Im in the process of re-doing my exhaust....I have the cat back, Ypipe and head pipes taken care of....but Im unsure about which emissions legal header to go with. The Edelbrock or Hooker shortie? Anybody that has either one of these...could u share your experience with them? I noticed that the Edelbrock doesnt even say its a header....and its a bit cheaper than the Hooker shorties...I need some advice on this please

 

cant give you any help on the headers, but I am in KY also.

Were in ky are you? Im in london, about 75 miles south of Lexington.

Good to see another kentuckian on the board. Not too many of us on here.

later

 

Im up north, close to Cincinnati, OH......I have some family down close to ya...where Im originally from(Somerset). Im not sure about where you are...but up here we have to have our cars E-checked now so I have to go emissions legal.......If you dont need the a.i.r., go w/out it. Im probably gonna go with the Edelbrock....just because of the budget issue...good luck

 

Yeah, Im about 30 miles east of somerset. I went to the college over there for a while.

We dont have e-test down here right now. I will be going with the hedman LT's with H-pipe and Dynomax bullits.

I will be running at the local track. London Dragway. The guy thats owns Thornhill Raceway bought it last month and reopend it. Thornhill is up around the OH border. Have you been to it?

Here is my site for my car if you are interested.

www.cardomain.com/id/bluegrassz

Nice car by the way.

 

Either one would be acceptable.

From what I know of the Hookers and have heard of the Edelbrocks, I'd recommend the Hookers.

Only nits I have with the 2055's is the quality of the flange gasket they supply (I went with Felpros), and the opening at the collector ball flange. For that, I did a fit-check of the y-pipe to determine where it mated to the ball, then opened up the ball centered on the mating equal to the pipe ID.

Ceramic coating would have been nice, but if you modify them (like I did), you should do that before the coating.

 

I have the edelbrock TES headers. There ok 1 5/8 primaries with 3 inch collector. They have a donut style gasket on the collector so you can't really find a dead soft aluminum replacement for it. I like my TES after I got all the problems shorted out.... kept blowing collector gaskets due to the exhaust flexing. If was going to do it all over again I probably get a set of hookers or slps and get them jet-hot coated though...

 

I have always read that the edlebrocks primaries neck down pretty small instead of staying uniform 1 5/8s all the way.

Ben

 

Well...here's where Im at as of now....I know I have to go emissions "legal"....but Im curious...if I go with just Hookers w/out air...and put the cats on just for the Echeck...would I pass? Ive always heard that the A.I.R. system is to keep the cats cool because they engineered the engine to run so hot.....is that right? I dont really think I need LT headers....I have ample supply of torque...and with my car being 2in lower in the front...Id be afraid of tearing the flanges off....So, are the Edelbrock TES true headers? What about Heddman? I was thinking of just going with those or Hooker super comps shorties........what woudl u do? thanks in advance....

 

Yes the edlebrocks are true headers, but they are kind of sucky in my opinion. I wouldnt get the hookers without air, because they dont make a y pipe for them. I would get the hooker 2055's. These have provisions for air, and have a y pipe. The reason for the air tubes is to help some of the unburnt fuel burn in the exhaust(since you need oxygen to burn right?). This just helps the cat perform its job and clean the air. There are cats that dont require the air pump. These are used a lot on newer cars. The hedmans are decent headers from what I hear, but I dont think they have provisions for the air tubes. They are a good price though.

Ben

 

Well...if I go with the Hooker 2055's, Id have to make the Ypipe work with my dual cats......or just have a new Ypipe made(again). Ive already had a new 3in Ypipe made thats hooked up to my stock manifolds now.....if I go with the Hooker headers....do you think they'd bolt up to my "stock" Ypipe? The new Ypipe is a mirror image of the old stocker...just bigger(3in instead of 2.25)........My dad told me to go w/Hooker....but then again..he hates everything that Edelbrock makes..lol.. I think I'll try the Hookers....

 

I would ditch the dual cat setup and go with a single 3" high flow cat or no cat. If your y pipe is just like the stock one except bigger then it is going to be restrictive to a point. The aftermarket ones have a nice smooth y instead of the t intersection. The only way you are going to do good with that dual cat setup is to get SLP headers and they cost a ton. Actually with the dual cat setup, how is your exhaust now? I was thinking of a single cat y pipe. How does is the merge on your setup? I know that your y pipe wont bolt up to the headers, but it may be able to be modified to if you decided to go that route.

Ben

 

The way my Ypipe is on my dual cat setup is...each cat has its own pipe going into it.....so its dual exhaust till it gets to the cats....after that...I have the Flowmaster Y collector going into the 3in I-pipe. ITs ALOT smoother than the stock p.o.s. pipe. The stock wasnt mandrel bent and was too small. The stock routing of the pipes isnt really restrictive, it was what they used to bend the pipe... Besides...I have to keep the dual cat setup...because they do a visual....and whatever the car came with it has to have...and in the same location(just found that out). SO I guess Ill be going with the Hooker 2055's and figure out a way to make my Ypipe match up....It shouldnt be too bad...I think the shortie headers are "about" the same length as the manifolds...I also found out I have to have a stock location muffler...meaning Ill have to put my Dynomax super turbo back on...I personally think thats but you know....dang Politicians...and the might buck...

 

Well...I went ahead and ordered the Hooker 2055's today with the Jet Hot coat on them. The guy at Hooker that I emailed said they line up with the stock Ypipe but wont connect because of length and the way they connect(3bolt flange). So, he said for me to get the collector adapters and shorten my Ypipe I have now about an inch or so...and it "should" work......or the guy at my exhaust shop said they could make the Ypipe that comes with the headers work if I needed too.......thanks for all your help...

 

I've seen the Hooker headers installed......spark plug access SUCKS......

The Edelbrocks tend to be easiest to install.....but good luck with the plugs on those......

I really like the Hedmans......They do make a smog legal set......I've got 'em.....'cept my air tubes got "lost" somewhere during installation.

I can change all 8 plugs in less than a hour easy.....my Taylor wires and Made for you centerbolt wire looms keep the wires away from the headers ( uncoated ) and they look great.

The Edebrocks also have a donut type gasket setup I'm not fond of, and the ball flange on the Hookers can be a pain, as they actually make the 3" collectors effectively smaller.

They all will make about the same power, so it's personal preference IMHO.


Except SLP......I'll be dammed if I'm gonna pay $500 for a set of headers that need a $90 install kit AND I have to DENT the header to install 'em......no thanks.



Just my 2 cents

 

i read on their website that hedman makes a set for dual cat cars. anyone got a pic of it? i'd like to see how the y pipe is made.

also i have the edelbrocks right now and access to the plugs isn't too bad. but i hear with the hookers you can't use regular plugs cuz they're too long.