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I'm looking for opinions on the below manufacturers both good, bad, or indifferent. I'm kind of leaning toward ARH, but want to cover all my bases before making a final decision. Please note I am only interested in these manufacturers:
American Racing Headers
Kooks Racing Headers
TPS Motorsports
Hinson Motorsports
Billy Boat Exhaust
Borla
Corsa
Had TPS on my C5 for 6 years before I sold the car. Sounded real good with stock mufflers with the bypass mod. Never had a problem with them.
Have had ARHs on my 427 for 18mos. Had them ceramic coated by a local guy. Great sound around town--but for NPP might be too much for long road trips. Welds seemed to be higher quality than I remembered on the TPS, butcouldn't stake my life on it.
Good luck with your choice!
I have ARH but I have had Kooks on a F-Body in the past which was great. If I did it over again I would have got my ARH coated that's all. So I would say KooKs or ARH if you have the coin. From what I hear Hinson's are good also and if you don't have to have cats Speed Engineering are good also. TPS people say they are good on here and have good clearance.
I know right now if your looking to buy like right now. A vendor has a damn good price on the ARH and that's https://rdpstore.com/ . Now I haven't bought anything from them. But just make sure you use code md12d But look around someone may have them cheaper. Complete street performance also has a sale going on but haven't looked at price.
Last edited by johnodrake; Jan 17, 2019 at 12:58 PM.
Reason: Vendor bashing
I had a very good experience with Kooks on a Z06. The fit and finish was very good, the ball and socket connection was always leak-free and easy to use even with disconnecting the system multiple times for unrelated reasons. The cats were also very reliable.
I’ve also always seen very positive feedback about ARH as well.
I had arh on my 2008 z06, and for the few months that I owned the car with them on it I really liked them.
I have kooks on my 2009 z06, am on starter #2 and if I don't wrap it really soon I'll be on #3. Other than that they have been fine.
I didn't have any leaks or other issues with either after taking the time to get everything lined and tightened properly. I think that I liked the sound of the arh a little more but both sound good and that is kind of to the tastes of the listener.
I can only speak to what I have and that's Kooks which was a very complete package including Stage 8 fasteners, and all other items to complete the install. They seem to be a high quality product.
NSF
I would stick with Kooks or ARH, I have Kooks and had O problems with installation & Kooks sends you all of the needed parts to install, bolts/gaskets/sensor extensions. When comparing prices make sure you ask if the above items are included
We generally recommend ARH, Kooks or Stainless Works headers. All three use premium 304 stainless steel and are built in the USA with excellent weld quality. We carry them all and have great prices and discounts for board members. Kooks might be the best value between the three.
I have Billy Boat long tubes on my LS3 and I'm very happy with them. Install is easy, the flanges are true and don't leak, and it bolts up to your factory x pipe. They fit perfectly.
I've also installed TSP headers on a couple of friends C6 and they are certainly a good value. My only complaint is how low they hang on the driver side. They hang low enough that I had to change how I use my lift on their cars because the header gets in the way.
No matter which direction you go headers will really wake up your Vette. In my opinion you really can't go wrong with any of your options listed.
I know you don't have Phadt headers on your list, but they have some of the finest welding I've ever seen. Maybe their welder was aerospace quality plus, but you might consider that aspect of your criteria. You'll also need a qualified person's opinion rather than someone who has no experience in top quality welding.
I know of one thread on this forum about headers from a manufacturer you listed, that had welding problems (leaks due to design) and the mfg refused to fix it. Do your research.
BTW, Even though "Made in America" is on lots of products, including those from my company, many of the components are sourced from other countries. If you have a fear of non-American made parts having failures, even staying home is not an option.
I have used Kooks ceramic coated headers on the last three cars I built, and had zero issues. They are well made and fit properly. I agree with HOXXOH on the exceptional weld quality of the Pfadt headers, its like art. But, I still bought the Kooks.
I have used Kooks ceramic coated headers on the last three cars I built, and had zero issues. They are well made and fit properly. I agree with HOXXOH on the exceptional weld quality of the Pfadt headers, its like art. But, I still bought the Kooks.
Are they the ones from Jet-Hot or did you have a set of Kooks coated? I ask because while doing my own research, I noticed that the Jet-Hot version is 409 stainless while the one directly from Kooks are 304 which is a higher grade of stainless. Not sure how much difference that really makes especially since they're ceramic coated, but would love to hear opinions... Still researching myself and I do have a ceramic coating business local to me if needed.
We generally recommend ARH, Kooks or Stainless Works headers. All three use premium 304 stainless steel and are built in the USA with excellent weld quality. We carry them all and have great prices and discounts for board members. Kooks might be the best value between the three.
I can vouch for these guys. I bought my Billy Boat Fusion from these guys. They had the best price and it was a great transaction. Juiced1 is a great vendor
2" Kooks on my ZR1. The car sounds nasty at startup, but only slightly louder than stock with the NPP valves closed. Quality and fitment are top notch. Can't go wrong with Kooks or AR headers. The others on the list are good as well.
Are they the ones from Jet-Hot or did you have a set of Kooks coated? I ask because while doing my own research, I noticed that the Jet-Hot version is 409 stainless while the one directly from Kooks are 304 which is a higher grade of stainless. Not sure how much difference that really makes especially since they're ceramic coated, but would love to hear opinions... Still researching myself and I do have a ceramic coating business local to me if needed.
All my Kooks headers have come from them with Jet-Hot coating applied.The headers are 304 stainless,
I have had a set of Kooks on a 2006 GTO, a set of ARH's on my C5 Z06, and currently have a set of ARH's on my 2011 Grand Sport. Both are top quality. Have heard nothing but good things about Stainless Works.
I recommend getting some sort of ceramic coating. Reduces underhood heat tremendously which will add longevity to all the wiring and plastics under the hood. In my opinion, the best high head coating is Swaintech White Lightning. It reduces underhood temps and seems to even cut down on the valvetrain noise that a lot of headers tend to magnify.
Very tame and quiet with the NPP exhaust (only slightly louder at idle, as is the same when highway driving). Sounds like a racecar when the valves open up. Pretty awesome.
Oh, and go with highflow cats. You will lose about 1 HP and your car won't smell bad.
Last edited by Spaceme1117; Jan 14, 2019 at 05:13 PM.
I had Kooks on my 09Z and will go back to Kooks when I need headers again. Made in Statesville, NC. 304SS The fitment was great and had no problems with leaks or hardware.
Last edited by got2hav1; Jan 15, 2019 at 07:41 AM.
American-made Headers
