Stainless Hedders for LS1 C-3

I got tired of waiting for somebody to come out with a nice set of hedders for a LS1 in a C3 Corvette , so I'm building them myself . Now I see why they want 2k and up to build a custom set , it is a king size pain in the ass. I do all the fitting and cuttin and my Son does most of the welding . Got the passenger side done yesterday and started on the drivers side today . check out the pics.

Wow, that looks great and it sure is a lot of work. Do you have the stock steering box ? That's a very tight spot with my Hooker headers....Just wondering: cutting the flanges off a stainless pair of Hookers (or other brand for that matter) and re-welding the stainless LS1 flanges off a F-body won't work ?? Is the exhaust port spacing different ??

Yes I have the stock steering box (no power) and the pipes clear it bt about 1 inch. I wanted to go with the hedders that Motorhead has for sale over in the Engine section but he took so long getting them to market , they were really close to what I want (1 -7/8 primaries and stainless) well made but for a Small Block. I was just gonna cut off the flanges and mdify the pipes and install LS1 flanges. But in the end I'm glad that I just built my own now I know that they fit perefect . The down side to this is the cost I got more tied up in the raw materials then Motohhead sells his hedders for not to mention the work, I don't know how he does it.

Uhm. F body conversion headers for LS1 fit, all you need to do is cut off the collector on the durivers side and angle it since it's pointing outboard and up.

Those headers look awesome however

sssuch said:

The down side to this is the cost I got more tied up in the raw materials then Motohhead sells his hedders for not to mention the work, I don't know how he does it.

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China baby!!! They can say it's not so but the headers are identical to the OBX stuff on ebay, down to the non fitting bolt holes on the SBC flanges, the same CNC error as the obx headers for 3rd gen f bodies. They can BS all they want, stainlessworks is about the price what you pay for a quality us made set, want top quality? then you get burns stainless pricing. Anything significantly cheaper is made in China or another land full of "slaves"

F body hedders were a no fit on mine because of the clutch cross shaft, and possibly the bat wing oil pan. Plus I wanted 1-3/4 to 1- 7/8 step up on the tubes. And I also wanted to keep the tubes as close to the same length as possible.
I can't understand what is so hard about building a set of hedders that fit right these cars have plenty of room and they are all the same from 63-82 . Every time I install a set of Hooker sidepipes its always the same thing ,dent it to clear the Idler arm bolt ,dent near the steering box you would think that they would get it right by now they only been building them since the early 1970's . And theres no excuse for flange bolt holes not lineing up where in the hell is quality control.

sssuch said:

F body hedders were a no fit on mine because of the clutch cross shaft, and possibly the bat wing oil pan. Plus I wanted 1-3/4 to 1- 7/8 step up on the tubes. And I also wanted to keep the tubes as close to the same length as possible.
I can't understand what is so hard about building a set of hedders that fit right these cars have plenty of room and they are all the same from 63-82 . Every time I install a set of Hooker sidepipes its always the same thing ,dent it to clear the Idler arm bolt ,dent near the steering box you would think that they would get it right by now they only been building them since the early 1970's . And theres no excuse for flange bolt holes not lineing up where in the hell is quality control.

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I meant C3 hedders with the LS1 flanges but you're right, Hookers for example need dents on both sides to fit .... I'm glad I got stainless so I can dent them to make them fit, any ceramic coating would have chipped before the hedders even made it to the first startup....

where's quality control ?? good question... apparently not in China.... :lol:

Your headers look great! Can you explain the thinking behind the 1 3/4 to 1 7/8 step up?
I have seen this before but never with an explanation.

stepped headers can help broaden the torque curve by spreading out the effective scavenging rpm range but they don't necessarily make more power.

Here's some pics of the non stepped f body headers for those who want to buy not build

TT, Thanks for the info!

Twin_Turbo said:

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I would like some info on that joint your using instead of a standard U-Joint. I have seen them on Mercedes but why convert to them?

not using the hardy disc, it's what came with the engine/tranny out of a pontiac gto

Nice build up you got goin there Twin Turbo. I finally got the drivers side hedder done except for welding on the collector. Ran out of Argon and I will have to wait to Monday to get it filled , this kind of shit always happens on Friday . I bolted them in and they fit great ! lots of clearance around the steering box ,clutch cross shaft , and the Idler arm. (check out the pics ) Install couldn't be easier just pull off the plug wires slide hedder under car and reach down from the top and slide it into place on the passenger side. Its a little harder on the drivers side pull plug wires and the cross shaft , slide hedder under car and position the front end up about half way and then reach down from the top and slide it into position. I didn't even have to jack up the car . I will never buy a set of junk hookers again !

Hedders are done !!

They are finally done ! The collectors are on along with the O2 sensor bungs and V-band clamps. Polished them up a little better and they look every bit as good as something from Stainless Works, not bad for my first set of Hedders. : Stan

wow, that's impressive :thumbs:

I agree, those turned out excellent

Very pretty. How do they look mounted?

Fuelie74 said:

Twin_Turbo said:

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I would like some info on that joint your using instead of a standard U-Joint. I have seen them on Mercedes but why convert to them?

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When going thru a search for a suitable high rpm shaft for my dyno, all the high speeds shafts used this type of joint. I would think this would be the reason.

Hay thanks for the compliments Guys. Mounted they look great , they clear everything and are tucked up nice and tight and the outlets are pointed at the holes in the crossmember . Next I gotta make the pipes from the hedders to the otherside of the crossmember , got to order up a 3 inch "U" bend and 2 more V band clamps first. I'm just about burned out from welding , cutting , and fitting so I'm gonna do some wireing first , got to make a new harness for the foreward lamps and engine and intergrate it all together with the fuel injection computer so it looks like factory.

Ahhh... wiring. Yes, I think it's the fun part of the job...:goodnight: