Im not going to name names but what are some of these people thinking when they price some of this stuff?

$70 upper and lower rad. hose kit???? you can get the part numbers and go to your local autoparts house and spend $25

$1200 headers?!?!?!?!?!?!? i know there is no one els who makes them but gezzzz.

The price of LS anything is getting crazy, people are parting out good ls1 cars for more than you can sell a perfectly good car.

Moral of the story.. Shop around. A lot of these places that sell LSX SWAP PARTS are ripping people off. There are a lot a budget minded people on here and most of them can hook you up with part numbers for things you need. there is no need to buy somthin without atleast googling it first to see if anyone has a better deal. I think the reason most of this stuff is going threw the roof is b/c of folks WAY over pricing things like radiator hoses... That just blew my mind when i seen thatI just hope that people will do a little reading and get a better deal then let the people who are parting these things out charge stupid $$$$$

Thanks for reading my rant....

 

Take into account their development costs and the very low volume of actual sales (vice dreamers) and we're lucky we get this stuff at all.

 

I think we are lucky for having a lot of the stuff that we have but i bet those swap headers price would drop if i put a good quality better fitting set out there for $900 (still too much money) Its all about they are the only ones made. I dissagree with there being no demand its just that a lot of folks cant afford to drop $1200 on some freakin headers.


What chaps my butt are these people putting stuff up for sale that they lable a "swap part" and stamp a huge price tag on it. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Corvette-Fue...item5890e06fc6

Look at that... Are you kidding??? That damn filter is $12 at autozone and 3 summit fittings dont come out to $110

 

FYI - This thread is pointless and is going to get shut down if you don't change the theme from "baiting for arguments" to some other informative purpose.

No reply is necessary.

 

You got to pay to play. Least there's parts available for us like Jim said. In the end, you have a sweet car and money is still just paper.

 

Us budget minded people cant say somthin about price gouging people for things???
Im not baiting for an argument i just want other peoples opinion on all these "swap parts"

Im informing people to not get screwed by these theifs.

GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND

 

Yes the prices are high. But what you have to understand is its not just a matter of some guy in his garage tacking and welding some header tubes together until they fit and turning around and making hundreds of sets. Its not that easy. Yes these long tubes are crazy high priced. Yes you can make your own for MUCH less if you have the skills (which most people dont). These companies spend ALOT of money developing swap parts. they have to build jigs and and all kinds of stuff just to get a successful end product. This all cost ALOT of money. IF your smart enough and able to build your own parts then dont buy them.........IF your not then save your pennies. Im not bashing your thoughts on this, im just saying its not that simple.

 

I'm sitting here lol because ive been online searching for parts for a swap and I keep telling myself the same thing lol

 

I am all about saving money., and I do believe there are certain parts specific to our vehicles, and in general LSx swaps, that are expensive, maybe overpriced. But a lot of work goes into manufacturing these parts, and supply and demand pretty much drives that price. People are swapping LS motors into everything.

I know there is a wealth of knowledge on this site with part numbers and ways to save money. There are people on here that spend extra money on trial and error type parts, to help others out, and end up spending more money than necessary. Not to be rude, but complaining about prices, won't bring prices down. I think that a better way to get prices to maybe come down is to find alternative parts that will work and are cheaper. I do agree with your original point, but I think use of this board would be better served and more appreciated to supply lists of parts that might help people out, rather than attack the ones selling "swap parts". Just my opinion.

 

Lets not forget those headers are STAINLESS, and the cost of steel has been rising. The same headers in regular steel would lose a few hundred easy I bet. Cheaper metal, easier to work with. But then you'd have to coat them or paint them. And they'd rust eventually on a street car. So we're still back to thats not a HORRIBLE price for custom stainless headers.

I would love to see a more budget minded set up come out. Especially with a y-pipe and cross member that work well together. But not every car is the same, and the space is tight. So anything that gets developed has to have lots of R&D and trial and error.

Plus you dont HAVE to buy headers. Plenty of guys using stock manifolds (which flor VERY good for stock pieces). You have to make a custom y-pipe in most cases anyway. Coat them silver and it'll still look nice under the hood. There are budget routes!

J.

