I have an 87 firebird. I have the Flowmaster American Thunder 3" cat back system. I then swapped in a 350 with Hooker Headers (2460-1HKR). I was thinking about buying the Doug's Y Pipe (DOU-D901) to tie the system together. Would this be the best fit or should I just alter my stock Y Pipe to fit? Thank you in advance.

 

Doug's is the correct and most used Y-pipe with Hooker 2460 headers. The only issue with Doug's (and Hooker's former Y-pipe for those headers) is that the two 2.5" pipes merge into a 2.5" collector to the cat, not a 3" collector. Some people have chopped the collector back to a point where they could weld a 3" pipe onto the collector, or you could just add a 2.5" to 3" transition tube between the collector and the cat.

The factory Y-pipe has ball and socket flanges at the exhaust manifolds, not compatible the 2460 headers flat flanges. The shape of the factory Y-pipe probably won't be close enough to be worth the effort to try to alter to fit the 2460 headers. The factory Y-pipe isn't much of a Y where the two pipes meet, being more of a "joint" that's restrictive to flow. And the factory Y-pipe's two 2.25" pipes will be too small and restrictive for the headers, which have 3" collectors/outlets. Doug's Y-pipe meets the headers at 3" but then immediately reduces down to 2.5" pipes, which then nicely merge into that 2.5" collector I mentioned above.

Several people here on TGO have the 2460/901 combo, so unless you have mad fab skills and can try to do all of the alterations to the factory Y-pipe yourself, instead of paying someone to do it, then Doug's is your best and most economical choice.

 

Thank you so much for the information

 

So I just got the white pipe in the mail. It’s as discussed Dou-901. I don’t understand how the headers will bolt on to this ball and socket type flange

 

Post pictures of the flanges of your Hooker Headers and the Doug's Y-pipe.

 

OK, give me a bit. I’m gonna have to get it up in the air.

 

If the correct Y-pipe was in the box, then it's doesn't have ball and socket flanges.

Doug's made the Y-pipe to fit its 3320 headers, which are exact copies of Hooker's 2460 headers. But which brand came first, who knows?

There's also a low priced 2460 copy on ebay, so they're probably all made by one shop, although both manufacturers would probably deny that. And they all have flat 3-bolt triangular flanges, just like the Y-pipe has, and matching flat gaskets.

Hooker used to offer its own Y-pipe for the 2460s, but it was built so poorly that it's been discontinued, so Doug's 901 is the Y-pipe most often used with the 2460s. Members here have used them together, and there are plenty of pictures in their threads.

Again, if you received the correct Y-pipe, then you might be confusing the short, reduced section of pipe, where it meets the headers' 3" collector and reduces to 2.5" pipes below the flange, as a cup-shaped socket.

That short 1/2" reduced section might make it look like it could be used with curved, ball-shaped header collectors, but any such header would still have to line up with the Y-pipe, and that would be a million to 1 shot.

 

This is the end of the header flange that’s already on the car

I just feel like this should be flat. Doesn’t look like it’s going to work.

 

And thank you everyone for all your help

 

You have the right stuff.

 

So this should bolt right up using the gaskets and all?

 

Yes. Keep all the nuts and bolts loose and go side to side, little by little, letting the nuts and bolts raise the Y-pipe evenly on both sides as you tighten them. Same for that slip joint in the crossover pipe, if that's what I'm seeing there. Keep it loose enough to twist the driver side, if necessary, to help line it up as you tighten. If you fully tighten up one side first, then the other side might not line up exactly right. Same thing if you tighten that slip joint before you've confirmed everything will line up correctly.

Looks like a much nicer Y-pipe than the garbage Hooker was selling for the 2460s. And Doug's is about $100 less than Hooker was charging for theirs, which is also why it was a more popular option than Hooker's own.