A lot of track guys in the SW swear by American Racing Headers.

 

nice pics!
looks like a really nice deal for that kind of money! wish you had posted those pics 3 weeks ago lol! I'd have gone and get me a set...ah well.
Post some hp numbers if and when you get some (or ET's), I'm sure they'll perform just as well as the others!

 

I have an 08 LS3 auto. I had put on a set of B&B Rt.66 exhaust with a K&N intake. Last year I had Kook headers installed and the car tuned and dyno. At the rear wheel hp is 400hp and torque is 396. It sounds great and the performance is as well. Cartek in Garwood NJ did it. They're very good. The only thing I would have done differently is the exhaust. For the most part I like it, but at certain RPM's (low) it has a disturbing droan. Most likely I will get around to changing the exhaust. A friend with a 69 mustang with magnaflow and is very happy. Any suggestions?

 

I run dynomax round straight thru on my Big block and no drone (5" case, 3" in and out). Don't know if that would fit out back of the vette. those replaced Flowbastards 40 seris (3" in and out) because the drone drove me insane...

 

I have Kooks 6600-EX with Corsa Sports #14167 for the A6. Both companies collaborated on matching the whole no drone system. The Kooks 6115-CC hi-flo cats bolt-up direct to the Corsa H-Pipe. No Kooks X pipe needed. There is NO DRONE at any rpm, though obviously the exhaust is not as loud or deep as the B&B 66's below 3000 rpm. Note the design of the A6 is such that it will give more drone than a MN6. So far as I know, Corsa Sport is the only drone free cat back for the A6. I am very happy with this setup.

 

A large part of my business involves stainless steel tubing, and pipe. The difference in tubing costs from type to type is minimal. I can purchase pharmaceutical grade 20ra polished (both id/AND OD) tubing in those sizes for about $8.00/ft in case lots (which is a MUCH better quality than ANY header tubing for fit and finish). Less if I'm buying a couple thousand feet. There isn't much you can tell about the quality of the tubing from those pictures, is it 065 wall, 083 wall, welded, seamless? Regardless, the costs of the tubing have little bearing on the cost of the headers. Want to make them out of 316L instead of 304, how about electropolished for a nice mirror finish? Double the price of the material, thats it.

 

I appreciate all of your input.

 

Your thoughts don't work when looking for max profit out of the cheap price.
Price is everything in manufacuring! They are using much cheaper tubing. The quality of tubing has everything to do with the quaility of the finished product!

 

Looking in the collector looks like thinner mild steel tubing and not stainless.
Sure doesn't look like stainless, looks like some rust spotting also!

 

What's the brand name?

 

The Chinese stuff is unfortunatly becoming common. You can always tell the stuff made in China because it is polished and the way the welds look (they use different machinery over there). Basically someone takes an existing design and sends it to China, where they try make copies of it. The contract manufactuers over there love it because it keeps the plant busy when they are not making Walmart lawn furniture. Then they find someone off the streets to peddle it on ebay or wherever for side money. This happened in both the F-body and Trailblazer SS markets. I know from other knockoffs that it generally takes these guys a few runs to get it right because their benders over there can't do the same bends as say Kooks. Also, the Chinese stuff is new in this market...but in the import market, they have quite a "stay away from" reputation. That may be why were are seeing them here all the sudden.

I know the price looks tempting...and it may seem like "Well these are so much cheaper than Kooks..so why pay that kind of money". But also know there is more than the cost of materials in each header. It's really like your Corvette...where the cost of the actual materials is way less than what it costs to actually design, market, and support the car. With someone like Kooks, there is R&D, warranties, marketing, insurance, taxes, a dealer network, paying your workers an American salary...the whole nine yards. That's very different and much more expensive than a guy peddling headers made by a contract manufactuer on ebay. Heck..the place selling these won't even take returns..so good luck if you have a warranty issue.

 

My point is that you can not tell from those pictures what the quality of the tubing is. You can not tell that "they are using much cheaper tubing" from the pictures, and I'm pointing out that there isn't that much of a difference in the price of tubing from a "higher grade" to a lower grade when used for this type of item. Rust spots on the outside of the tubing are NOT an indication of quality. You can take a high alloy stainless steel and nick it or scratch it with carbon steel and you will get a rust spot.

Also, just a note, looking at ANY of the header manufacturers out there (whom ALL make nice quality products), their cost is NOT in the tubing, believe me. At these quality levels of tubing there is very little difference in 304ss tubing, and you can NOT tell the difference by looking at it from a picture on a computer.

 

I almost posted last night as to how anyone could ascertain the quality of tubing by looking at a picture, but some here are open to reason and others are not, so I left it alone.

San

 

The weld shown on the outside of that piece was probably done by hand with a simple Tig machine (those tiny 110volt 10 lbs Miller Machines could easily make that weld). If that piece was done on an Astroarc or similar automatic welding machine it would be less visible and smoother. Either way looking from the outside its a decent looking weld. Whether or not they purged with argon and had full penetration cant be seen from the picture.

 

 

Well let me jump in here. I bought an 08 Z06 three weeks ago and had a set of Stainless Works headers ordered. I was told that they were on back order and it would be 3-4 weeks before shipping them out. Tim (2000C-5) came over and showed me these headers. I ended up cancelling my order with Stainless Works and bought a set of these 1-7/8" X 3", which were on my doorstep in two days, for $365. Big gains in horsepower and sound awesome through the stock mufflers. I probably won't keep the car more than two years and it is strictly street driven so if there is any horsepower difference, which I doubt, I am not concerned with it. Bottom line, I think the quality is on par, if not better than some more expensive headers and I now have an extra$1300 I can use to buy rear tires that I can't keep from spinning now.

 

no one will know for sure until someone put them on, and drive their car for a good year or more. If the welds are bad, oh you'll know!!
If they hold up good, then we are all going to feal prety dumb for having spend that extra 600- to 1200 bucks on ours...
All this aside, I can't wait for someone to post numbers...hey maybe it'll be the end of high priced parts for late modle stuff lol (one can only wish lol)

 

I am not sure how this is true. I mean again..there is a difference between buying from a real..made in the USA company vs. someone selling knock off headers they had made in China on ebay. Just like your Corvette, there is more to the price of the headers than just materials cost.

 

I think what he was saying is that if the performance gains are similar and the headers stand the test of time, there is a lot of money to be saved. You are obviously influenced as a distributor for certain headers, but there are always options that others will explore.

San

 

Montred, With all due respect, what you are saying regarding tubing cost is way way off, at least that's the case in the header industry. You can't compare the cost of Chinese sourced S/S with that of U.S. sourced S/S. You can't compare the quality either. Other than the fact that the Chinese work for pennies to our dollars, the materials are far inferior. How? Because they are brittle and will eventually crack. We know this because we've tested it on more than one occasion and this material does not nearly meet our standards.

At ARH we live by the classic saying "After the sweetness of a low price is gone, only the bitterness of poor quality remains". Here's another one for you folks "Buy American" We do.

Nick