Jet-Hot Brand LT1 Header Experience - FYI

It has been several weeks since I had dealt with this issue, so I am calmed down now. However, I think I should make people aware of my issue.

After researching the web for 6 months for headers and reading the forums. I decided to buy headers for my ’95 LT1. I purchased the Jet-Hot headers for a ’95 LT1 w/out emission tubes, Hooker y-pipe, and O2 extenders back in August from Chris. I was very happy with the transaction, speed of delivery, and appearance of the product.

I arranged for a well known shop (been in magazines and such) here in the Detroit area to install the headers for me. They had installed numerous sets of Hookers on LT1s before but this would be their first experience with the Jet-Hot brand. The passenger side header worked out great. When the driver side header was installed, a problem was obvious. The header exit was close to the floorboard and pointing at an upward angle towards the floorboard. The flange was actually touching the floorboard. I called Chris and he immediately sent me out a replacement part (I had to pay for the new part until other was returned – which was no problem). However this delayed everything by almost a week and I am without my car for even longer.

The shop pulled off the driver’s side header and installed the replacement. The same problem was evident. The shop went through the car, checking that there was nothing wrong with my motor mounts or anything else. I was now very upset because I didn’t have my car back for a race and I still had to figure out how to resolve this problem. I called Chris again. I had him send me a set of Hookers (and he did so at no charge to me) because he had no idea what the problem was and I didn’t want to keep wasting the shop’s time or mine. After more time passed, the Hookers arrived and were installed with no issues. There is now sufficient clearance from the floorboards on both header banks.

I returned all of the Jet-Hot headers back to Chris and was waiting until he received them before finding out what happened. I never did hear back if there was a manufacturing defect with the parts or not. Because of my troubles, I figured I would get a break on something. I guess I received a $50 discount on the Hookers, but that doesn’t come close to the additional $275 in labor I had to pay the shop for installing and removing the Jet-Hot headers several times and the time I was without my car. Working as an engineer in the automotive industry, if my company has a bad quality part that costs the OE customer time and/or money – we are expected to stand behind our product and make things right. This was not the case with Jet-Hot. The slight discount I received did not satisfy me at all. I am left not wanting to do business with Jet-Hot or use their brand of products again.

Here is my advice: Beware if you are buying the Jet-Hot brand headers to save a little money. In the long run it cost me several hundred more than if I had gone with the Hookers in the first place. :alert:

Mike - Michigan

I will reply to this very quickly. I remember this person very clearly. We shipped headers to the customer and were informed that the one header did not fit correctly. I had shipped out a new Jet Hot header while sending a call tag to bring back the other header. After the 2nd header was received, he stated he still had a problem on the install. He requested to return the Jet Hot headers and get the Hooker headers. I had no problem with the exchange. Due to the problem, I got the headers in, coated and shipped right out without charging the credit card. In the mean time, I sent a call tag to get back the 2nd set of headers. We had agreed that I would end up charging a total of $580 for the Hooker headers to the door. Any additional money was to be refunded (and was). The customer called and wanted to get some additional money refunded due to the additional time needed on the install. He asked for the $25 Jet Hot coupon to be used, I agreed. The new total ended up being $555 to the door. Looking at the normal prices, we charge retail $684 for the Hooker headers to the door. The Camaroz28.com members price is $628 to the door (I honored the old price of $580 for this customer). As far as the Jet Hot headers are concerned, we did send them back to have checked. It was found that the headers were bent correctly. I do not have any reason why the headers did not fit into this customer’s car. In dealing with a lot of header manufactures, you would not find any other manufacture would have gone as far as Jet Hot. Keep in mind, even after the 2 header was received, you could have had the headers returned for a full refund. Jet Hot has always tried to work with the customer when a problem should arise. You ended up getting Hooker headers for Jet Hot’s cost with almost no coating cost (factor the normal cost of the headers(Jet Hot’s price), plus the shipping to Jet Hot for coating and shipping to the customer) . I’m sorry you feel the way you do, I don’t know what else I can do for you at this time. If you want to return the Hooker headers (as long as they are not damaged), I will issue a refund.

