Are Headers reliable for the long term?
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 47,647
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From: Queens, New York Life begins at 183 mph....
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Are Headers reliable for the long term?
Just curious, do headers like kooks or LG's long tube headers last as long as factory setup or are they more prone to cracking over the years. What's the warranty on kooks and LGs? Will they basically last for the life of the engine like the stock setup?
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 138
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From: ELGIN IL
Originally Posted by alex1217
Just curious, do headers like kooks or LG's long tube headers last as long as factory setup or are they more prone to cracking over the years. What's the warranty on kooks and LGs? Will they basically last for the life of the engine like the stock setup?
Good Luck!!!
LEE
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: Queens, New York Life begins at 183 mph....
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Originally Posted by grsz06
Kooks Longtubes!!! All stainless and loads of HP!! 
That's what I'm planning to get. She'll probably see some agressive autcrossing once or twice a year at most, and of course the occassional WOT takeoff.
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Team Owner
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Just got the Kooks from the UPS man today and they go on this week hopefully.
As they are 304 stainless, I don't worry about the headers. the x pipe is not 304 but neither was the stock setup to my knowledge. My Corsas are stainless, but mufflers can and do go bad.
As they are 304 stainless, I don't worry about the headers. the x pipe is not 304 but neither was the stock setup to my knowledge. My Corsas are stainless, but mufflers can and do go bad.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,840
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From: Bonita CA
Headers rust from the inside out so you are not seeing anything YET. Yes, stainless rusts too. Best thing to do is get them coated at Jet Hot or similar place. Then, they will last the life of the car. The coating will also carry the heat out the exhaust for better scavanging and lower under hood temperatures.
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 133
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From: Portland or
LGs are great.
I have had a ton of headers on my previous vettes and they all have had problems.
You get what you pay for and I have zero complaints about my LGs have been problem free.
buy them, you will not regre it
Mike
I have had a ton of headers on my previous vettes and they all have had problems.
You get what you pay for and I have zero complaints about my LGs have been problem free.
buy them, you will not regre it
Mike
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,911
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From: Honolulu Hawaii
Originally Posted by MikeJamesC5
So did Kooks come out with an all stainless x-pipe now? Because last I heard from Cartek they said Kooks x-pipe is not stainless. I would go with LG LT's. They are all stainless.
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: Queens, New York Life begins at 183 mph....
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
So what's the down pipes on the kooks made out of? Aluminum? Iron? I know the headers themselves are stainless steel but I'm thinking everything from the cats back might be aluminum. Does that mean that the kooks setup is slightly lighter than the LGs? Also, If the stock setup is iron, how come they don't have any rusting issue? (that I know of anyway).
Last edited by alex1217; Aug 26, 2004 at 11:45 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
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From: Western NY
This may or may not be relevant, however here goes... I had a set of Edelbrock headers and y-pipe on a Firebird a number of years ago. Had the pipes coated by Swaintech. They were on the car 9 years before I sold it, and were still on the car for a year or two afterward, as far as I know. As someone said, however, you have to check the bolts now and again.
