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I just want to say I'm mostly very satisfied with all my stuff from Holley/Hooker, the R&D and engineering appear to be top notch and a substantial amount of work was obviously invested into getting the power train low, trying to accommodate alot of powertrain combinations, clearing all accessory drive setups for the most part, and accommodating variations in vehicle build tolerances and variation, however I'm not completely blown away by the build quality. Firstly I just want to say I'm Canadian which means right now with our terrible dollar I have to pay a 40% premium for all of my parts, plus our 13% sales tax. All my Holley parts represent a very substantial investment in my project. The exhaust and headers were over 1000$ each and the oil pan and dip stick was almost 700$. I received my brand new Holley oil pan and promptly unboxed it, I was happy until I noticed the embossed text inside the pan with the dreaded word "china", I was offended, I am an engineer in the automotive industry and every day I see the impacts of outsourcing manufacturing and the greedy corporate mentality. It baffles me that the accountants and executives who continually make decisions to outsource manufacturing can't understand the simple principle that if no one is employed no one will be able to by there over priced excessive profit Crap. I am over it now and happy that the machining was done in North America, I might add a lot of the parts and peices and the dip stick and tube are made in Canada, so that's comforting. My second problem was discovered today when I started to dry fit the exhaust only to discover that the bumped slip joints don't fit each other and I will have to spend more money next week to have my +1000(CAD) "bolt on" exhaust kit resized for proper fit at all the joints. Sure send it back you'll say, I'm just not confident that the new kit will be any better and it will delay me even further. The passenger side pipe from header to x pipe also is really not shaped very nicely and where it is bumped to fit the x-pipe it only has about 1 inch of consistent cylindrical section to fit into the x pipe. I'm overall kind of disappointed with the build quality. All that said I'm very grateful for all the R&D and engineering and thank you for this very informative thread and your efforts, I hope if anything this post will drive some focus into the manufacturing processes and quality controls at Holley/Hooker.
I appreciate you sharing your experience and opinions of the Holley/Hooker products you have used to swap your G-body ChromeDaddyO. I personally share your overall view on COO and have a preference for products produced in North America also. With that said, I have no influence as to where any Holley products are made/sourced and my official responsibilities as a Holley employee end with the engineering/design of Hooker products. My postings on this and other forums are done primarily on my own time and I do it simply for the fact that I like helping others.
As a consumer myself, I can say that a large and ever-growing portion south of you here in the US think less of COO these days and are quite content to spend their dollars on China sourced goods from Walmart, Harbor Freight and other similar sources. For better or worse, that's the reality of the economy we live in currently and everyone will have their own personal justifications for making the purchase decisions that they do.
I apologize for the undersized slip connectors you received in your Hooker exhaust system and you're correct that I would have suggested to have the parts exchanged through Holley tech service, even though I agree that it would be aggravating to be on the receiving end of the parts as you are. Issues do happen from time, but the folks in Holley Tech Service to their best to resolve them to the satisfaction of the customer.
I appreciate you sharing your experience and opinions of the Holley/Hooker products you have used to swap your G-body ChromeDaddyO. I personally share your overall view on COO and have a preference for products produced in North America also. With that said, I have no influence as to where any Holley products are made/sourced and my official responsibilities as a Holley employee end with the engineering/design of Hooker products. My postings on this and other forums are done primarily on my own time and I do it simply for the fact that I like helping others.
As a consumer myself, I can say that a large and ever-growing portion south of you here in the US think less of COO these days and are quite content to spend their dollars on China sourced goods from Walmart, Harbor Freight and other similar sources. For better or worse, that's the reality of the economy we live in currently and everyone will have their own personal justifications for making the purchase decisions that they do.
I apologize for the undersized slip connectors you received in your Hooker exhaust system and you're correct that I would have suggested to have the parts exchanged through Holley tech service, even though I agree that it would be aggravating to be on the receiving end of the parts as you are. Issues do happen from time, but the folks in Holley Tech Service to their best to resolve them to the satisfaction of the customer.
Tod I just want to reiterate that I am extremely grateful for your post and answering everyone's questions and your R&D and engineering efforts. My manufacturing processes and quality controls are on parts primarily supplied to GM and in very high volumes relative to after market components. Sending defective parts to GM (or any auto company) in any quantity is very costly and unacceptable.
