget, but also want so reasonable quality too.
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Old Dec 28, 2004 | 11:06 PM
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I would like to know too.The price sure seems right.I think he says the kit comes with mufflers if I read it right.
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Old Dec 28, 2004 | 11:15 PM
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i neva seen anythin like that !!!.how do they hook up to the header pipe??..and THREE inch.??.pic dont show mounting tabs..looks like a home shop made thing.buy them and tell the rest of us why we shouldnt !!.to many good options for exhausts to bother taking chances on unknowns in my h.o...
do some more research on side pipes and headers ,,you will find most love thier hookers..(and others)..worth the xtra money..
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Old Dec 28, 2004 | 11:22 PM
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Originally Posted by techrondon
i neva seen anythin like that !!!.how do they hook up to the header pipe??..and THREE inch.??.pic dont show mounting tabs..looks like a home shop made thing.buy them and tell the rest of us why we shouldnt !!.to many good options for exhausts to bother taking chances on unknowns in my h.o...
do some more research on side pipes and headers ,,you will find most love thier hookers..(and others)..worth the xtra money..

Save your 200 bucks and buy some real side pipes.
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Old Dec 28, 2004 | 11:27 PM
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have a look at this link
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P.../p-933/c-10101

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Old Dec 28, 2004 | 11:59 PM
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Default Sure, except for the price...

Originally Posted by Older Than Dirt
Save your 200 bucks and buy some real side pipes.
Sure, that's fine except I have bills to pay and don't have $1300 laying around for a set of tricked out Hookers with headers. I bought a nice driver 1979 L82 Vette and not a NCRS Top Flight style L88 427. These will look nice, (I think), if the quality is good.

The thing that intrigues me is his 100% positive feedback. I looked back through his sales and found dozens of people that had bought this very set from him and were very happy. I found no one unhappy with them. That's why I inquired of the forum guys because I thought there may be a chance of someone on here having bought a set rom this seller and giving us all a rundown of what they thought of them and their overall value. If I found a bunch of complaints on his Ebay record, I would have dismissed it out of hand.
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 12:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Sevensteps
Sure, that's fine except I have bills to pay and don't have $1300 laying around for a set of tricked out Hookers with headers. I bought a nice driver 1979 L82 Vette........
..........100% feedback isn't going to help you if these don't mount up to your stock manifolds or existing headers....

...you should ask the Seller how this system mounts to your frame and manifolds...........

....there's a slot in your frame in front of the rear wheels for factory style side pipes and the cover should line up with the shape of the rocker moulding....

....if not the cover could vibrate against the pipes causing a clattering noise or the covers could get hot which defeats the purpose....

What Older Than Dirt is saying is that Hooker or factory setups are more thought through and eliminate a lot of costly modifications....those people who are Ebay happy probably have the aptitude to make these modifications themselves....$200 seems kinda cheap for an "any situation bolt on".........
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 01:00 AM
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Default I thought so too...

I thought that $200 was cheap as well. But when two and a half dozen different people gave the guy high marks for quality, etc, I thought it was well worth investigating. I have 250 positive feedbacks and have been dealing on there since 97. It is NOT easy to please people on there especially when selling repeat items to picky people like Corvette owners. I SERIOUSLY doubt that all of those people were simply happy to make modifications that that had no plans to do. Trust me, if that were the case, he would have had two dozen negative or at least neutral feedbacks. He has nada, zip...

I did email the seller and ask for detailed pics and mounting instructions, so I may know something more substanial tomorrow.

Last edited by Sevensteps; Dec 29, 2004 at 01:05 AM.
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 01:07 AM
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Originally Posted by Sevensteps
.....No mnetion of mufflers so I assuming LOUD? .....
BTW.....these don't look like they have any cork in them at all .....with my factory style chambered sidepipes, it sounds like I'm running a quarter mile just pulling out of the drive ......so I think these would be REALLY LOUD
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 01:19 AM
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Default Loud

Originally Posted by standup
BTW.....these don't look like they have any cork in them at all .....with my factory style chambered sidepipes, it sounds like I'm running a quarter mile just pulling out of the drive ......so I think these would be REALLY LOUD
The ad does say that mufflers are included. To say that they are "low restriction" would probably be an understatement. Probably a few inline baffles to quiet the roar. Of course, noise is not usually the first consideration when sidepipes are installed. We all assume they are GOING to be noisy. The question is "how much? Luckily, I live in a non-inspection state and a rural area, so I doubt I am bothered.


