Toddoky

In all fairness to the poster, he has had an order in for seven weeks that hasn't been filled and the fault has been on Holley's end of things. Holley is a large company and back order issues do occur from time to time,,,as costomers we all have to decide to wait out such situations or move on to something else.

Atrus_SS

iTrader: (1)

Dumb question time...since the asymmetrical exit/tips seems to be an issue for some potential buyers, is it even possible that as a future design revision the mufflers be developed with offset exits? Is there enough room in the 6" diameter of the muffler there that if the exit wasn't concentric to the body of the muffler, they could be rotated and welded such that the two exits are equidistant to the vehicle centerline?

Seems that Hooker really put a lot of thought into these, so I am assuming it's just not possible with the unmodified vehicle body and the 6" mufflers. I had to ask though.

Also, if the tips in their current state work with the stock T/A bumper cutouts, then I would have to ASSume that they'd work with the 6LE dual/dual Camaro valence as well, being that every other catback can be fit on the stock Pontiac or 6LE Camaro variant of the F-body, right? (that's not a question for Toddoky, but for the overall LS1 community)

Toddoky

It's technically possible to develop offset mufflers but two factors that would affect the feasibility of doing so in this application are whether there is enough room to make the offset effective at centering the tips and what impact the tooling/build cost of such an application specific muffler would have on the cost and selling price of the whole system. I can tell you that It can't happen at the price point this system sells for now, and I think the value perception of the system would change immensely if the price went up $200 to $300 to make such a change. Application specific components are always expensive due to the design/tooling cost and low-use quantities associated with them. The input from you guys is really helpful for influencing future product plans, so I appreciate all posts that offer an objective opinion.

wayland1985

Excellent to know. I wonder if the valence with a CME setup would hide the mufflers a bit more. If so, I think it'll be a great option, depending on the full cost of everything.

Toddoky

I don't know, but a can of VHT high temp black paint would do the trick if someone wanted to mask the polished mufflers.

Tim Mc

After 10 years and only 26K miles I'm thinking of replacing the stock exhaust on my '02 Z28 convertible. I really like the idea of a true dual cat-back set up, eliminating the factory Y-pipe. I plan to keep the factory manifolds and cats.

Will the Blackheart 70501332-RHKR (all 304SS) and 70501432-RHKR (409SS) also work on the 2000-2002 F-body CONVERTIBLES?

Assuming I'll have to toss the factory stamped X-brace, does Hooker P/N 71223001HKR (1993-2002 GM F-Body Floor Brace) replace the GM OEM X-brace where the factory Y-pipe is flattened? Will this work on convertibles too?

Thanks,

Tim

Tim Mc

FYI, I called their tech line and there are no notes regarding convertibles. Assuming that their floor brace is needed for the new duals instead of the factory Y-pipe, that might be something that Hooker wants to mention.

Toddoky

Validating the fitment of the system on a convertible was not included on the development plan, so it's anybody's guess at this point if it would fit or not. Your suggestion to exclude convertibles from the application listing is a good point and something that got overlooked...thanks for the reminder, I'll have the website description revised on Monday.

Tim Mc

Thanks for the response. Sorry, I should have been more clear. I wasn't suggesting that convertibles be excluded, unless it's proven that it won't work on them. I don't think there's any reason why this system won't work on the convertible - other than removing or replacing the stamped tunnel brace, which many owners discard anyway.

It might be a good suggestion to note that the GM factory tunnel brace may need to be replaced with the Hooker floor brace or similar aftermarket part in order to provide ample clearance for the 2.5" round pipe replacing the GM flattened Y-pipe.

I've ordered the 304SS 50-state version, as well as the floor plate. Looking forward to getting it.

Toddoky

Thanks for the clarification Tim, I understand you more clearly now...I'm going to put a footnote on the web listing that describes convertible fitment as not yet being validated and also list the stock floor brace as being non-compatible with the Hooker system.

dp121

Toddoky....were you able to get some more pics of the TA bumper with the tips of this system?

Toddoky

I completely forgot about it...I'll see what I can do in the morning.

Atrus_SS

iTrader: (1)

Hey Tim....if you don't mind could you report back on the convertible fitment? I have a '00 vert this would be going on...didn't even occur to me there could be differences from the coupes.

Atrus_SS

iTrader: (1)

Toddoky -

Any time frame as to when you'll be getting performance numbers on the catback 50-state legal version?

Tim Mc

You bet! I'll try to hang it within the next few weeks.

~Tim

dp121

RebelExtrm02....I thought I read that you purchased this Hooker system. Did you get it installed yet?

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Alright, so I did ask the vendor to cancel my order. But it turns out they had sent it out a day or two before I contacted them yet again. That day I contacted them to cancel the order was the day before it showed up.

Since I have a long trip coming up for Thanksgiving, I decided this last weekend was when the exhaust should go in. Yesterday, PsychoSid and I put it in. Overall, I'm pleased with the fitment. We fought it hard to get the over the axle portion to not touch the heat shield under the fuel tank. But that was partly our fault... Sid kept trying to pull the whole system to the back of the car, when really we had to push it forward to get the hump off the shield.

Since we mated it to 3" collectors on long tubes, we had to work from the back to the front (opposite of Hooker instructions). At the front, we didn't use either of their bung'd pipes. We used a 3"x2.5" reducer from eBay, but we had to go to the parts store and throw some carbon steel on the header side for a slip fit. I hate that we had to do that, but we had to finish.

It's ridiculous quiet compared with my 3" true duals dumped with Magnaflow bullets, pretty much what I was aiming for. I'll be logging AFR the next few days to make adjustments, but watching the gauge, I haven't seen the significant difference I was expecting to see with a smaller exhaust on a 383 HCI car.

7 weeks was just ridiculous, but the kit was very complete and I'm pleased with the fitment. Thanks Toddoky, for tolerating a ticked off customer, lol...

Oh, and I took video before and after but I haven't looked at it yet. I'll post it when I remember to get it off the camera.

RebelExtrm02

iTrader: (3)

I did get it, and I do not have it installed yet. Had to replace my camshaft which set me back a few weeks. Cam should be here end of week or beginning of next. I'll have it back together in about a week or two after that. Mine will be HCI with long tubes and spun metallic cats. I'll be sure to get a video up to add to the list of variations in setup.

Tim Mc

Backordered. &*%#!...
but, looks like it's scheduled to ship around 11/19, so not all bad news.

dp121

Ok cool. Are you planning on welding this to your long tube headers or going with clamps?