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Attached are the headers I recieved from west coast corvette, I went with the B&B headers as the car already came equipped with the B&B x pipe. So I opened the package and did a very thorough scan of the headers as to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with them but I am concerned that the quality of the flange and the opening for the tubes is not what I would call "above standard". I am basing this question off having had kooks on my 08 vette and they were in my opinion perfect.
I agree with you. the quality of the welds look shoddy, and the grinding looks like a 5 yr old did it. id expect that from a Chinese ebay header. I'd return them and go with a diff. company. im sure they will all bolt up to your x pipe
I agree with you. the quality of the welds look shoddy, and the grinding looks like a 5 yr old did it. id expect that from a Chinese ebay header. I'd return them and go with a diff. company. im sure they will all bolt up to your x pipe
Thank you, I was afraid of that. I forgot to mention this in the original message... I am not looking to slander any companies name, I just thought that perhaps I was off in my thinking. I just wanted to clear up any concerns before I make a decision about which route to go from here. Thank you for your quick reply
That is not what I would expect from B&B, I've installed 3 of their bullet axle backs on mine and a few friends cars. They were absolute works of art and fit like a glove, almost a shame they were underneath the car and no one could admire the shinny stainless and nice welds.
That is not what I would expect from B&B, I've installed 3 of their bullet axle backs on mine and a few friends cars. They were absolute works of art and fit like a glove, almost a shame they were underneath the car and no one could admire the shinny stainless and nice welds.
-jp
And that's what I had read, and expected from the company. I'm not overly upset, I just want to make sure that A. My problem is resolved, and B. They know about this so it doesn't happen again. They are a big company so things like this happen. It's not the end of the world. I figured either an employee was on his last day and just didn't care, or someone had not drank their morning coffee yet and just missed it. It could always be worse.
That is some of the worst welding that I have seen in a long time. Inconsistent beads and runs - just very sloppy. A third grader could do better, not to mention the grinding that was performed. Chinese crap, low buck headers, maybe, but a US high dollar product NEVER. I would send them back for a refund.
That is some of the worst welding that I have seen in a long time. Inconsistent beads and runs - just very sloppy. A third grader could do better, not to mention the grinding that was performed. Chinese crap, low buck headers, maybe, but a US high dollar product NEVER. I would send them back for a refund.
That's my thought. There is no way these are $1100 headers. I am waiting to talk to B&B Monday about them and make sure they understand how bad they are and that I am not to happy and all I ask is they compensate me with either a new pair or I go elsewhere.
Is it possible these are knock offs? Did you buy them from authorized dealer?
They shouldn't be. I don't have the picture of the stamp on the headers. But it is there saying the brand, what part number and what batch I.D number it is.
That is some of the worst welding that I have seen in a long time. Inconsistent beads and runs - just very sloppy. A third grader could do better, not to mention the grinding that was performed. Chinese crap, low buck headers, maybe, but a US high dollar product NEVER. I would send them back for a refund.
Here is a shot of the collector and flange, I did some measuring after my dad and I talked some more. The collector is 3" inside diameter and the flange is 2.5" inside diameter.
That is some of the worst welding that I have seen in a long time. Inconsistent beads and runs - just very sloppy. A third grader could do better, not to mention the grinding that was performed. Chinese crap, low buck headers, maybe, but a US high dollar product NEVER. I would send them back for a refund.
This is a screen shot of the reply I got from west coast corvettes regarding the welds. I ordered them through west coast corvettes due to them being cheaper at the time.
They shouldn't be. I don't have the picture of the stamp on the headers. But it is there saying the brand, what part number and what batch I.D number it is.
Sounds like you are ok then. I am sure they will stand behind these headers. Not the cleanest job.
Shouldn't effect performance, and can't see it. There is a reason kooks/arh are more expensive and top shelf headers. I won't let anything but ARH touch my cars.
