Kooks Shorty Header issue

[dbrford2003]

Any updates on this? I have a set with no revision number waiting to go on. I have a feeling with my luck that I am going to run into the same hassle as you did. Did you take any pics with measurements when you had the header on your home made jig? I wonder if there is a way I can tell if mine is wrong buy taking some measurements and comparing to yours.

Thanks

My header was sent back to Kooks, no update as it has not made it to them yet. It was supposed to be delivered Thursday, assuming weather delayed it. Car doesn't get out much this time of year so not terribly worried about timing at this point. Will let you know what they say, I am not sure they believe anything is wrong up to this point as they use jigs that should not allow for any variance when they weld.

My jig was a bit ghetto, just bolted them to some plywood and used a square to draw lines off the the cat. I have the board with the marks I made but not sure it will come through in a pic. I think the issue is the flange at the head, think the tubes were welded at an incorrect angle. The flange at the cat appeared to have correct angle.

 

[03Sssnake]

Did you ever hear back from Kooks?

 

[dbrford2003]

Did you ever hear back from Kooks?

Nothing as of yet. Header arrived yesterday. I did send an email today but will not call until tomorrow as I am sure they need some time to evaluate it.

 

[dbrford2003]

Kooks did get back to me regarding the header. I was told the collector was welded incorrectly. They have repaired the header and it is on its way back to me. I am not sure how I feel about them repairing vs just sending me a new one but I guess as long as it fits and does not look like it was repaired I can live it.

 

[charba951]

WTF...they better be refunding some of your purchase...didn't pay for what is now a refurbished header

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

WTF...they better be refunding some of your purchase...didn't pay for what is now a refurbished header

not to mention the pain in the ass factor of installing it, uninstalling it, shipping it (hope they paid for it or are paying you back), waiting and now putting it back on.

at least they owned up to it on yours instead of just making an excuse about the jig being old and a little sloppy

 

[nissenc1337]

Yeah, it's easy to assume that if something is 100% as expected that we expect some sort of compensation. But at the same time there is always risk when buying something made by humans.

I wouldn't get upset if they fixed my issue. Paying for shipping the part seems reasonable but beyond that, give Kooks a break. They made it right. Hopefully. hah

 

[Vert]

They need their ISO certification yanked. That should have never made through QC. A pic of it not fitting along with the headers being new should have been enough for them to send a new one out and have the op return the bad one. I was happy with the kooks system on my G8, but I will think twice before buying again.

 

[dbrford2003]

I am not real happy about the situation at this point. I have been communicating with Kooks but to be fair I will wait and see what the "fixed" header looks like before I freak on them. The time to install is not a huge concern, I think removing the stock headers was the worse part and I had to do that anyway. The Kooks go on real easy, probably an hour or so max to have it done.

 

[Nocturnal'14]

Well I guess I know now what was wrong with mine too! Not taking it off now though....its working fine now that I cut.welded my H-pipe to work.
Glad you got yours repaired OP!

 

[My1stGT]

When you get the header back it would be appreciated if you could take a pic of the repair I am curious as to what they did to fix it. Cut off and re-weld the collector flange? or maybe just re-machine the angle on the cat side of the existing flange. If it can be fix by just re-machining the collector flange a little that wouldnt be too bad and i would consider just having that done locally instead of the hassle of shipping them to Kooks .

Thanks

 

[03Sssnake]

When you get the header back it would be appreciated if you could take a pic of the repair I am curious as to what they did to fix it. Cut off and re-weld the collector flange? or maybe just re-machine the angle on the cat side of the existing flange. If it can be fix by just re-machining the collector flange a little that wouldnt be too bad and i would consider just having that done locally instead of the hassle of shipping them to Kooks .

Thanks

This!!! Even with the issues I am still interested in this big tube shorty. I have a local buddy that tigs up custom turbo setups, fabs his own hot side parts. I am sure this would be light work for him if it had to be done...

 

[dbrford2003]

I definitely will post pics when I get it. Should be here on Wednesday.

 

[4VFTW]

fwiw my Kooks shorties also dont line up right on the passenger side...the collector flange angle is off and I had to double gasket it to get it to seal. This also causes the X-pipe to be shifted about 1 1/2 inches toward the driver side. Seems to be a common issue with these headers and how do you "weld it incorrectly" when its in a jig?

 

[cjd223]

They need their ISO certification yanked. That should have never made through QC. A pic of it not fitting along with the headers being new should have been enough for them to send a new one out and have the op return the bad one. I was happy with the kooks system on my G8, but I will think twice before buying again.

Sorry about your problems, but an ISO cert. really does not mean much. I was the team leader at my steel processing plant for ISO. ISO is NOT a QC/QA program. You could be making concrete parachutes and get ISO certified. OTOH what does a ME with a Six Sigma Black Belt know? LOL

 

[cjd223]

fwiw my Kooks shorties also dont line up right on the passenger side...the collector flange angle is off and I had to double gasket it to get it to seal. This also causes the X-pipe to be shifted about 1 1/2 inches toward the driver side. Seems to be a common issue with these headers and how do you "weld it incorrectly" when its in a jig?

It all depends on how the jig is made and who is doing the welding. BTDT

 

[dbrford2003]

Got the header back on the car, it is better but the fit is still not perfect. Will be contacting Kooks tomorrow. Looks like they did put a new collector on the header, the header it self looks good off the car. Not happy with fit still though.

 

[03Sssnake]

do you have any pics of the fixed collector?

 

[Turbo5.0]

It amazes me that the OEM can make hundreds of thousands of factor headers/manifolds and they all fit perfect and are mass produced. With all the Kooks headers that seem to have the same issue, I bet the JIG is not that good. They may need to revisit a S197 install and adjust accordingly. I use to work for a Corvette race shop and we used hundreds of Kooks headers and they were great. We did ultimately start using American Racing Headers (ARH) and they were an awesome fit!

I was on the fence on weather to use Kooks, ARH or SW for Coyotes, as of now it seems Kooks is down the list until a re-JIG.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

It amazes me that the OEM can make hundreds of thousands of factor headers/manifolds and they all fit perfect and are mass produced. With all the Kooks headers that seem to have the same issue, I bet the JIG is not that good. They may need to revisit a S197 install and adjust accordingly. I use to work for a Corvette race shop and we used hundreds of Kooks headers and they were great. We did ultimately start using American Racing Headers (ARH) and they were an awesome fit!

I was on the fence on weather to use Kooks, ARH or SW for Coyotes, as of now it seems Kooks is down the list until a re-JIG.

kooks flat out told me the jig for my car was old and probably needed re-doing and thats why I had some issues I did. They did not sound like they had any intention of doing anything about it either