I agree that the consumer is partly to blame for companies taking measures to make there products cheaper, however I believe a much larger part of it, especially in the auto industry, is greed and profit margin increases (short term gains). I myself take pride in buying everything possible manufactured in North America, therein doing my part, however small it may be, particularly if it is of higher quality as well. I was simply surprised that a company with a rich heritage in something as American as hot rodding would outsource any part of the process.
Again thanks Tod! If I post or pm you pictures of my drivers side exhaust pipe from header to x pipe could you let me know if that is the norm or perhaps I have a defective peice?
Tod I just want to reiterate that I am extremely grateful for your post and answering everyone's questions and your R&D and engineering efforts. My manufacturing processes and quality controls are on parts primarily supplied to GM and in very high volumes relative to after market components. Sending defective parts to GM (or any auto company) in any quantity is very costly and unacceptable.
I agree that the consumer is partly to blame for companies taking measures to make there products cheaper, however I believe a much larger part of it, especially in the auto industry, is greed and profit margin increases (short term gains). I myself take pride in buying everything possible manufactured in North America, therein doing my part, however small it may be, particularly if it is of higher quality as well. I was simply surprised that a company with a rich heritage in something as American as hot rodding would outsource any part of the process.
Again thanks Tod! If I post or pm you pictures of my drivers side exhaust pipe from header to x pipe could you let me know if that is the norm or perhaps I have a defective peice?
I'm with you on personally buying products made in USA/Canada whenever possible. There are instances however, like the Holley 302-2 oil pan for example, where no US/Canada made alternative exists that will provide the same features and benefits and so a decision has to be made whether the trade-off is acceptable to the user. If I were doing an LS swap, I would accept the trade-off in the case of the 302-2 pan, since the function and quality of my finished swap project would be negatively affected by not using it.
I'm sure you realize that there are many other companies within the automotive aftermarket also utilizing off-shore sourcing of components and that it's not something that is unique to Holley's way of doing business.
Yes, by all means, post up a photo of your inlet pipe and I should be able to make a determination of it being within design specifications or not.
I'm with you on personally buying products made in USA/Canada whenever possible. There are instances however, like the Holley 302-2 oil pan for example, where no US/Canada made alternative exists that will provide the same features and benefits and so a decision has to be made whether the trade-off is acceptable to the user. If I were doing an LS swap, I would accept the trade-off in the case of the 302-2 pan, since the function and quality of my finished swap project would be negatively affected by not using it.
I'm sure you realize that there are many other companies within the automotive aftermarket also utilizing off-shore sourcing of components and that it's not something that is unique to Holley's way of doing business.
Yes, by all means, post up a photo of your inlet pipe and I should be able to make a determination of it being within design specifications or not.
Thanks Tod, I'll post a picture. BTW I'm jealous of you, I think you've got my dream job. Lol, I usually do projects that are very unique that no one sells parts for and do all the R&D and design and fab myself, it would be amazing to do it for a living. At least that's my perspective from the outside looking in.
Thanks Tod, I'll post a picture. BTW I'm jealous of you, I think you've got my dream job. Lol, I usually do projects that are very unique that no one sells parts for and do all the R&D and design and fab myself, it would be amazing to do it for a living. At least that's my perspective from the outside looking in.
The creative aspects of my position are certainly enjoyable, but I think you'd find the day to day business responsibilities and tasks to be just as likeable or unlikeable as anywhere else. I can honestly say that I can't think of another job I'd rather be doing, so I guess that makes me a fortunate individual.
The creative aspects of my position are certainly enjoyable, but I think you'd find the day to day business responsibilities and tasks to be just as likeable or unlikeable as anywhere else. I can honestly say that I can't think of another job I'd rather be doing, so I guess that makes me a fortunate individual.
Here is the picture of the joint in question. I just slipped the rest of the exhaust system together and it would appear its all good with the exception of the 2 outlet pipes to x-pipe.
Last edited by ChromeDaddy0; 02-15-2016 at 07:29 PM.
Here is the picture of the joint in question. I just slipped the rest of the exhaust system together and it would appear its all good with the exception of the 2 outlet pipes to x-pipe.
It appears to me from those photos that the clamping pressure was a bit high on the bender set-up, which caused the excessive depth of the grip marks in the tubing. The two ways of resolving it would be to get them swapped out through Holley tech service, or take the tubes to an exhaust shop and have them expanded slightly until they match the same diameter as the end of the tube. If you go through Holley tech service, you can send email them these pictures so that they can forward them to the production facility to be sure the replacement tubes you receive do not possess the same characteristic.
Going the muffler shop route will probably get you back on track with your project more quickly, but I know that you may rather go through Holley tech service to get it resolve strictly due to a matter of principal, which is fully understandable.