Last edited by Sevensteps; Dec 29, 2004 at 01:21 AM.
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 02:15 AM
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Those sidepipes are very similar to the ones that I have on my car. I got mine for $20 from a local hot rod shop. They took them off of someones car and had them lying around and were trying to get rid of them so I couldnt pass up that deal. They didnt come with any heatshields which I was happy with since I dont really like the look of the heat shields and the pipes dont get that hot to begin with. They are a little short compared to the Hooker sidepipes. It doesnt bother me all that much but I think once I have the time and a welder I am going to get a new 3 inch pipe for the center section and extend the sidepipe and put in a different style muffler. Here are some pictures.

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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 11:36 AM
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I bought a set of these pipes from ebay. They are Patriot side pipes. Do a Google search for their website.

I have not installed them as of yet and this is not a bolt on installation. It will require some ingenuity for me to install them. Sort of a "one size fits all" deal.

The 58 inch length is just about right for my application on my '78.

I will have to custom fabricate something from the exhaust manifold to the 3 inch.

For those of us on a budget, I think they are well worth the $180 I spent for these. Myself, I think they will look fine when mounted.

The shipper lost a 90 degree pipe in transit and I emailed the seller and he sent me another one pronto with no cost to me.
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 12:03 PM
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Default OK, now we're cooking...

Originally Posted by Rhufus
I bought a set of these pipes from ebay. They are Patriot side pipes. Do a Google search for their website.

I have not installed them as of yet and this is not a bolt on installation. It will require some ingenuity for me to install them. Sort of a "one size fits all" deal.

The 58 inch length is just about right for my application on my '78.

I will have to custom fabricate something from the exhaust manifold to the 3 inch.

For those of us on a budget, I think they are well worth the $180 I spent for these. Myself, I think they will look fine when mounted.

The shipper lost a 90 degree pipe in transit and I emailed the seller and he sent me another one pronto with no cost to me.
My main concern is the mounting hardware. I can handle the 3 inch, 90 degree bent part that goes to the maninfold I can have my local muffler shop fabricate me a piece of aluminized that is 3 inch on the sidepipe end and down to what I need on the regular exhaust end. They can MIG it to look neatr factory.

As to the mounting hardware...Will these bolt on easily to the existing Corvette frame sidepipe holes or is that going to be a massive undertaking? Do you think any good exhaust shop should be able to do that and the whole mounting job with not alot of problem?

I got an email from the seller and he seemed nice. He sent me a few pics of the 52 inch Mustang set and a few of the 58 inch Corvette set as well. They seemed to look really nice. He said they were good quality and the buyers had no complaints. I guess I'll go for it.
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 12:10 PM
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A local guy has a set of those and they look and sound nice. If you are looking for nice cheap real sidepipes, these are an option.
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 01:13 PM
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Originally Posted by standup
What Older Than Dirt is saying is that Hooker or factory setups are more thought through and eliminate a lot of costly modifications....
You'll have to tweak around on the Hookers, too. This is because, even though the part number is specific to '68-'82 Corvettes, there are subtle differences between years and even individual cars. (Even between the two sides on an individual car.)
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 01:24 PM
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The hardware you'll need are "T-bolts". You can find them at ant Harley-oriented bike shop (not the dealership).
They are used to mount aftermarket exhaust systems and the name says it all. It's simply a bolt, that rather than having a head, has a flat rectangular piece on top. That piece slides into the slots in a C3's frame rails.
I've also been checking out these pipes, on Ebay and in the catalogs, as they seem like a good alternative to the pricey Hooker pieces. The Hooker units, by the way, usually require cutting up your rocker moldings. Price the moldings sometime...very, VERY expensive if you cut them wrong.
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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 03:40 PM
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Default Tbolts

I called my local muffler shop and he said he could fabricate some aluminized pipe to match right up to this setup. He had done some several years ago and said they worked really nice. He can go to 3 inch aluminized shortly off the manifold and MIG right to this setup perfectly.

I emailed the seller and he said that all hardware comes with it. Here is a closer pic of the optional 52 inch pipes he has for sale mounted to a mid 60's Mustang:

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Old Dec 29, 2004 | 09:33 PM
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Default ordered today

I placed an order for a set of these pipes today....We'll see what they look like when they go on. I'll post pics in a couple of weeks when they are fully installed. I'm optimistic that they'll look good and decrease my exhaust restriction.
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