kooks headers....junk

[kyStang1889]

so for the last three days i have been working on a kook header install on a custumers 03 cobra. I have done many mod motor headers and 3 or 4 4v's so i know what to expect.
these things were junk didn't fit for anything hitting on the k member on both sides, the starter could not be reinstalled without removing the flywheel and clutch, lucky for me i already had the trans out for a new clutch.
anybody else have these issues?

i would never have them on my car. maybe a tubular k member would help

would like to hear any comments or opinions

 

[Lstruck03]

I have kooks, but they were on the car when I bought it. However, they have not, since I have owned the car, contacted the k member or the k member support brace, and I have had my starter out and back in twice. Both times with the flywheel, clutch, trans in place.

Only design flaw I see in my Kooks is that the collector sits a bit low.

 

[VincodeY]

its surprising to hear this. Maybe he got sent the wrong ones???

 

[kyStang1889]

they could possibly be wrong i will take some pictures tomorrow and show you where they sit directly on the k member. if they are wrong i don't know what they would be for what other car has exhaustports like a 4v?

they did come with 6cyl instuctions

 

[Posi]

You had to have gotten the wrong ones. Mine fit perfectly. Either way calm down as I'm sure you're a little edgey.

 

[BWH2003]

Yeah mine did the same thing plus the flanges were warped. I went ahead and put 20 decent sized dents in all the pipes to get the headers to fit and clear everything. The worst part was putting dents in so the steering shaft would fit through and not contact the headers. Dont bother calling kooks as the owner will blame it on you and tell you that your installing the headers wrong. Finally after twenty minutes explaining how to install them you will hang up in frustration. Call back talk to Chris and he will take care of you but not before you talk to the owner.

Good luck

 

[kyStang1889]

lol they only bolt up one way

 

[svt2ner]

Did you buy the 1 3/4 or the 1 5/8?

 

[Wishing4Cobra]

yeah possible wrong ones, i have not heard one single bad thing about Kooks headers.

 

[forcefedcobra]

mine fit like a glove. We did install them on the longlbock while it was out of the car and put it back in on a tubular k and then hooked up the drivetrain and such but we were very happy with the fitment and dont see any future problems with anything. Mine are the newest ones they make that tuck up and fit better than older ones.

 

[cobra4b]

Never heard a bad thing about Kooks in the F-body/Corvette world... they're one of the 3 top tier brands along w/ American Racing and LGM.

 

[BWH2003]

I got the 1 7/8" headers. If I did it again I would go with ARH headers. The kooks are on the car and not currently leaking so im just keeping them there until I have a problem. I still cant believe how many dents I had to add to get the headers to fit. I even had to dent a pipe almost 2/3 the pipe so I could get the bolt to line up straight into the head.

If I get it up on a lift this spring I will get pictures of the dents and post them up.

 

[03cobra545]

^Hey Bwh2003 dont kno if u remember but Im the one that got all your torco. Got my ARH 1 3/4 all bolted up on my car before the winter. I really like them, took awhile to get them on there but they fit good and sound amazing. Sorry to hear about the Kooks

 

[BWH2003]

Yeah I understand that shit happens but the fact that the owner blamed it on me sent me over the edge. At least they work and im hoping to bump the boost back up to 25-26 psi with a new pulley this summer.

Did you get a retune on the car yet? I dont know if you drove it much after the headers but how much of a boost drop did you see from the headers? How is the sound? I remember you said you were going with the borla stinger catback that I run. Im thinking of finding some new mufflers to get rid of the raspy noise between 3000 and 4000 rpm. Still not sure what brand I can use as my relocated fuel filter is going to be in the way if the muffler is to wide.

Anyways im glad to hear you got the headers on without problems. I cant wait to get out this summer and finally drive my car versus working on it.

 

[kyStang1889]

i also installed a ported eaton and pullies 2.8 upper and 4# lower, car is seeing 22 psi on the dyno isn't this alittle excessive?

 

[SIr RicCuS]

Doesn't surprise me. LT's are a royal PITA with a stock k-member! I dropped my k-member to install mine and they were extremely close to the starter...

 

[01SN8K]

i also installed a ported eaton and pullies 2.8 upper and 4# lower, car is seeing 22 psi on the dyno isn't this alittle excessive?

An eaton with a 2.8/4# at 22lbs of boost!? Wow, that combo is suppossed to be like 18-19lbs. max. And then on a ported car with lt's the boost should have went down. or i would think it would have went down. have you tried running a different boost gauge to check the accuracy and double up to insure that 22lbs is right? i would start with a different gauge to compare numbers.

 

[scotmach]

My Kooks leak at the slip connect. I've seen two other Cobras with Kooks also leak at the slip connect. For the price they shouldn't leak at all.

 

[04torchred]

My Kooks leak at the slip connect. I've seen two other Cobras with Kooks also leak at the slip connect. For the price they shouldn't leak at all.

That is a big reason I have told people to go with ARH, roughly the same cost and 1 piece. I run them on my Cobra and my brother has them on his Mach 1 and a buddy has them on his vette. One of the nicest brands in my opinion.

 

[black03]

I've got Kooks 1-7/8" headers on my 03 and the 1-3/4" on my Shelby and both sets fit perfect.

Jared