I just bought a brand new set of Hooker 2055 ceramic coated (2055-1HKR) from a well known vendor.

There's rust pitting inside every single pipe, for as far as I can see. The collector tubes of the headers, and all 3 pipes of the Y-pipe. This is pretty disappointing.. Is this normal for these headers? If it is, I'm just gonna return them and get painted ones because I live in a wet, salty area, and if these already have rust on them, they'll rust just as fast as painted ones would.

Hopefully I just got a bad batch. There are small ding marks and scratches, so it's possible someone tried to fit these and then returned them.

The ceramic coating is also pretty unimpressive. It's not polished at all, and doesn't look like how all the pictures I've seen make it look.

 

Those headers were made AS junk.

-LTs for life

 

2055s aren't junk. When I was running 2055s there was none of that. Maybe return them and see if another set is better.

 

The coating from Hooker isn't the best. The headers are just mild steel so yes they will definitely rust. What I would do is order the uncoated headers and then send the whole kit(including the the y) off to a good coater such as Jet Hot. I had my first set of Edelbrock headers Jet Hot coated after they had been on the car for over 2 years. They blast all the rust off then coat them. They came back new and smooth! I eventually used Jet Hot for the next two sets of headers I've used(currently Hooker 2210's). They stand behind their coating as well with a lifetime warranty.

 

Did they clean and coat the inside also? I bought used headers and was wondering about that. I don't have the money to coat them yet, so I've not contacted them to ask, but since you mentioned it, I thought I'd ask. And so as not to hijack this thread I agree with you, buying them uncoated is usually best. Lets' you mock them up, add any sensor bungs if you need them, then get them cleaned and coated for the best fit you can get.

 

They aren't junk but leave a lot to be desired in certain areas.
1 5/8" tubes, poor Y-pipe and small outlet on the merge collector, also reduced opening at the flange. (not 1 5/8th's)

 

1.Long tubes
2. Dyno Don's

everything else is a waste