tons of info needs to be extracted from this thread

[bollybib]

EXHAUST (Part 3 of 6)

I should also mention that the pipe ends were distorted by the manufacturer’s end cuts. They looked to have been cut with a cutting wheel type tool. As they came out of the box, none of the sections would slide into a mating pipe section or a muffler. I took a file to the ends and removed material at the last inch or so of pipe near the cut. After that, the pipe sections slipped firmly into their mating section.

By this time I got a response from Summit (but nothing yet from Holley). Their response in part was "We've had 37 sets sold in the last three years with 2 coming back, 1 return was similar to yours". Summit offered to exchange my kit for another, but I felt that I’d get the same stuff in a new kit because the left and right headpipes are the same part number according to Hooker’s installation instructions. So I proceeded knowing I’d have to have the droopy headpipe bent by a shop.

I needed to make sure it got bent correctly. To ensure my measurements were accurate, I moved my truck into the garage so it was on a flat surface. I rigged up some layout string across the frame to get a good reference point to measure from. With my measurements and a little trig, I computed that the pipe needed to be bent an additional 6.7 degrees upward. I also measured (with less accuracy I’d say) the compound angles of the outlets on both manifolds relative to the plane of the inlet ports. I found them to differ between the driver side and passenger side by about 6 degrees. This confirmed that the outlet angles of the manifolds are not the same side-to-side and that my calculated angle was in the ballpark. I made up a template on a piece of cardboard, took the pipe to a shop with bender, gave the guy eight bucks, and he bent it for me. I took it home and finally it fit right so I could move on.

Here is another member that experienced the same problem but with a different kit:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=320.

Eventually, I got a response from Holley. Here it is.

"Jim, I have forwarded your issue to product management and discussed your concerns. Unfortunately at this point with this being a cost effective kit with no other complaints YTD on quantities sold they are advising me the kit is what it is basically and if you are not satisfied with it and do not want to make any mods to make it work to return the kit. At this point we are not going to redesign the kit. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks Shane Whitescarver Technical Service Representative"

Hmm, cost effective. For them perhaps since they won’t incur expenses to improve the product. Isn’t anyone complaining about the fit of this kit ? And is Holley admitting that they sell a poorly designed product ? I sent a reply to Holley saying that they should add a cautionary note to the kit instructions, i.e., "this kit may require field bending and cutting to achieve correct fit".