Side Mount Headers for a LS1, going in a 64 Corvette
 

Hello:

Has anyone on the board found where one can buy side mount headers and pipes, for a C2 with a LS1 Engine?

I checked Hooker and didn't find anything in their catalog. I went ahead and sent off a message to Tech Support, but haven't heard anything back yet.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Ty O'Neal

Drop Mike at sriiimotorsports.com or Trey at streetshopsinc.com an email.

They've both done it with their frame and engine conversions.

Of course Trey will tell you how it did it better thanks to his ego. :lol:

I don't remember what frame your using, but that will probably make a difference as well.

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Thanks a million.

I'm going with a 4 inch Tube frame for a 1964 Grand Sport. I have spoken to both these people and they were very friendly, however since I didn't buy either one of their products, I feel silly asking for more information. Seems it would be in bad taste.

Am I wrong?

Thanks,

Ty O'Neal

I completely understand as I avoid taking up peoples time if I'm not doing business with them. Fortunately there are plenty of "hot rod" guys running most of these shops that are happy to help out - just hard to know in advance... :lol:

That being said, I'm sure a couple of the "regulars" here will chime in as there's been a couple LSx Gran Sports through here...

If they don't know.. I'll ask Trey for ya as I bought spent a chunk of change with him and he still gives me grief about buying my frame from SRIII. :lol: so I don't feel bad bothering him.

I cut my exhaust together and will tackle a good header setup when I get further down the road. Using some generic midlengths for the time being.

Awesome project....hope to tackle one myself someday.

Header
 

Stainless Works has some.

http://www.stainlessworks.net/cart/i...eeff7b03271f66

Nick

Ty,
You may want to specify what you're after.. OEM/GS side mount or "laker" side mount style? Right now I think myself and RJ may be the only two C2 LS engine cars running laker pipes. Nobody makes them for catalog order.

My '64 is LS2/TKO600 powered and we modified Hooker SBC long tube side pipe headers to fit the LS flange and keep the "laker" side pipe look. See this thread for photos:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...oto-shoot.html

The passenger side is easy to do, just heat the pipes and adjust position to mate with the LS flange.
The driver's side is trickier, depending on your config. I'm running a manual clutch w/z-bar and a custom steering shaft to rack and pinion setup, so considerable work re-routing the primaries on the driver's side. In fact the header is back out of the car right now to have one primary re-routed for a final time to gain additional clearance.

If you just want the original or GS side pipe look (single pipe coming out from under car) then that's pretty easy. If I had it to do over, I might just go that route.
If you're dead set on the laker look with 4 into 1 collector visible on the side, then find a damn good exhaust shop and welder and then have the pipes ceramic coated in/out when done. Be prepared to spend over $1000 for the completed headers by the time you're done!

Try Mongoose Motorsports.
They build grand sports and offer a LS engine option.
Mr Wizzard here on the forum has one of their frames with a LS motor.

Jim

Ty, I'm the other guy Mikey was talking about, his car is the beauty, mine is the beast (as in dark gray primer, his is faster as well) I used small block chevy hooker headers, bought LS exhaust Flanges and had a buddy cut/weld/fabricate the pipes. He probably has approx 8 hours into them. I am also running a 4L60E automatic versus Mikey's manual, so I did not have the Z-bar to contend with.

R.J. (Beach Dude)

I have Hookers on my '65 with a '04 6.0L. I modified them myself using Scoggins Dickey's LS Header flanges. They are real fat, great quality pieces. I just bought the required bends, cut them up and had them welded up by a friend. It really wasn't that difficult. The bends are 3/4" and the tubes are 7/8" so they slip together nice for welding. I don't think that the whole deal cost me more than $200. I had never built headers before, but it turned out that IMHO there were a lot more difficult issues to overcome with the conversion.

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Trey and Mike were very kind answering all my questions. had I not been building a Grand Sport, and in the long run felt that and more period correct frame was the right way to go, I would have bought from either one of these guys.