I was looking at headers at Carlisle back in August. ARH has a solid product and the installers at Carlisle didn't seem to have any real issues getting them to fit. The flange welds while not up to the standards of Pro-Fabrication, are serviceable and decently blended. Here are a couple of pic of ARH LS7 headers on display.
and
Here are some pics of the relatively new headers from Vararam. These LS3 headers featured a round rather than D-shaped flange (not sure this makes any difference in power) and were very will finished inside. The collectors are fabricated much like a Burns merge collector and the welds are nicely finished off inside, and feature a medium length transition. It looks like Vararam has done their homework on this header and it's favorably priced. Vararam isn't very good at marketing and reliable information on these headers is hard to find, but they seem to have very good quality products. Both ARH and Vararam use a welded in spike in the merge section.
I was looking at headers at Carlisle back in August. ARH has a solid product and the installers at Carlisle didn't seem to have any real issues getting them to fit. The flange welds while not up to the standards of Pro-Fabrication, are serviceable and decently blended. Here are a couple of pic of ARH LS7 headers on display.
and
Here are some pics of the relatively new headers from Vararam. These LS3 headers featured a round rather than D-shaped flange (not sure this makes any difference in power) and were very will finished inside. The collectors are fabricated much like a Burns merge collector and the welds are nicely finished off inside, and feature a medium length transition. It looks like Vararam has done their homework on this header and it's favorably priced. Variorum isn't very good at marketing and reliable information on these headers is hard to find, but they seem to have very good quality products. Both ARH and Vararam use a welded in spike in the merge section.
Vararam merge collector.
I love the attention and detail ARH put into their work, them and kooks are my top 2 headers for quality. I just couldn't justify the price of ARH and like I said earlier, I thought it would have been an easy bolt on already having the B&B x pipe. But from now it's kooks or ARH.
I installed the vararam snake charmer "cai" and saw they offered headers but I didn't know how well made they were beans no one seems to report on them.
Shouldn't effect performance, and can't see it. There is a reason kooks/arh are more expensive and top shelf headers. I won't let anything but ARH touch my cars.
ARH Headers are top notch. If you ever have to purchase headers again ARH will have them ceramic coated using White Lightning Ceramic coating before they even ship them to you.
Update about the headers: I called B&B directly today, double checked to make sure they saw the email and my concern. They had received the email, but their feelings still stood as far as it being a quality built header. According to the rep I talked to, the headers will not have a finish similar to cylinder heads, so they saw no issues with the work. He told me they could attempt to smooth out the grinds and welds. But if they did do that he couldn't guarantee a warranty on the headers due to lack of material left after the rework.
So I told the guy that's fine, I just wanted to double check. I would have asked for them to be reworked, but he made it pretty clear it wasn't something they felt comfortable and necessary. So that right there made up my mind as far as someone working on my parts when they didn't want to in the beginning.
So sadly I write this saying how upset and sad I am that a company of 25+ years in business could care so little about the quality of work. With social media so prevalent nowadays, I would be bending over backwards to please and make things right. If I showed up at corvettes of Carlisle, these would ruin a company. Pictures truly don't do this atrocity justice.
I really see it as a non issue. It is inside a header, and will no effect on performance or function of the header. The 2.5" flanges are way bigger issue than "ugly" grinding inside.
I've never been a B&B fan, but they are correct in this case. It is a non-issue, so there is nothing to fix.
I really see it as a non issue. It is inside a header, and will no effect on performance or function of the header. The 2.5" flanges are way bigger issue than "ugly" grinding inside.
I've never been a B&B fan, but they are correct in this case. It is a non-issue, so there is nothing to fix.
Dang it! I forgot to mention that, I was running on very little sleep. Yes I mentioned the flange and collector concern I had. He said the collector was either 3" or 2.5". But the flange is the correct size as factory exhaust is 2.5" on the corvette and 3" on the Z06. But I for sure had the right flange and collector on the exhaust. So my concern was nothing to worry about. Except for I have their X pipe and I swear that pipe is 3".
I could have sworn the base had 2.5" exhaust, I know that's right. I had a base 08. But I thought I read the grand sport, like mine, Z06 and ZR1 all had 3" exhaust. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Header quality concern
