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Yes the pipes line almost right up. The passenger mid pipe needs to be slid out about a half inch to line up with the passenger collector on the TSP headers. The drivers side goes right inline. If you didn't use cats you could use a couple 3" ID to 2.5" od reducers to make the connection. You would have to trim the drivers side back a bit on both the reducer and the Hooker midpipe since the TSP headers have pretty long collectors. The passenger side would bolt right in. The gap from pipe to pipe on the passenger side is 5" so you wouldn't even need a piece of 2.5" pipe. Something like the flowmaster 3" ID to 2.5" OD venturi reducer would be long enough enough.
Awesome, this is what I was looking for. I went ahead and ordered this system last night! Im interested to see how this will adapt to the CME set up I have yet to put on.
Last edited by JustinZ; 03-28-2016 at 11:42 AM.
Reason: edit
Thanks for the write-up. Convinced me to pull the trigger too. Been looking to quiet mine down for a while. TSP True duals dumped at the axle started to get really old after my cam swap. I'm going to adapt it to my pacesetters
Please continue post up with your install experiences, guys. I'm seriously considering doing this. I have had a Hooker Maxflow setup for 7 years and I'm thinking about doing something different (if I keep the car and continue to DD it).
My only concern with the system is weight compared to what I have now. Does anyone know how much it weighs as it comes in the box?
79lbs. The fabrication is top notch on it though, and the hangers are OEM quality. You do have have to utilize two of the factory hangers, the rear passenger and the y pipe hanger. I had removed both of them because i was running a TSP dumped system. Luckily im a pack rat and had them stashed away.
79lbs. The fabrication is top notch on it though, and the hangers are OEM quality. You do have have to utilize two of the factory hangers, the rear passenger and the y pipe hanger. I had removed both of them because i was running a TSP dumped system. Luckily im a pack rat and had them stashed away.
Damn, I am a good 2 hours away from you. I'd love to hear this thing in person!
I put it on today and it was very easy to adapt to my pacesetter headers. It took a little muscle to get it put together cause it's obviously not optimized for my headers. It sounds great, and it's easily half as loud as the TSP system was. It was retarded loud after i put a cam in last year, and this did exactly what i wanted, which was still sound great, but significantly quieter. It was very well designed, and built, and i'd recommend it to anyone.
Here's a video of it running. Sorry, its with my cell phone, so it doesn't do it justice. It has a very deep tone at idle and sounds great when revved. No rasp at all. I havent driven it yet, cause i live in Michigan and all it does is snow and rain this time of year. Hoping in the next couple of days.
Here's everything i bought and did to adapt it to my pacesetter headers.
1. (2) Flow Master 3 to 2.5" by 8" long reducer cones. The drivers side had to be cut down by 1.5" on the small end - $29
2 (1) 2.5" section of pipe about 6" long. Could easily have an exhaust shop make you one, i bought a 2' section off amazon for $9 and cut it down
3 (1) 2.5" Accuseal band clamp. Was like $6 on amazon i think
The first pictures are my TSP system, the second set are the Blackheart. I gained easily 1.5-2" in some areas. I'm at stock ride height, but now i can finally lower it, and basically net out where i was was with the TSP system, which i always thought was acceptable and i was able to tuck it decently. This Blackheart system has to be an improvement over stock.
Last edited by deelong4002; 04-10-2016 at 07:11 PM.
Excellent work! I still havent driven mine either, sadly. Finally married and back at home so I can finish the car and get it on the road. Ill edit the op tomorrow with links to the different Hooker Blackheart adaptions posted id on here so other people looking to fit the blackheart system can find the information easier.
Thanks. So far i'm very pleased with the sound and installation. Although, I think it's the first mod I've ever done to my car that I knew would result in a HP loss, but it's worth it if my ears don't ring after a half hour drive.
I know what you mean there. The whole reason I tore my car down and redid half of it was because it wasn't fun to drive for more than a day. I'd honestly be worn out. I tried to bring some more refinement back into it with the exhaust, suspension, clutch, and cam so that I might actually enjoy having it around for driving versus just looking at it and listening to it.
Yeah, I was just telling my buddy today that the big downside to a quieter exhaust, is now I'm going to spend all summer tracking down all the squeaks and rattles I couldn't hear previously. I'm sure my loud valve train is going to drive me nuts too. If you don't mind the 50lbs or so, install sound deadener on the floor pan. I tore out my entire interior last year and put down Rattle Trap sound deadener on the entire floor pan, and it made a dramatic difference in interior noise. When I fired my car up last night after the new exhaust, It's damn near as quiet as my bone stock Silverado on the inside. I couldn't believe it.
I drove it to work today, and holy crap what a difference from the TSP system. I was expecting it to be significantly quieter, but wow. Overall i'm very happy with it. It still has a great muscle car tone, but it so much more liveable. I'll try to get a gopro video tonight or this weekend if i can.
deelong - is the exhaust the lowest point on the undercarriage (up near the trans/front axle), or is there something else hanging lower? Trying to get a feel for the clearance of LT's + Blackheart catback vs the full on midtube & catback Blackheart setup.
From the pics Toddoky posted, the full BH setup almost looks to tuck so closely that the rockers and body and just about level with the bottom of the exhaust.
I'm mulling over in my mind what the give and take would be with LTs over the midlengths. Setting up with LTs look to be about $200-$300 cheaper. Differences in power, exhaust tone, and clearance are the other considerations I need to figure out.
deelong - is the exhaust the lowest point on the undercarriage (up near the trans/front axle), or is there something else hanging lower? Trying to get a feel for the clearance of LT's + Blackheart catback vs the full on midtube & catback Blackheart setup.
From the pics Toddoky posted, the full BH setup almost looks to tuck so closely that the rockers and body and just about level with the bottom of the exhaust.
I'm mulling over in my mind what the give and take would be with LTs over the midlengths. Setting up with LTs look to be about $200-$300 cheaper. Differences in power, exhaust tone, and clearance are the other considerations I need to figure out.
I would say the driver side collector on my longtubes is the lowest point
Atruss SS, this image should allow you to make a comparison of the ground clearance of the whole Blackheart system to using the dual exhaust with various long-tubes if you can get other users to post up photos from the same angle/perspective.
^^ Thanks - that's the exact picture I had in my head when making the post. Seems that the body is practically just as low as the exhaust.
As I'm sure you've noticed I've been post whoring in any of the Hooker Blackheart threads. I am really excited about the system and have settled that I will be purchasing it in some form, I am just debating the trade off of the bonuses of the LT setup vs the clearance of the full BH setup. I hope to purchase in a few weeks, in May.
^^ Thanks - that's the exact picture I had in my head when making the post. Seems that the body is practically just as low as the exhaust.
As I'm sure you've noticed I've been post whoring in any of the Hooker Blackheart threads. I am really excited about the system and have settled that I will be purchasing it in some form, I am just debating the trade off of the bonuses of the LT setup vs the clearance of the full BH setup. I hope to purchase in a few weeks, in May.
I understand and it's a decision each has to make based on what your priorities are. I myself want to cringe everytime I hear the sound of exhaust parts scraping across the top of a speed bump or the crest of a driveway, so I will give up 7-10HP to run the mid-lengths and protect my investment and not have to listen to the periodic scraping. Others have different preferences and I can surely respect that.
What would the impact of LT's do to sound versus the MT's?
Due to the long-tube like geometry of the Hooker mid-length collectors, I don't believe there would be a perceptible difference in sound between the two.
03-28-2016, 11:41 AM
