Headers/Cats hitting ground with springs installed?

[Vic_Ferrari]

My kook LT's are pretty close to the ground with the stock springs.
I'm thinking about getting H&R springs, which lowers the front 1.5" and the rear 1.6"

Has anyone had a problem with smacking speedbumps or uneven pavement.....
I don't want to dent up my LT's and I don't want to have to crawl over every little bump in order not to.....

Is anyone currently running this setup or have any comments on it?

[stlblack03]

A buddy lowered his Kooks LT'd 03 with H&R's...the LT's are coming off this weekend. He beat them to death. In my opinion...this is not a good idea. If your real careful though you might be alright.

His screen name is 03steve on some of the other 03 boards...might want to ask him personally...I'm not sure exaclty how he dented them.

[Vic_Ferrari]

That's depressing news......I'd hate to take the headers off.
I really, really, really want those springs.

I'm VERY impressed with the power/sound of the kook LT's.
I'm NOT impressed with fit/finish/quality and I still have a leak I'm chasing. I hope someone at kook is readng this because they should make a header that doesn't leak at the collector.
I think they should send someone to replace the flanges on the cats so they sit straight and "modify" the collector (I guess this means drill my own colector bolt holes and not use theirs)
WTF?
How much do most people pay for these things?
Can't they be engineered a little better for all that money?

If I hadn't literally stole these headers with the H-pipe from a friend who did me a huge favor on price, I'd be extremely upset right now. The headers are lower than I'd like and the cats are both tilted for no known reason.
Yup..the power is there though.

[stlblack03]

03steve has been chasing leaks the entire time also. Sell them and try Bassani Mid-Lengths

[BCH-SLP]

if you want to keep those headers you can probably throw a weld at the collector to seal the leak, but then again I don't know if you'd want to go through that. Might be harder to un-install or re-sell. I wonder why Kooks design is so poor when it comes to ground clearance?

Roque

[Vic_Ferrari]

OK.

I got an educated answer.
I was told the flanges were installed backwards and the headers need to be "pushed up" on the heads before the final tighten is made to the bolts. This will straighten the cats and create another 1.5" of ground clearance.
Putting the collectors on correctly will help seal the leaks.

I'm giving kook a chance on this one.
If the problem is resolved I'll post 5 good comments for the bad comments I've had about the fitment.

[redcobra]

You must have spoken with JDM on the phone.
KooKs are racing headers period.No matter what you do they will never stop leaking thats the nature of the beast metal heats up and it expands,unless you weld the collectors which is almost impossible for the average do it yourselfer due to the fact that you cant get between the primary tubes to weld.
IMO these headers have no business being installed on any late model vehicle other than a drag car that only does service on the strip.
Shame on JDM and KooKs for promoting these Non emissions legal race only parts for street use.:chairshot

[Vic_Ferrari]

Well.......
I talked to Jim and got under the car with Jay M. from Lamotta...
We were not only able to get it to hang straight and nice with good ground clearance, but we also cured the leaks.
No leaks whatsoever....
Turns out the headers fit well, make great power and sound good. I also have room for a mild (1") suspension drop
So why shouldn't they be on an emissions legal car?
I have cats and the car is emissions legal.....
The only thing I fault kook with is not including proper install instructions. This is what caused the entire headache in the first place.
Jim at JDM had a few "tricks" for me to try, all of which worked.
I'm going to document the procedure, send it to JDM for editing and post it in the forums.
The kook set up is actually a great product and unfortunately most people don't install it correctly and are not satisfied with the results.
I am now a happy camper and glad I got the headers......

I say "got" instead of "bought" becuase I literally stole them.
Jim really did me some favors here, and it's not fair to flame him over some install isues.
Look for the car in an upcoming "Mustang Enthusiast" magazine, with superflow dyno data mod per mod.
BIG thanks to Jim D' Amore for all of his support...