Sincerely,
Chris
1-800-432-3379 ext 110

Vlademar is prolly the type that eats at McDonald's then when he's finished he'll complain about the food to get it for free.
Don't mind him Jet-Hot, there are enough happy customers around here (me included).

Even if the shop would have installed the header on the driver's side you would have been driven crazy by the slip-tube leak :mad:
I just had mine welded up so it wouldnt leak and it was the hardest install I have done yet on my car.
I know this really isnt Jet-Hots fault but something does need to be done about the leaking slip-tub..Too many people experience it and mine was soo bad it rattled like crazy..Oh well, its fixed now :D
Chris did send me a replacement header after my first set leaked but the replacement was just as bad if not worse..Then I thought maybe my last set of heads were off in geometry just a little causing it too leak but after a new set of heads it was the same...He did everything he could to help me out though, so I do commend him on that.

-Cody

I had a good experience with my Jet Hot headers. They are one of the few companies that you can call and actually talk to someone who knows what they are talking about. I think I am going to buy a set of headers from them for my Dad for Christmas to put on his '68 camaro.

Dustin

I'm glad I put my own Jet-Hot product in and everything fit fine. After looking back on it, it wasn't hard at all. I took on this project with little patience and it all worked out fine. I love my Jet-Hots. And if they came out with another product I wanted, you can gauren-damn-tee I will buy it. :thumb:

My passenger side went in fine, however my driver's side was a nightmare, and the collector flange was hitting the floarbard, not to mention about 1" from my crossmember in the body. So I cut the collector, took out about 1 1/2" - 2" of the collector, moved it back and turned it so the flange wouldn't hit. Haven't had a problem with the slip fit yet, I'll use some RTV sealant of some type for added insurance. I'll see how it goes. They sure were nice before I got my hands on them and scratched them to hell trying to make them fit.

Overall, I think I'm pretty satisfied.

Vlademar sounds like a real cheap azz, jet hot has always done well for me.

Same here.... my Jet Hots went in perfectly and only took a little more effort on the passenger side. Over all Im really happy with the headers other than the driver's side leak. I'll have that welded up when I get a K-member.

-B

your motor mounts were shot. i dont care if your shop thinks they were ok. our motors torque to one side, and when that crushes the passenger side motor mount, and stretches the driver side, that is why the driver side header is usually too high under the car, and the passenger side is tough to get in.

get new poly motor mounts, and with you engine in the right place, the headers should be fine.



as for the jethots.......i have them, and they are a nice header, for a decent price..........but the slip-fit crap pisses me off to no end. when i pay $500 for a set of headers, i shouldn't have to spend my time/money searching for a way to fix this leak.

jethot should send us all some band clamps or whatever people are using to seal up the leak (rtv isnt good enough). this should be included with the headers in the first place. i know not everyones leaks, but a hell of a lot of them do, so the company should do something about it.

I'm thinking I might change to a BMR K-Member and poly mounts here soon, should take care of any clearance problem.

I assume I can just hold the engine up as I rip out the old k-member right?

if you guys are having problems with fitment i can almost garuantee that is motor mounts. They collapse and cause the engine to sit wrong, thus angling things like collectors into the floorboard. I had this problem and replaced both my mounts, fixing that issue and a clearance problem with the kmember. It is not jethots fault, look into other possibilities before pointing the finger.

I like my jethots!

Mine were, and still are perfect, after several months of use. No leaks, no clearance problems, they are EXCELLENT.

If your motor mounts are perfect, maybe your frame is bent ???

It is not the headers .

How far from the floorboard do most peoples headers sit? My driver side is pretty close to the floorboard (1/2"?) and I installed brand new poly mounts (engine and transmission). I just want to know if it will be possible to use the hooker y-pipe or not.