 

unfortunately, its always more expensive for the "early adopter" group; parts are far and few between, you play beta tester for unforseen bugs, and the price is high.

however, as we're seeing more and more, these issues begin to disappear as the swaps become more common place and more vendors jump in. The knowledge base has grown immensely in the last year or two, the number of swaps has gone up, and part availability has gone up as well.

as the availability of factory sbc blocks/parts starts to dry up, you'll begin to see the big manufacturers shift focus to not get left behind

 

The point I apparently failed to get across is that we're NOT getting gouged. You don't seem to understand what kind of development costs there are for this type of product, and then on the manufacturing side, you're talking about something that's made to order one at a time by people, not something that's made by the thousands with a CNC welding setup. When you order 5,000 copies of something, you get them a hell of a lot cheaper than when you order 1 or 2 copies of something. Low volume products ALWAYS cost more. I'm willing to bet that something like a $200 set of 2nd gen long tube headers is a product that's been in constant production since 1970, and the companies have literally turned out hundreds of thousands of sets. Those headers are also made from uncoated steel. Price a set of 5th gen Camaro or C6 stainless long tubes, and Hawk's headers start looking pretty reasonable.

That said, $1200 for 2" headers is still an awful lot of money, even if it is a fair price. I've told Bruce that too, and as soon as I did, I realized I sounded like every other cheap bastard third gen owner what whines about the price. Do I wish they were $500? Of course, but I'm also realistic. It's not like Bruce sits back at the end of the day and frolics in his vast warehouse full of $100 bills. I do applaud Bruce for listing to our complaining though, and reacting with a more affordable set of foreign-made LS headers. They aren't for me, but at least he listened to people and offered a more affordable solution. And let's face it... if you're building a motor that needs something bigger than 1 5/8", you're not building a low budget build anyway, so you can suck it up and pay for the good stuff.

 

Precisely. I've looked into sets of stainless headers for my TBSS, and they can run anywhere from $1200-$1500. Hawks sold (I don't know if they still currently sell them) a cheaper set of headers that was less expensive but fit like crap. I would rather pay a little more for quality pieces than deal with problems caused by cheap parts. IMO, the terms "budget" and "stainless swap-specific headers" do not go hand-in-hand.

It drives me crazy to see people complaining about the cost of LS swaps in these cars. The swap is not compulsory. If you can't afford it, don't complain about it. Hawks, stainless works, etc are not in the business of offering a charity service for thirdgen owners, they are in the business of making money, plain and simple. If you don't like their products/prices, feel free to not purchase them.

 

i agree with the LSx swappers in this thread, if you want a newer engine technology in your older car no matter what make and model, your GOING to pay for it but theres always alternatives.... if you really want an LSx engine in your car, budget better, dont pay 650-1200 for headers, pay 25-100 for some manifolds, if you dont feel like having pocket make your PLUG N PLAY harness for $XXX.XX, make it yourself by reading his very intricate and detailed thread. (thanks again jon for my harness, ZERO headaches, point in itself). Its just like anything thats newer, either you go buy a GO phone for 20 bux a month or you get a DROID and have all the toys...

One thing that bothers about this thread is, well, kinda pointless and in some ways offensive to some LSx members here. Like members who go out and buy some $400 headers made for an SSR or TrailBlazer SS to be a "guinea pig" for all of us on the board to see if we can come up with better budgeted ideas for one of the expensive areas of these swaps. If all of us just complained about prices rather than taking the plunge on different parts to interchange/modify to fit, we would get no where. I give Many thanks to Jon, Five7, Ghetto, Dan, DynoDan and many many others for trying out new things for all of us to learn from to save some $$$$$$$!!!!



By the way, Google may be your friend, but i think you need to meet FAMILY...

Craiglist and Search Tempest.....Consider them you mother and father, since they are after all, related.

 

I'm building my own set of mild steel headers again for my chassis, this is the 3rd set for a gen 3 swap in a thirdgen i've done. These headers are in the $500+ range just for materials. If you can't afford to play then don't complain about it. Typical custom stainless headers from a chassis shop are $1400+ for a one off set.

 

I'm nearing the end of my swap. I will say that things are not cheap, but that was expected before I even started. I didn't just one day say that I was going to build an LS motor for my car. I researched and budgeted my money in order to be able to afford these swap specific parts that are made available to us. I waited until this was affordable on my terms before any parts were purchased. As mentioned in other posts, there are alternatives to certain parts, parts that can be fabricated on your own, and if you are patient enough, you might score a deal somewhere. My wallet is a little lighter, but that comes with the hobby of restroring/swapping/owning a car. It all comes down to what you can afford, and if you can't then don't bother doing it.