They were both first class, and I hope I can use them on my next build. Both the products look top notch.

Ty

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Mikey:

Thanks for the email. I like your 64, and the pipes you have ARE the ones I am wanting to run. I was not aware the, "individual header primary pipes that appear to merge together out from under the bottom of the car just behind the wheels", were called "laker"pipes.

I have always associated "Laker Pipes", with what you see on "A" Model Fords often at the dry lake beds or at Bonneville. Have I got these confused?

Anyway, your pipes are exactly what I am after. The theme of my Grand Sport, or it's Point in Time, takes place in the mid to late sixties for Road Race Cars. I believe that is when these pipes started showing up and were used. As I have posted on another thread, I am seeking more of a later or further evolved Grand Sport that "could" have been seen on road race tracks in the US and at venues such as Le mans, had GM not pulled out of Racing and cancelled the Grand Sport line of race cars.

Further, since Gulf Oil was a big sponsor of the earlier Corvettes, (Late 50's through the early sixties) I'm wanting to continue that possible "future", sponsorship with this car. From what I understand when factory support was pulled by GM, Gulf Oil picked up the Ford Cobras and the GT 40's, for their Racing Exposure. (I have found both these cars wearing the classic Gulf Livery, especially at Le mans on the GT 40's)

Anyway if I have this wrong, someone please feel free to correct me. I know this will be a different look than what is normally seen on "replica" Grand Sports, instead I am not trying to create a replica, but rather what a Grand Sport might have looked like if it's program had continued.

Sorry for the redundancies of the description, but I want to make sure everyone is on the same page if possible. This forum is an unbelievable resource, and I would like to have as much input from everyone as possible.

I think from what your saying I should pick up a set of sbc, "Side Mount Headers, baffles and Tubes", then as was mentioned, pick up 2 LS Header Flanges, then mate the two together.

Sounds like a good plan.

From the possible renderings I'm looking at, I might just buy, "Paint Grade" pipes and paint them to match the secondary color of the car. If I change my mind and decide on a ceramic coating, either the "Polished" finish, or the, "Black Ceramic" finish would look great IMO.

Anyway a very long winded post, I hope it was not unbearable.

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Ty O'Neal

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Nick:

Thanks for the link.

I'll give them a call and get more information on their products.

Ty

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Jim:

Very good point, and he is local. I am planning to see his car in the near future.

Thanks for the post.

Ty

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R.J.

Thanks for the tip. I imagine using a hydraulic clutch would save me some headache for fitment.

Ty

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Wow!

What a beautiful piece of Artistry. Did you make these, or had them made?

They appear very authentic, and Purdy.

Ty

We built them at my business.

They do look very nice.:thumbs:

Any problem with the o2 bungs that close to the merger of the 4 pipes? I assume you have the same set up on the rt side?

you got it.. hooker super comp side mount header, 2224 series for corvette small block. 1 7/8" primaries, 4" collector (available polished, ceramic coated, or high temp black)

the LS flanges are readily available also.

I agree, if going for vintage race car look, painted headers would be more with the theme. You could go black or white, as race cars often sported pipes of either color.

The Gulf Oil blue/orange scheme in Grand Sport pattern would be sweet and one of a kind. I thought I saw a photoshop image of this paint scheme not too long ago.

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Mikey:

Thanks for the information. Yes, I posted a rough version of what I was thinking would make a fun and possibly unique paint scheme. Even though I know you always paint things the way you like it. I still appreciate peoples thoughts one way or the other.

Thinking out of the ordinary is not often hard for me to do, so I like the input from other owners for general feedback.

I was thinking of doing the wheel centers "Gulf Orange", and possible the same color on the pipes, or do the pipes in a black or polished ceramic and maybe bringing a "Gulf Orange" stripe down the side just above the pipes. Of course just the wheel centers and the powder blue on the sides is always an option. I have someone rendering each scenario, so I can see what each of them looks like.

Thanks,

Ty