I currently have had 2 set's of Hooker LT's.. Both coated by jet hot.. ANd have installed a total of 4 Jet Hot LT's on both LS1 and LT1 car's.. The fit and finish of these headers are top notch.. ONe i have never had a problem w/ the floor board issue.. Like stated abovethats a motor mount issue.. I have cured my leaky slip fit.. Summit sells' a 1 3/4 inch t bar clamp made by supertrap its not that cheap but coat the slip fit w/ rtv liberally of course.. and then clamp it till you see some oozing out.. then let sit for 24 hours.. Preferably use the orange RTV.. doest a lil better w/that high heat situation's..:)

My question is however, the driver side header collector sits about 3/8" from the floorboard, it hits when I go down steep hills, new motor mounts would only raise the header more, jamming the header into the floorboard, this is why I'm revising the collectors at the exhaust shop. Cutting off just after the 02 bung, turning slightly so the bolt on the flange is not at top, giving me about another 1/2" of clearance, and angling the collector slightly down to go around my crossmember.

Another thumbs up for Jet-Hot. Love mine and wouldn't go with any other longtube. Just be sure to use the hooker y-pipe with it, as the mufflex y-pipe is a piece of CRAP.

Originally posted by Larnach
new motor mounts would only raise the header more


no......the stock driver side mount gets stretched under torque and the passnger side gets crushed, making it sit higher on the driver side.......with new motor mounts, the engine will level out andl lower the driver side back down.

Originally posted by IllusionalTA
I Summit sells' a 1 3/4 inch t bar clamp made by supertrap


i dont see it in the catalog.........you have a part number or link?

*edit* nevermind, i found it summit # SUP-094-1750

ouch, $6.95 + $8.45 shipping!

Originally posted by aram
How far from the floorboard do most peoples headers sit? My driver side is pretty close to the floorboard (1/2"?) and I installed brand new poly mounts (engine and transmission). I just want to know if it will be possible to use the hooker y-pipe or not.

Looks like I have at least a 1/2" too. I haven't checked, just looked at some old pics:
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/thebrainhart1/vwp?.dir=/Jet+Hot+LTs&.dnm=Drivers_Side_Y-Pipe_Close-up_1.jpg&.view=t

If I were you, I 'd go to a good local exhaust shop and have a custom y-pipe made. I did, and I love it. Mine cost me a lot more, but I had a new cat put in it:
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/thebrainhart1/vwp?.dir=/Jet+Hot+LTs&.dnm=Y-Pipe.jpg&.view=t

I'm going to have them make me an "offroad" y-pipe (without cat) that is easily interchangable with my current one, they quoted me $120. No shipping, no waiting more than a day, easy warranty fixes and troubleshooting.

Mass production never beats custom made.

I've ordered a set of Jet-Hot LTs and the Hooker y-pipe from Chris not too long ago. First of all, I have to say that I was never treated any better by an automotive related company period.

Installing the headers was a nightmare, however. I did replace both motor mounts with some polyurethane ones and my frame is good, so no problems there. The passenger side went in without any problems. Couldn't say the same about the driver side though.

You can check the post here (http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=193251) about this, but to make a long story short, it took taking out the oil filter, removing the steering linkage, raising the car a couple feet, removing all cradle bolts, remove the transmission crossmember, drop the engine cradle about 4-5 inches and let the tranny lay on the x-brace until I could finally put it in. The cut tube would hit on the k-member and would not go in otherwise.

After all this, the flange on the driver side was almost hitting the floorboard. (picture here (http://www.soltan.net/pix/hookers.jpg))

I was also told that the y-pipe would bolt on to a catback (that's the main reason why I bought it) but it did not. Some cutting, scratching, prying, pushing, shoving and $92 later, it all fit.

I really like the ground clearance, you can see a picture here (http://www.soltan.net/pix/cam/clearance.jpg), but overall, the install wasn't quite as I expected it to be.


I'm very happy about my experience with Jet-hot otherwise. I will definetely do business with them again in the near future.

What do you expect the install to be like? Installing LTs are always difficult. Jet hot has thicker gage steel and beefier flanges, so they are a little more difficult to install, but not that much worse. I installed mine. And at 1st I even got the hooker Y pipe to hook up no problems (of course you have to cut your catback, that's a given), but it ended up slipping off the collector, so I paid a friend of mine $40 to modify it and weld it up and make it fit really nice. I am very happy w/ the Jet hot LTs, they made a huge power gain for me over the shorty hookers i had in there. Also, the build quality of those Jet hots are oustanding, the welds and everything look really good. The coating is immaculate. They've been on abot a month and i haven't had a slip fit problem yet, and hopefully it never starts leaking. I have to replace the engine mount on the passenger side, as it is crushed and the headers just BARELY touch the k member, other than that, I have good clearance everywhere.

