Hooker sidemount results..

[69vettester]

Hi all,
Ive been huge busy and may not have gotten all the feedback to you who have been helping me with my upgrades and conversions, my apologies.

The Hooker Sidemount conversion went super.
My car changed from a svelt Beauty to a mean machine. The dynamics of the entire car changed quite a bit, Cosmetically and the performance profile.
The side pipes are a definite enhancement, Hooker did a real feat of design genius with them in my opinion. Im very pleased.
She still has her original lines and look, just quite a bit more powerful looking now:cool
..by the way, the chrome is alot of additional maintenance to keep clean, Ive already found :t.

I put BF Goodrich 255/60 15's all corners. WoW did that make a difference in handling and road noise..my goodyears were "shot", but I didnt know they were responsible for that much of the vibration and noise coming into the car..amazing.

My SB motor is finally optimal at around 330hp flywheel & 370 ft lbs torque at the rear wheels(my estimates..no dyno runs). Thats all I need to get from this motor. If I get hungry later, Ill save for a crate motor! Im continuing with the suspension though, 330lb Composite rear spring, 460lb front coils going on now. And maybe an upgraded brake system later?

What else...
I added a K&N x-stream flow aircleaner, and
The motor needed to be re-tuned , I kept it at 14 deg. initial and 35 deg. total, all in by 3000rpm. And hooked up the vacuum advance system again too.
Its cool off the line, and super sweet up in the cruising range, and more of a pleasure to drive than before , because of the sound comming from off the sides.

I have been coasting past the cops now..but actually I dont think Id get pulled over anyway, I put glasspack inserts in , and they aren't that radical on the street, I think?.

I dropped and broke my camera the morning I went to take the finished pics. Ill post a finished pic as soon as I can get one.

The only bad thing that happened is , my fingernail is blue, and will be comming off soon, ouch.

Im done rambling, thanks again for all the advice and support..
TC

 

[69MyWay]

Excellent!

Have you burned a leg yet? I hear it only happens once.

 

[69vettester]

I would have burned my leg a few times allready except up here its cold and Not shorts weather. I plan on burnin my leg "1 time"
this spring though:L

 

[Black Thunder]

Knew you would like em! And yes the whole personality of the car changes. In my opinion for the better. Actually you will get over passing the man in awhile, they really aren't that loud. If I recall the pics showed the Hooker glass paks, & they are designed to muffle the sound from carrying very far. But at WOT you are in the danger zone (he he)!!!
By in large you will be spending most of the time driving it alone. So you can enjoy the sound & already know them babies can bite if you get close, but yes a constant reminder for any passenger on exiting is the order of the day.
I seem to find that when tinkering under the hood with the car running is when I get bit. Enjoy the vettes new personalty!!!!!

 

[69vettester]

Thanks Black Thunder

 

[Tom Bryant]

Leg Burners

Tom,

You will have a lot of fun with these. Did you ever see my leg burners?

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/bss/59ttom/index5.shtml

The car, house, snow and even the old white truck are long gone but not the memories. (Or the strange twitching I get on the backs of my legs when I think of those pipes.)

Tom

 

[69MyWay]

With all that snow on the ground there, I thought they called those side pipes "leg warmers", not leg burners.

:J

 

[Black Thunder]

Tom..... the 67 vette that those pipes are hung on is sweet lookin. But brings back a painful memory. I had first dibs on my buddies Goodwood green/ Blk interior, 427/435! I drove that vette many times & it will go down as my all time favorite! It was only 2 yrs old & had only 4,000 miles on it. Sigh!!!!
As luck would have it his brother in another state bought it out from underneath me. I never saw it again but have never forgotten it & today they command much dinro so still only a fantasy!

 

[69vettester]

your 67 was some kinda BB Vette Tom. Im talking "real Nice"..WoW.

How long has hookers been making these side pipes??
TC

 

[Tom Bryant]

Hooker and OK Kustom started making these in the early '70s. I think Doug's made them too. The OK Kustom ones were available over the counter with GM part numbers.

Tom

 

[69vettester]

interesting...Somehow I had the impression they were much more recent exhaust development . But This is great news to me, cause only the truly "Great" products , at that price, can stand the test of time and remain front runners..
Thanks Tom
TC

 

[Tom Bryant]

let me clarify........

Actually they are older than the '70s. They first showed up on '68 or '69 L88 race cars in painted versions and were available over the Chevy parts counter. My oldest GM Performance parts list is '73 so I'm not sure if mufflers were originally available for them at that time. They became popular in the early '70s on street driven Corvettes in painted and chrome and that's when other brands joined OK Kustom on the market.

Tom

 

[redmist]

With 330 hp you may not need to but try puting in the glasspacks backwards, a little louder and a lot less restrictive.
Summit also sells some 4" baffles which I'm going to try as well.
I'll let you know how they sound.

 

[JCL]

Sidepipes.........

59Tom. Wasn't OK KUSTOM based in Michigan?? JCL

 

[Tom Bryant]

OK Kustom Headers

I'm not sure. Could have been.If they are still in business they would probably be listed in the SEMA registry of members.

 

[JCL]

"Sidepipes.........."

59Tom. I'm pretty sure this was the same company that a friend of mine bought his sidepipes from back in 68 or 69. They were big block headers and the tubes after making the bend along side the frame twisted up a little more than the OTHER company making the same style today. Another thing was that Rick got one of the 100 sets made from stainless steel. I believe he said they cost him $1400. Back then that was a ton. Hell thats alot even for today.There still in use today, but are hooked up to a "434" beast. Ricks an old drag racer from way back and hates to get beat!! Anyway a little trivia. JCL Wasn't OK bought out by HH??

 

[Tom Bryant]

I think your right about the OKs having more bends but they were closer to equal length than the others. They may have been bought out. I don't remember.

Tom

 

[69vettester]

Inserts not reversible..

Redmist,
I had heard that the glasspacks would be less restrictive by reversing them, I found that the diameter of the conical seat was different from end to end, and I would have to grind the larger lip to reverse them. no big deal but I wasnt going to start grinding on anything before Id even tried them. I wonder if HH makes them that way now, to keep us from reversing them?
TC