Headers and side pipes
 

Looking for some opinions from guys who have been there.

I am doing a 454 HO swap in a 1974 and planning to go with chrome headers and side pipes.

Any input on which brand has worked with respect to fit, blueing performance. Will be appreciated.

I am going for apperarence and a low throaty sound.

Hooker Header / Sidepipes with STS baffles.

Looks great, sounds even better.

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/y...BMS_Vette1.jpg

Hooker over Doug's or XS Power

I went with Doug's, wasted a thousand bucks on Hookers that didn't fit.

Doug's fitted well and are a copy of the Hookers:thumbs:

I got a used set of Hookers of the Forum and had the recoated. Saved a ton of money the fit is awesome:D:thumbs::cheers:

Thanks for the input. It appears to be spilt between Hooker and Doug's. I live in LA and The mother company for Doug's Is a few towns over

I will also have to verify that the headers will fit the car and bolt up to the 454 HO not a 1974 BBC.

Big Bad Borry your car is absolutely beautifull. I must have pulled up the photo and showed 20 people.

Thanks, I appreciate the sentiment. She's a dream to drive while pounding the eardrums :)

If hookers didnt fit and Dougs are a rip off of Hookers then how do the dougs fit?

I have a 454 in my 69 hookers fit perfect better even than hookers on the small block. :thumbs:

I've had 3 sets of Hooker's on my 69 since they were first installed in 1971. 1 set rusted out, #2 got a primary tube bent, and the 3rd set was pulled in favor of Jet-Hot coated ones, and the Jet-Hot's are on now. I sold the 3rd set, the guy had them coated and he's running them. Never had a problem with fit, other than the end of the pipe was a little high and I had to bend the mount a little. I've had everything in there from Hooker inserts, to a baffle in the collector, and I have STS baffles in now. I have run the open quite a bit too.

Does Jet Hot recoat your headers or can u buy direct from them. Do they have a chrome finish. I have not figured out their website yet.

Some people say, NO way would Hooker or other American companies sell things that they own or had made somewhere else and say that they are American made. I have the Small Block XS or whatever other name they operate under....the headers are an EXACT copy of the Hookers, but actually had better welds and WAY thicker flanges, I think they are made better. I said it before and will say it again, I would NOT be surprised if they were made in the same factory, whether that factory is in China, Mexico or somewhere else.

Anybody ever use Doug's headers and hooker pipes? Or Xs power headers with hooker pipes? Just curious if they are compatible with each other.

Have had the hookers on my 75, as a driver the ChiTown salt ate them up in three years.
After that they went to a stock car.

Went with Dougs on a '68 with a big block swap, no power steering and they fit with NO drama and NO dimpling.

Off topic but how do you like the big block without power steering?

Anybody know if they are compatible?

What I will add is chrome looks gross too fast for my tastes, when I have to buy again I will go stainless,
The ones on my car now have that header wrap on the pipes part, looks ugly racer but you can touch it with no burns....:thumbs:

WHY DOESN'T SOMEONE MAKE THESE IN STAINLESS STEEL????

I had Hooker headers on my 69 long time ago. For my 70, I'd like to buy a set...don't want to buy steel.

[QUOTE=68/70Vette;1585990370][B]WHY DOESN'T SOMEONE MAKE THESE IN STAINLESS STEEL????

Stainless tubes are not going to be cheap for this application. But, in the long run, it would probably be the way to go, at least for the headers, the side pipes can still be carbon steel.

I'm on my 3rd set of Hookers. The latest set was brought from a user of this site, and had to have the right side collector cut and reattached as it was assembled crooked. Needless to say, the quality is not as good as the other 2 earlier sets. In some spots the primary tubes are close together which makes it difficult when they are later aluminun coated.

Never had a chrome set, would think that they throw off a lot of heat, and think they are more susceptible to rusting. The last two sets were alum coated. It is better to purchase the headers with a painted finish and have them send out for the coating.

Using Sweet Thunder baffles, think they are 2.25, shied away from the larger size inserts. With the mild built 427, about 10:1 compression ratio, these baffles are freaking loud, but less restriction than the Hooker inserts or the custom made inserts that were in-place before the Sweet Thunders.