Fitment and craftsmanship are one question, but materials are another. The two sets of headers I have seen on the lift after a couple of years from overseas have corrosion and embrittlement issues. There is also a tendency to use other waste materials in the stainless steel unless they are made and tested to a standard such as ASTM. Not all stainless steels are created equal. Not to say there isn't some premium on Corvette headers, but it will be interesting to see if the overseas version stand the test of time. From what I have seen and been told from others who work on these cars on a regular basis, it doesn't appear that they will stand up as well as US stainless that has to meet a standard.

 

True. The reality is, that many products are produced in China with great quality, by Apple, Motorola, etc. Quality is designed in. It is the manufacturer's responsibility to ensure quality.....period. Of course, a comprehensive quality management system costs money, which many are not willing to spend up front.

 

I think it's because there's a zillion 'stangs out there, only a couple hundred thousand C5s. They sell more systems for 'stangs so the R&D costs can be spread out more. Oh well! I'll pay more for my parts and retain the exclusivity of Vette ownership! (You don't see 'stang owners wave at each other on the road, do you???)

 

I run LG Pro longtubes. The fit of the joints is not too good, but they fit on the car fine. They are on a mainly track car, so I don't sweat a little exhaust leak where the cats used to be. They add good power, and sound great.

Were I running a street car, I'd go with American Racing headers. Nice fitment, good joints, good sound.

 

People are getting tired of being taxed. The big companies can cry all day long and they are. To bad so sad.

 

Like I said in another post. I have the same headers on my car that ARH are talking about. 3 YEARS and not one single problem. Take it for what its worth.

 

Their arms would get tired!!!!!!

 

Me too!! I did my own research and Not on the Forum and
ARH was my choice.

 

Kooks 1 7/8"

Excellent quality and performance. Not cheap copycat crap.

 

Unfortunately, owning a corvette comes with a stigma. People assume that you are wealthy, and money is no object. Coincidentally, vendors have the same out look.

Similar things happen when you own a camaro. People look at it as the working mans car. Vendors also price that accordingly.

Should be interesting to see how things go a couple years down the road. I wonder what the new big argument will be if a company takes the R&D and premium materials and builds a header & x-pipe with cats for $1,000. I wonder what the excuse will be then when other companies say they can't match the price.

Perhaps it's because I work for a CPA firm...perhaps it's because I do the tax returns for hundreds of corporations...or perhaps it's because I have to perform compilations, review's, and audits. I'd love to see the books of these companies. Granted, they are in the for profit industry. But, I'm pretty certain that I can spot a porking when I see it.

Take it for what you will, but it's usually easy to spot when people are taken advantage of. That's usually why investment schemes work, cause people with money don't care about spending. Prime targets.

Well, my mouth will probably get me in trouble. Just telling things as they are.

 

Not sure if you are agreeing with me or not. The point I was trying to make is if "everything is created equal, material used, craftsmanship, fitment " and the word "if" makes the three subjects I pointed out equal. No matter where they are made as long as all are equall. Another point I was trying to make is to the previous posts was " I don't want to get bent over by bent tubes". There's more to headers than bent tubes. The collector is the major part of headers. Ask any "major" header dealer what they concentrate on most in R&D is exiting the exhaust out of the collector along with fitment, size, and materials used. Most "major" dealers use the same material. Again the point I was trying to make is it's not "just bending tubes". Also, back in the day headers used to be tuned (equal length of every pipe coming to the collector). Haven't seen that advertised with today's headers unless they are for racing only.

 

I have the Dynamax Super Maxx long tubes which comes with a X pipe. Added the Magna flow cat back. Quality of both is unmatched and an easy installation. This adds more torque than other headers

 

My point was they are not equal. We do a lot with material that require very specific certification and I know people who have worked with the Chinese setting up manufacturing facilities. There are good materials available from China, but based on what I have seen from header installations using the Chinese stainless, the material is inferior. I also personally don't like to see vendor designs get copied. Prime example are the LG systems (there are others as well). When the LG's first came out, they were hand built by LG. They were expensive and they were hard to get. The community clamored for them to reduce cost, keep quality and make them easier to get. LG then contracted with Borla and a quality product that was less expensive then the hand made version was introduced (LG Pro). The community was happy when this happened. The headers were developed by LG during their racing programs. Then all that effort gets copied and made in China. From a personal standpoint, I will pay LG twice as much for their product to ensure they get the credit for their development efforts and that in the fabrication at Borla US people are employed as opposed to buying a Chinese knock-off. I use LG as an example as the same can be said for ARH or any other manufacturer who have developed a product and employed people here in the US. But that's just me

 

QTP, check them out

 

They unfortunately don't make the C5 headers any more, although I do have a set

 

We have a really nice system thats available from header to tip. Headers are available with 1-3/4" or 1-7/8" primaries.

Take a look:

http://www.stainlessworks.net/cart/i...th=475_387_395

Let me know if you have any questions what so ever : )

 

Here’s my 2 cents:

I have the complete Stainless Works 1 3/4 primary and 3" system on my 02 ZO6. They have been on the car since LATE 03 and have been on and off many many times with out ANY issues. They fit fantastic and install very very easily. Fit and quality of the headers is FANTASTIC. The only complaint is that the stainless steel turns very dark over time. No biggy for a daily driver. They just flat work fantastic and fit very well. With my heads/cam/ported fast 90/90 set up they easily support 450 RWHP with the stainless works set up.


I was asked to mule the C6 XS Power header system on my 06 Coupe and I also muled the C5 set on my buddies 04 C5 Vert.

Here is what I can tell you about the installs. The C6 install can be completely done in your drive way on jack stands in as little as 4 hrs. They fit excellent and the ball joint mid pipe flange DOES NOT LEAK! My wife loves them and they make excellent power. I have ZERO material issues with them after 2 yrs! I worked closely with the company that made them in GA and they used my inputs to make the headers fit properly.

The C5 install went well also but, the BAT WING oil pan requires a little more work on the passengers side to install it. They fit excellent and after a year or so there are ZERO material issues with them. My buddy is completely happy with the C5 XS Power headers.

It all comes down to the price your willing to pay for a set of headers and if you want bragging rights for a name brand header.

I’m very sure that some very expensive headers can get a few more HP than one of the lower cost headers but, I’m getting excellent power and excellent service out of a lower cost set on C5 and C6 cars.

Bill C

 

ARH uses 100% USA forgings, I know that some of the other premiums brands use over-seas as well as not using SS on the flanges.

ARH is one of the best fitting headers on the market. I have a recent customer who swapped to ARH from one of the premium brands in this thread due to fitments. They ran them for 3 years and "enough was enough".

http://www.mcssl.com/store/cc-perfor...tegory/5058496

There is a difference and it has nothing to due with bragging about brands. Its all about quality and material and in the end ...the quality and material are what will keep the header together and is what your spending your money on. There are plenty of cheap knocks offs out there who take a quality header and copy it, have it produced over seas and then dump it on the market here. Its nothing new.

 

Thanks Bill for the review! Glad everything has worked great for you thus far

Just a quick comment on the type of material we use - Our material is basically the best 304l stainless steel that we can find and it is made here in the US. We do all of our own laser cutting in house for every single one of our flanges. Flanges are 3/8" thick 304l stainless steel.

 

We have sold 100's of Stainless Works Headers over the years. The quality and fitment is excellent



Seth