Living in CA I was interested in shorty headers that were CARB approved and saw the Doug's on the Corvette Guys website. I posted to see what other's experiences were with these headers but got no response, but for about $460 (after 6% forum discount) I decided to take the plunge.

Upon arrival, the headers looked nice but two things caught my attention. There were polishing beads all wraped up with one of the headers and beads stuck in the air tubes of both. Looking inside the collectors, one side had a clean weld, but the other side's weld looked sloppy.






Installation is were it all went bad. My mechanic only got to installing the passenger side when he found they do not fit. The bolt up to the block, but the collector comes out too close to the subframe where you can't get the bolt in. The stock manifolds have a threaded stud and the Doug's use a nut and bolt, but even if they had a threaded stud, the header would bang against the subframe. You can see where the Doug's come out in comparasion tot he stock manifolds.





Stock Manifold




The CorvetteGuys were great in taking the headers back and I'm going with the JBA shorties (more $$ and I had to eat $65 to pay for overnight shipping). I know this is just one set, but I question Doug's quality control with this product.

After my bad experience buying a set of used B&B's from a forum member who lied to me and sent me 97-99 B&B's for my 2000 and now with these brand new Doug's, I'm 0-2. Keep your fingers crossed that the JBA's go in problem free!

 

Ouch, sorry about the negative experience. Hope the new set works out for you. You will definitely save some of your Cali friends some trouble with your information. Keep us posted and good luck.

-Alex

 

Although I don't like that you've had this issue, I'm glad you posted the results. Nice to see the pictures too.

Please let us know how the JBAs compare...


p.s. What did you think of the B & B build quality in general compared to the Doug's shorties?

 

Yea; Great post
Should save some guys some headaches

 

p.s. What did you think of the B & B build quality in general compared to the Doug's shorties?[/QUOTE]

I bought a new set of B & B's from WCC for my Y2K and the build quality and fitment were excellent. Yes more $$$ but no issues... and sometimes that's worth those extra bucks. Hope the JBA's work out for him

 

Are DOUG'S shorty headers even CARB approved?

 

From what I gather with other posts, they should be. Since they do not require the moving of the stock cats. I'm not 100% on that.

-Alex

 

They were advertised as being so and the sticker that came with the headers listed a CARB EO# D-57-19

 

Thanks for your detailed post about your experience, I was thinking about Dougs but will look elsewhere! Sorry they didn't work out for you.

 

You will like the JBAs. I put a set on my 03Z and they fit like a glove. Could even feel a little more power. Later had the car tuned and it made 370/370 with those JBAs. Not bad for shortys. Good luck.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience...

Sorry it didn't work out for you. I too have the B&B's and they are an excellent piece of gear, but you do pay for it...!!!

If you had the correct used B&B's, that would have worked great for you.

I followed your other post, I hoped I'd be able to recommend Doug's as a cost saving alternative to the B&B's, thanks to you, I now know that's not the case.

Like already stated, your pain has saved several people the same fate.

I've heard all good about JBA's quality, fit, & finish. I just wasn't sure about their uneven length tubes so went with B&B....

Good luck with the new headers.......

 

Had Doug's headers on another car that were good, dissapointed in the American quality of these though.... At least you had a good vendor....

 

Strike Three

The JBA's didn't fit either, same problem in that they came out the bottom too close to the subframe just like the Doug's. When my mechanic called JBA for some tech advice, he found out Doug's and JBA have the same manufacturer. My mechanic is good and he thoroughly check my car and the original manifold and everything looked fine and the original manifolds were not bent or anything. I know the 2000 C5 exhaust were unique, is it possible the manufacturer who makes the Doug's and JBA has the wrong jig for that header? The Corvette Guys were cool and giving me a refund for the JBA's also and my mechanic was super cool and charged me a minimal charge for all the labor he did for trying to install the Doug's and the JBA's. I'd like to hear if any other 2000 owners had a similar experience. Since this is my third attempt at installing shorty headers and since the hp gains are small, I am giving up on trying to install and futher headers.

 

Thanks for posting up your experience with these two brands of headers. Sad that you went through all that trouble and two sets didn't work right.

 

I put a set of JBA's on my 02 Z06 and they fit great. The bolts for the bottom flange are always a little tricky, but overall I'm very happy with my JBA's. I don't understand why you are having the problems that you are having. As far as performance, I did notice an increase in off idle response and now I have installed the Borla Stingers and the Halltech Venom I really think I'm getting more out of the shorties.

 

I had Dougs headers on my 1974 Dodge Van, that worked...