Header instal estimate
 

Think this is over the top? Quote from a Corvette only speed shop

Kooks headers with catted mid pipe, tuning, labor and tax:

$6445.00

Are they gonna use grease when they bend you over? TY for your service, Semper Fi! take a ride to Alabama with the headers we'll have you going home the next day. good tune is $500 but I would notlet anyone do it. you could stop at Vengeance racing in Cumming Ga on the way home, $2000? for the headers $500 for the tune, $4000 for labor, I think they saw you coming, 3 hours tops for someone that has done it before, 4 if he has a coffee.

The headers with cats are like $4500 now. Even so, that puts you at $2k in labor which is absolutely horrendous.

For a shop, headers are maybe a 4 hour job. I wouldn’t think labor would be any more than $600 on the high side

Also a tune is not needed. Advise? Sure,but not needed.

They saw you coming and tried to take you for what they can get out of you.

Shops often go by book time for quotes. GM book time for a spark plug change on a C6 is 3.2 hours pay time 2.6 hours warranty time just to give you an idea of how high book time really is and where these high install prices come from sometimes. Also, kooks with cats are going to be around $4,000+ for parts only now. Dyno tuning is going to be anywhere from $600-$1000 +/- a few depending on where you live, now add labor and tax.

Edit: Book time is the following for removing and replacing the exhaust manifold.
Ls3 1.2 hours left side
Ls7 1.9 hours left side
Ls9 1.9 hours left side

Ls3 1.1 hours right side
Ls7 1.9 hours right side
Ls9 1.9 hours right side

These times are for OEM so it doesn't factor in anything extra with aftermarket.
Kooks $4,000
let's say $600 labor (4 hours at $150)
tuning $600
Total $5,200
Tax lets use 7% $364
Total $5,564

I would say that's not an unreasonable quote at all if the tax rates or labor rates are higher than what I put down. I stopped selling Kooks because of their last price increase and I have Kooks on both of my cars. Look into American Racing Headers, their long system with cats for an LS3 C6 is $2,515.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...dc34a36cb7.png


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...3837a7c8bb.png

Don't know where you got 4500 from looks shows the headers at 15-1600 and the kits 25-2700. I guess you quoted this guy too

Don't need the green kit

That's the only cats kooks will offer anymore. Their off-road x is $1,600+. It's crazy I think I paid $1,800 a few years ago for my kooks with cats on my wife's car.

Ya'll wild, cost me a 6 pack of beer, some jackstands, and 2 hours of my life (although most of that was spent drinking said beer)... these are the easiest cars in the world to do headers on. Even more so if you have a wet sump.

Did those headers double in price? What the heck!

The question I have, is 30 HP worth it?

Not to discourage anyone but that is a lot of money for 30hp. If it was part of a bigger project, I could understand eg. cam etc.

I call bullshit on this post! :bs

Tom

Why? Did it take you four hours?

you are out of the loop my friend. Looks all but doubled their prices due to cats

agreed, I did mine this weekend and I struggled more fucking with my mufflers than I did with the whole header and midpipe install.

Yeah if it takes you more than 2 hours to do headers in these cars your either completely green or your not trying. Even with the dry sump and having to deal with the oil lines maybe 3 at the most if it fights you but... not generally. Hell I can have the subframe on the ground, the motor propped up and ready to pull the balancer in 4 hours... Everyone acts like these things are so hard to work on, you won't find an easier GM LS vehicle to work on.

these are men that are scared to touch anything dirty and pay other men to work on their cars….. but call themselves “car guys”

lol your not wrong.

I did my left side header in 3 hours bc I didn’t know wtf I was doing, once I knew, I did the right in 45 min. It’s easy

I am in MD, hell how much you want to install I'll take a ride to ya when my set comes in....dead serious btw