Hooker Side Pipes

4 SPEED

4 SPEED

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Messages
78
Location
New Jersey
I just purchased Hooker Side pipes and they came with no instructions.
Will be putting them on a 74.
Question is will they fit without cutting into the body and will they line up with stock mounting holes in frame.
Thanks in advance.
4-SPEED
 
They should fit just fine. No mods to the body, but the rocker moldings will have to come off and the front of them will need to be modified to clear the primary tubes. I used a 3" diameter drum sander to do the final finsh on them. The tube mounts line up with the holes in the frame just fine, although the "T" bolts are kind of a PITA until you've removed and replaced them a couple of times. Good part of that is they're pretty easy to fish out of the frame after you drop them.

When you get the side tubes on, CAREFULLY open the door to make sure it clears. I had to adjust the angle on the tube/frame brackets to clear the doors.
 
TimAT said:
They should fit just fine. No mods to the body, but the rocker moldings will have to come off and the front of them will need to be modified to clear the primary tubes. I used a 3" diameter drum sander to do the final finsh on them. The tube mounts line up with the holes in the frame just fine, although the "T" bolts are kind of a PITA until you've removed and replaced them a couple of times. Good part of that is they're pretty easy to fish out of the frame after you drop them.

When you get the side tubes on, CAREFULLY open the door to make sure it clears. I had to adjust the angle on the tube/frame brackets to clear the doors.
Click to expand...

How do the rubber washers go on.
Do they go on each side of the Tuble/ frame brackets
 
slide the T bolt into the slot and place the rubber piece between the sidepipe tube and the frame.

be careful not to drop the T bolt in the frame, you'll have a great time trying to get it out again.....

I am not impressed at all with the junk hardware that come with these 'not exactly reasonably priced' sidpipes... for this much money I expect more....
 
no body work? uhhhhh, you folks have a strange definition of "no bodywork"
cut here
P8260002.jpg
and here
P8260001.jpg

I didn't do the t-bolts. I bought wiring harness protectors and then welded some 1/2" rod to the frame with a provision for cotter keys
P8260003.jpg

You also have to trim the aluminum strip that covers the rocker panel. Use LOTS of tape to protect the paint when you feed it back in.

Also
Don't expect that one side's cut is the same as the other side's cut.... they weren't on mine.

P8270006.jpg

oh yeah, and if you're installing them while on a lift - use your spacers to get the lift bars away from the body.... grrrrr, I got the jack stands out, lowered the lift, lifted the small rises up, lifted the car, went back to work (and put the jackstands away) then realized I needed more space....
 
Last edited:
I did not have to cut fiberglass to fit mine. I am now wondering what engine mounts you're using? Maybe your engine sits higher than mine ???
 
That body work is the result of crushed body mounts or the wrong/too tall motor mounts
 
MYBAD79 said:
I did not have to cut fiberglass to fit mine. I am now wondering what engine mounts you're using? Maybe your engine sits higher than mine ???
Click to expand...

poly mounts I bought from Summit. I thought seriously about solid mounts, but couldn't force myself to pull the trigger on them - I hate rattles, and building a rattle in just wasn't something I was willing to do.

Even so, the exhaust pipe mounting flanges lined up with the holes in the frame - and are level, so I can't imagine it'd be off much, if any, at all.

body mounts are new too - was the very first thing I did... even so, that'd be a 3" crush on the body mounts; sorry, crushed mounts just isn't likely.
 
How much gap do you have between the frame and the primary tubes? If there's 1/4" then the engine is at about at the correct height ... It does look like your body sits a little low or the pipes are just a little off. Maybe a combination of both
 
I didn't have to touch the body either. Other than the rocker moldings.

I installed the T bolts- bolt into the hole in the frame, flat washer, rubber, pipe bracket, rubber, flatwasher, nut. Probably dropped the bolts a dozen times before I got it to all go together. Didn't have any problems at all fishing them out of the frame.
 
I installed side pipes on my 78 a year ago. And I did not have to cut on the body or the rocker trim. Used the hardware that came with the pipes from Hooker.
 
I forgot to mention-- Ol' Red is BB with 2-1/8 primary tubes- not those wimpy 1-7/8 small block models.
 
did not have to cut or modify anything on my 76 only thing i have to complain about is with the large primary tubes it is next to impossible to get all your header bolts in:bullshit:
 
fastcompany2 said:
did not have to cut or modify anything on my 76 only thing i have to complain about is with the large primary tubes it is next to impossible to get all your header bolts in:bullshit:
Click to expand...

Get the 12pt bolts, these have a smaller head ... I still had to modify my wrench though ...
 
TimAT said:
I forgot to mention-- Ol' Red is BB with 2-1/8 primary tubes- not those wimpy 1-7/8 small block models.
Click to expand...

you say that like you believe that understeer is a good thing :harhar:

I forgot to mention something... with the quietest hooker sidepipe mufflers the outside temp of the sidepipe is 167*....
 
Last edited:
redvetracr said:
Twin_Turbo said:
That body work is the result of crushed body mounts or the wrong/too tall motor mounts
Click to expand...


Corvette motor mounts and most standard Chevy motor mounts are NOT the same, Moroso shows the offset dimensions on their website, scroll down for the application chart link (in red)

http://www.moroso.com/catalog/categorydisplay.asp?catcode=28100
Click to expand...

that is a really good point - I have tons of chevrolet motor mounts, and had to buy corvette specific mounts when I put this car together.... (a bit of a grumble there). Hopefully others learn from my experience when the type 'corvette motor mounts'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top