Want headers almost free?
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,050
Likes: 147
From: Phoenix AZ
2021 C4 of the Year - Modified Finalist
Want headers almost free?
Well, I am getting ready to change engines in the 'ol 86, and This project is costing me more than expected.
I was just sitting around and trying to decide what to do to get more bang for the buck, and I made a visit to the corvette wrecking yard.
They had a set of Hooker shorties, and they looked a lot like the stockers, except the tubes weren't necked down at the flanges.
So, I had a spare set, and I just got a die grinder, and a tapered grinding bit, and went to town on mine.
If you notice, there is a lot more flow going on with the tube that I opened up.
I took a photo just for grins. Then I went back to the wrecking yard, and compared mine with the Hooker shorty.
There wasn't much difference, except the tubes looked like the wall thickness on the Hooker tube was thicker.
Here's my pic of the day............
All eight holes took about 3 hours to clean up and if you notice, I didn't grind past the yellowish discoloration around the hole. I figured that was the actual weld, and with just this much metal removed, I didn't remove much of the original strength of the weld joint.
I was just sitting around and trying to decide what to do to get more bang for the buck, and I made a visit to the corvette wrecking yard.
They had a set of Hooker shorties, and they looked a lot like the stockers, except the tubes weren't necked down at the flanges.
So, I had a spare set, and I just got a die grinder, and a tapered grinding bit, and went to town on mine.
If you notice, there is a lot more flow going on with the tube that I opened up.
I took a photo just for grins. Then I went back to the wrecking yard, and compared mine with the Hooker shorty.
There wasn't much difference, except the tubes looked like the wall thickness on the Hooker tube was thicker.
Here's my pic of the day............
All eight holes took about 3 hours to clean up and if you notice, I didn't grind past the yellowish discoloration around the hole. I figured that was the actual weld, and with just this much metal removed, I didn't remove much of the original strength of the weld joint.
Last edited by coupeguy2001; Aug 26, 2010 at 12:39 AM.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 4,328
Likes: 15
From: Jacksonville FL
Racer
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 441
Likes: 2
From: Morristown TN
Why bother with the effort? just buy a set of long tubes from summit for about $170 shipped and have an exhaust shop connect them to however much of the stock stuff you wish to keep, or better yet, just run duals back. Most redneck exhaust shops would do that for about $200 or so and the end result would be much better in looks and in performance. I'd be damned before I ever pulled off stock exhaust manifolds to put them back on.
Drifting
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,428
Likes: 7
From: Chewelah Wa
Well....the manifolds on my car already fit both the motor and existing exhaust (which has already been modified), and it's free. I will give up some performance. But I think there is a few horsepower to be had with a grinder on the stock L98 manifolds. Besides....i love to make little piles of metal dust.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 20,974
Likes: 261
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 6,366
Likes: 34
Did this when I rebuilt mine.
Pushed it as far as I could go and it still sucked. Need to weld the outside to get over a max of 1.5 for mine.
Soon after I got headers and saw the light.
The vertex in the flange? You mean where all 4 runners meet. it is a divider. Have at it.
Pushed it as far as I could go and it still sucked. Need to weld the outside to get over a max of 1.5 for mine.
Soon after I got headers and saw the light.
The vertex in the flange? You mean where all 4 runners meet. it is a divider. Have at it.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,882
Likes: 234
From: Bangkok, Thailand
Why bother with the effort? just buy a set of long tubes from summit for about $170 shipped and have an exhaust shop connect them to however much of the stock stuff you wish to keep, or better yet, just run duals back. Most redneck exhaust shops would do that for about $200 or so and the end result would be much better in looks and in performance. I'd be damned before I ever pulled off stock exhaust manifolds to put them back on.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 441
Likes: 2
From: Morristown TN
I'll admit to never having been there, but what with all the rules, regulations, testing, taxes, fees, traffic, homeowners associations, and cost of living you have, I can't see why anybody would want to live there. You can say what you want about the backwards redneck southeast, but for the most part we can do what we want with our homes and vehicles and enjoy a low cost of living without all the BS.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,050
Likes: 147
From: Phoenix AZ
2021 C4 of the Year - Modified Finalist
You can say what you want Kevin, In Cali, The weather is the big draw. I used to live there. I loved the weather.
but when you pack that many people in that small of space, smog laws are a must.
The smog inspections were even conducted with mirrors under the car to detect exhaust modifications.
Not only do they check for mods, they check to make sure the smog stuff works.
I moved with my job, and for a couple months, I couldn't get over 55mph on city streets! we were limited to 25 and 35 in california....5 mph on the freeways most of the time. 45 the rest. 70 on occasion.....
In Arizona, I was actually slowing down for lights, and when I got there, they had already changed to green. Less signal change time allowed the traffic to flow smoothly. Arizona is a great place when it's not 110 or above.
As for the exhaust, it's free. I hate putting money in exhaust systems because sooner or later, you have to go back in and change things again for either noise or vibration.
The manifolds fit all stock exhaust, and clear most all bumps.
Opening them up just gives you free HP. Money you can spend on things like chips or injectors, seats or carpet, tires or wheels, etc.
but when you pack that many people in that small of space, smog laws are a must.
The smog inspections were even conducted with mirrors under the car to detect exhaust modifications.
Not only do they check for mods, they check to make sure the smog stuff works.
I moved with my job, and for a couple months, I couldn't get over 55mph on city streets! we were limited to 25 and 35 in california....5 mph on the freeways most of the time. 45 the rest. 70 on occasion.....
In Arizona, I was actually slowing down for lights, and when I got there, they had already changed to green. Less signal change time allowed the traffic to flow smoothly. Arizona is a great place when it's not 110 or above.
As for the exhaust, it's free. I hate putting money in exhaust systems because sooner or later, you have to go back in and change things again for either noise or vibration.
The manifolds fit all stock exhaust, and clear most all bumps.
Opening them up just gives you free HP. Money you can spend on things like chips or injectors, seats or carpet, tires or wheels, etc.
Last edited by coupeguy2001; Aug 27, 2010 at 01:21 AM.