I have been researching here for most of the day now and can't really find what I am looking for. I have read lots of debates on what header is best and so on. But what I want to know is this, is there a difference in ground clearance between the Hooker 2210's and the Hedman 64860's? Does one hang lower than the other? And should I put either of these on my lowered GTA??

I need to do something with my exhaust. I currently have a Minirammed 383 exhaling through a set of 1 5/8 Edelbrock's, through a 2 1/4 (maybe??) y-pipe into a 3" American Thunder Flowmaster. My y-pipe is poor because the exhaust shop tried to run it in the stock location, but the problem is the stock location is now alot narrower because I have a 6qt deep sump Moroso pan. So space is limited!! I know my y-pipe is holding back my exhaust, thus why I am trying to do something about it.

Any help or suggestions, or answers to my question's would be greatly appreciated!

 

the hedmans will be a little bit higher, but thats not the problem area on these cars, the problem is when you try to go under the crossmember, so you might as well go with the super comps, especially with a 383, cause ground clearance will be pretty much the same. i have an eibach pro kit on my z28 with super comps and a custom fabbed y pipe, and its low, but tolerable. i still scrape if i hit a dip hard etc, but its not too bad.

 

I've had both Hedman and Hooker LT's. The Hooker's hang slightly lower, maybe 1 - 1 1/2in and are slightly longer. In most cases the header isn't the lowest part of the exhaust usually its where the y-pipe passed under the frame rail or trans xmember. How you use your car and how much its been lowered will determine what kind of headers you want. My car has been lowered and has Hooker LT's with dual 3in exhaust. It works well for me but the car is only driven to weekend cruise spots and to the race track. I wouldn't want it on a daily driver or a car that sees lots of street time on bumpy roads.
Something you might consider...I used to have the hedman LT's, custom 2 1/2in y-pipe going into a 3in flowmaster cat back system. I had cutouts right after the headers and would gain about .2 sec by opening them up at the track. I may have some old pics of it, I would have to look. Good ground clearance and was fairly quiet with the cutouts closed.

 

My car is lowered with Eibach Sportlines. It does sit fairly low. My car is not a daily driven car, but it does see street duty (cruise nights and such) and the roads here are not the greatest!

I really don't know what to do. LT's are the way to go for power, but I know ground clearance is going to be a issue. SLP's are a great header, but not cheap! And then with a shorty, what do I do about my y-pipe problem. The easy fix would be a tubular k-member... but that's not cheap either!

I really am at a loss on what to do about the exhaust!

 

Heres a a couple of pics of my old y-pipe with hedman LT's to give you some ideas. It works very well with the stock trans cross-member, I have a spohn torque arm now. These pics are very old, the car acually still had a 305 back then. The dual 3in setup I have now is much better for performance but this setup wasn't bad. Its a good compromise of performance and ground clearance.

 

Thanks for the pictures jbenge!

Do you happen to have a pic showing how far down your headers hang? What I would like to know is do they hang lower than say the k-member, or the basepan? Can you help me on this?

 

Also, did you have to make many alterations to make the long tubes fit? Like putting a smaller starting motor, removing the oil cooler, modifing the k-member? Anything like that?

Thanks.

 

Using the hedmans I had to grind on the k-member a little to make clearance. Other than that they fit great, and were very easy to take in and out. The Hooker headers fit well too other than I have straight plug heads so I have the #7 tube cut out and rerouted for spark plug clearance. I also had to move a couple of brake lines. I would highly recommend a mini starter no matter which headers you go with, you might be able to make a full size one work but its would be much easier with a mini-starter. I don't have an oil cooler so I don't know on that one, you will have to research that. Also be sure to use new motor mounts preferably poly ones, if you are still using the stock ones they are probably sagging and will cause tons of problems with LT's.
I have the hooker LTs on the car now, I'll try to measure how their lowest point compares to the oil pan or k-member..or take a pic if I can get a good angle.

 

Ok heres what I found with the Hooker LT's. The lowest part of the header is about 1.5in lower than the lowest part of the k-member. I have energy suspension poly mounts. That should help you figure out if they will work for you.

 

Jbenge, I really, really, appreciate all the help you are giving me here. Thank you very much!

So the lowest point is about 1.5" lower than the k-member. I'll keep that in mind when I look. I have also read that the Hooker's are about 1-1.5" lower than the Hedman's.

I'll have a look at my car and see what I can figure out.

Again, thank you!!

 

Well the Hooker's are definately out! I have the height of a Pepsi can for clearance under the k-member. LOL! So if the Hooker's hang 1.5"'s lower than Hedman's, the Hedman's might work because that might put them inline with the k-member.

Do you know is this is true, that the Hooker's hang lower than Hedman's?

The only other problem is clearnce for piping. A typical Pepsi or Coke can is 2.5" in diameter, a can is what I was using to judge clearances, which doesn't give me much room at all under the tranny cross member!

 

I know for sure the hooker's are lower than the hedmans, 1.5in is just an estimation. I've already sold them so I can't measure. With my car lowered using the Hooker LT's with dual 3in exhaust I have about 2 3/4 in clearance at the lowest spot of my exhaust...and its tucked up as tight as it can go. The spohn trans crossmember makes it even harder to maximize ground clearance. Its great for the limited street use that my car sees but if you drive yours a lot on bad roads its probably not the way to go. Heres a pic from a few months ago when I still had the hedman LT's on. It looks like the lowest part of the header is about even with the k-member. Keep in mind too that I have a 6qt oil pan so its lower than a normal pan, it can probably be seen too in the pic.

 

I too have a 6qt pan. That picture with the Hedman's it what I was picturing. LOL! They seem to be inline with the k-member. That would just leave the exhaust piping questionable. I was thinking of routing two exhaust pipes along the driveshaft, and then having two small mufflers before the rear axle. Seems like alot of people have this combo and it works.

Did you notice and performance difference in switching to the Hooker's from the Hedmans?

 

I don't know yet if the Hooker LT's perform better, I haven't been back to the track since I put them on a few weeks ago. I'm hoping to shave another .1 sec off with them. I probably won't know until this fall once it cools down...its hot and humid now I doubt I'll have a new best in this weather.

 

to have a real workable solution, you need to make a custom crossmember that has room for the drivers side exhaust to cut thru.

this example is for a T56, but a similar crossmember can be made for anything.. look at the threads in this search:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/sear...earchid=179171 (search for "drews crossmember" )


another specific thread: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...ighlight=drews
now thoes pics are for the LS1.. but since you're looking at the Ypipe, it applies to what you're trying to do.