I am picking up a brand new set of Hooker 2460's that a friend of mine has for a good deal,,,these do not come with a Y-pipe. I was talking with Hooker and was told that #16767HKR Y-pipe is specifically made for these headers and runs $200.00 It is what is considered an off road Y-pipe with a pipe to replace the converter as well. I have not layed eyes on it so I don't know how well made it is. I have seen the Y-pipes for the 2055 headers and thats a nice piece but I was told by Hooker that the Y-pipe for the 2055's will not fit the 2460 hookers...something must be different about how the flanges connect or where they come out,,,I dont know I have never seen the 16767HKR y-pipe to know for sure.
My question is,,,has anyone had a compitent muffler shop build a presentable Y-pipe? I was thinking about purchasing a nice 2-into-1 Y-pipe connector from summit and having the muffler shop up the street fab the 2 pieces of pipe from the header flanges over to the Y-connector and into a single 3 inch pipe. We have a nice muffler shop that does excellent work,,,and I can have them bend the pipes possibly a little better in terms of clearance issues and shouldn't be too much hassle. Anyone tried this with good results? Just curious,,,nothing set in stone yet,,,Larry.

 

Its something a competent exhaust shop with the proper equipment should be able to do pretty well, since its a custom fit to your car. If you are already supplying the 'Y' for them, then you are making it even easier for them.

Look for a shop that does mandrel bending instead of just press-bending. Most shops use a press bender for their pipes, only a few have the tools for mandrel bent pipes. They usually cost more as well, but its well worth the extra money IMO.

 

Thanks Adam,,,I have been thinking about that,,,,it depends if the exhaust shop can do a satisfactory job for me or not,,,I am kinda picky when it comes to my cars,,,,I may just buy the $200 y-pipe and be done with it,,,,not sure yet,,,I have to look at the headers first, not familiar with the 2460's and weather or not they have smog tubes and the threaded hole for the O2 sensor,,,thanks for the response,,,,Larry.

 

Unless specially ordered with them, 2460's don't have A.I.R. tubes (02460HKR have the tubes). The O2 bung is there, but needs to be drilled out if you want to use it.

 

Thanks Five 7,,,,I am checking them out tomorrow,,,supposed to be new in the box with all hardware and the price is dirt cheap. Just have to decide something on the Y-pipe. Thanks for the response,,,Larry.

 

Well everything was just as described,,,,all new in the box, never opened. I bought the Edelbrock Cat Back system as well even though it has the 2 1/2 inch connection at the converter. The headers did not have the AIR tubes which is fine,,,I removed that stuff anyway. I am going ahead and just purchasing the Y-pipe for these headers. I figure the $200 for the Hooker Y-pipe is cheap enough when I considered making my own, buying a nice Y connection to join all the pipes, having the shop bend one up and pay labor and material etc....I would have nearly spent that much anyway, plus the hassle of driving the car up there with open headers and making an appointment with winter setting in here so you never know if the weather will cooperate for the drive up there. Just makes that Hooker Y-pipe look even better
Anyway,,,I was looking at the Edelbrock exhaust system where the 2 1/2 inch connection is for the converter flange. Since I have removed my converter and installed a 3 inch peice of pipe and rewelded my converter flange to the end of it so the system will bolt up just like factory,,,,I figured I could just cut off the flange from the original system (I-pipe) that bolts to the converter flange, and weld it to the Edelbrock system so it will bolt on with no fuss. The Edelbrock system has about a 1 foot section with the flange that is all 2 1/2 so I will cut it all off where the 3 inch begins and make the whole system 3 inch.
It's a little bit of fab work but I got the system and the headers so cheap I would have been stupid to pass on it,,,even though it will take some work to install it. I may also weld a 3 bolt flange to the I-pipe where it connects to the muffler so I can easily remove the muffler and tailpipes for a possible fuel pump change in the future. I hate slipping the pipes together and then mashing it with a clamp. Makes for tough removal a year or 2 down the road.
So who uses the Edelbrock system and likes it? The inside of the muffler lookes like perferated piping with insulation for sound deadening, not sure that will flow the best and might be too quiet for my liking. But I shouldn't complain,,,,it was brand new and cheap,,,,,I am sure people will say it is better than a flowmaster,,,,LOL,,,,Larry.

 

Sounds like you've got a good handle on it.

 

I also noticed that alot of people complain about the 2055's with the ball flange necking down very small. I noticed on these 2460's they don't do that,,,,they stay the same size and use a simple 3 bolt flange and gasket,,,,kinda nice,,,not sure why so many people jump right on the 2055's. I know the Y-pipe used to be the issue but they offer a nice Y-pipe for the 2460's now. No reason to avoid them unless you really need those emission tubes,,,but I see alot of people cut them off and weld the holes,,,luckily I don't have to do that with the 2460's,,,and there is no restrictive ball flange.
I am doing a comparison on this Iroc,,,,everytime I change something I have been going to the track and logging my improvements. I started with a bone stock 50,000 mile L-98 car. It will be a few months before the tracks open here again but I am interested to see what headers and Y-pipe do,,,,then an Edelbrock cat back exhaust, after that I will install an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and play with that to see if it yields anything. Then I will be ready to do some computer tuning and see what I can find there....It will be alot of trips to the strip but I think it will be vital information that everyone seems to ask on here,,,but I don't really see any stock verses modded drag strip comparisons as far as which change was worth how much ET and mph. Should be pretty neat when I get all this tested and logged. This subject should be in another post but I thought I would briefly mention it here. Larry.