Can someone post up some detailed images of some spots for me. I am looking for pictures around the power steering pump/steering box area from the front and side. Also looking for pictures around the oil pan on the passenger side from the side. Trying to see where the best location on the oil pan to drill and weld on a oil return line for a turbo and hot side routing around the P/S pump Thanks in advance
Can someone post up some detailed images of some spots for me. I am looking for pictures around the power steering pump/steering box area from the front and side. Also looking for pictures around the oil pan on the passenger side from the side. Trying to see where the best location on the oil pan to drill and weld on a oil return line for a turbo and hot side routing around the P/S pump Thanks in advance
What accessory drive system are you going to be using?
I was wondering if I already went a different route. Pacesetter headers,ctsv oil pan, 1 inch set back mounts, truck acc. Would the hooker dual exhaust system still work, I would like to purchase the exhaust system if it will fit
I was wondering if I already went a different route. Pacesetter headers,ctsv oil pan, 1 inch set back mounts, truck acc. Would the hooker dual exhaust system still work, I would like to purchase the exhaust system if it will fit
It would certainly fit your car from the X-pipe back, but the inlet tubes would take some level of modification to be compatible with any non-Hooker transmission crossmember and headers.
A quick update for those following this thread...the long-tube header fixtures were delivered to our production facility last week and the mid-length fixtures are heading down there this week also, so headers will start to become available in a few weeks
Most of you know that the engine brackets are already available and so I will get an update on the trans crossmember tomorrow to get everyone some info on that piece of the puzzle. The exhaust systems will be the last items to hit the shelf and that should be sometime mid-to-end of November.
As a side note, we are in the process of the final reassembly of our shop Monte Carlo SS and noticed today that the Corvette accessory drive and the Holley accessory drive set-up installed with the Corvette spacing actually do fit the car (you have to swap out the PS pulley for the smaller CTSV pulley) contrary to my earlier report that they did not. This should please those who want to run that set-up...here's a photo of the Holley drive set-up installed that I took earlier today.
Quick favor Todd, do you have a part number on the belt? I have the same set up except I have the R4 compressor.
How does the finish on the SS headers hold up/look after being used a while?
I just ordered a set and it was a hard decision between them and the much cheaper/better looking ceramic coated version. I know the SS will last much longer, just curious how they look after a while, especially since they come raw and not polished.
How does the finish on the SS headers hold up/look after being used a while?
I just ordered a set and it was a hard decision between them and the much cheaper/better looking ceramic coated version. I know the SS will last much longer, just curious how they look after a while, especially since they come raw and not polished.
Stainless headers will usually last for as long as you own your car, they will however turn from a bronze color to chocolate brown over time...raw or polished.
If you want them to maintain a consistent color, you can ceramic coat them just like you can mild steel headers. I personally am not bothered by the color change and appreciate them primarily for the superior longevity and heat retention they provide over mild steel headers.
the ss retains heat better then the ceramic coated mild steel?
Austenitic stainless steels (i.e. 304) have a low co-efficient of thermal conductivity, so their heat retention characteristics are far better than mild steel. I've never seen test data to prove it, but I'd put money on it being equal to that of ceramic coated mild steel. If you pose that question to a coater of course he's going to tell you that isn't the case.
Thanks Todd, I think I will be happy with them. I had kind of a run around today after ordering them from summit off ebay. Apparently the part number changed on the 2333-7hkr headers and they didn't update their ebay listing. So they let me buy them and billed me for them, but cancelled the order today. Now I have to wait for the refund through pay pal grrr.
That's supposed to be the new part number for the 2333-7hkr headers, at least it better be because that's what I was told was the new number when I ordered them again, this time over the phone. Is there any way you could verify this Todd?
Last edited by onebadbowtie86; 03-10-2016 at 08:23 PM.
Got my new hooker SS headers installed, with very little effort.
Im using the stock chevy clamshell mounts with ebay 1" setback plates. The height of the engine in the cradle seems like its pretty close to where the hooker mounts place the engine. The headers slipped right in from the underside, I didnt even pull the spark plugs on the passenger side. The only issue I ran into is interferance ith the motor mounts. I had to trim the mounts for the number 1 and 2 primaries, no big deal.
Yes, these headers are expensive BUT they are hands down the best g body ls headers on the market. I am very happy with the fit and finish. I just hope the raw SS stays looking nice in the future.
02-15-2016, 03:11 PM