Overall I'm very happy with them and recommend them to everyone I talk to about getting headers.

To those taking shots at me (shawnberry50) - you are missing the point of my post.

To those offering suggestions, I had studied the header install for months before going ahead with the Jet-Hots. At the time I was making the purchase, there was another thread about issues with the Jet-Hot clearance. However, not everyone had the problem.

My car has been mine since day one and has never been wrecked - therefore no bent frame. All rubber components had been replaced appx. 10,000 miles ago. There was no reason for the header on the driver's side not to fit properly. The Hooker headers fit just fine and have excellent floorboard clearance on both sides.

I did not bash Chris or mean to say Jet-Hot was a bad company. I am using the Hooker headers from Jet-Hot on my car right now. I stated the facts of my experience in my posting so people would be aware that they MAY encounter issues with Jet-Hot manufactured headers for the '95 LT-1 w/out emssion tubes and that they might be better off going with the Hooker made headers coated by Jet-Hot. I was told when buying mine that the Jet-Hot's were similar to the Hookers except with beefier flanges. This may be true but there are other differences from the Hookers (slip tube, floorboard clearance) that a customer should know about. Ultimately, a person can weigh out their options and make their own decision when buying LT headers. I just want the next person to be better informed.

i think the jet hots are a great productfor the price but installing driver side was tough. and floorboard clearance is minimal maybe 3/8 inch. if jet hot would rotate the flange in the future it would be great! and save us from cutting-welding such pretty headers. so far no leaks but i sanded just enough coating off to fit the crack pipe in with no sealant.

Steve, I'm with you on rotating the flange. That's the first thing I thought when I saw MW's photo.

I may be missing something (and you can probably find many people to vouch for that) but wouldn't it be a better installation if a flat of the flange were facing up? This would allow more room between the flange and the floorboard, and provide easier access to the mounting bolts.

Just my $.02

the first thing jethot needs to do is include a 1.75" tbar clamp to attach the stupid slipfit primary properly.

Originally posted by got_hp?
the first thing jethot needs to do is include a 1.75" tbar clamp to attach the stupid slipfit primary properly. I'm not TOO suprised lots of people have a problem with the slip-in primary. Mine fits perfect and does not leak at all. I dont see it being easy to do anything else but a slip in primary to get around that steering linkage with little problem. As to the headers, they are wonderful and probably one of the most quality parts I have ever bought. The driver's side collector fits fine after minor grinding off the trans crossmember which wasnt totally necessary but definitely beneficial since clearance is tight there. Some people need to realize that EACH CAR IS DIFFERENT. Not every set of Jet-Hot, Hooker, SLP, Heddman, AS&M, etc headers will fit perfectly. There will be cases like this where its not necessarily the manufacturer or customer just the way the car is. Either way, I'd love to do business with Jet-Hot again.

Are they still set up as a slip-fit? I thought I've seen them in pics as having a 3-bolt collector?

I wanted to bolt them to the engine BEFORE I put the engine back up through the bottom, is that possible?

Yep, that will work just fine. :)

I used that muffler fix it tape type stuff. You wrap it around the part to be sealed, run car for 15 min to get it hot and it condenses thus sealing up the leak. Also, it has a million mile lifespan so you can count on that tape stuff being there even if the rest of the header is gone. :)

Everyone that I have seen post on here with a leaking slip fit primary always mention something about sanding it down. I did not sand mine at all, just used some muscle to get it in there....no leaks here AT ALL. Mine were close to the k member, but new poly mounts fixed that, as mine had collapsed after 70k miles of hard use.

I had some issues with mine, but Jet-Hot was there, better than any company that I have ever dealt with. They even called a week later to see how the install went. They even cut me a sweet deal on the extensions because of a few issues that needed to be solved, I did not even ask, they offered.

The hookers are known for hanging lower than the jet hots, that is most likely why you got better clearance for your car. Having the flange rotated with the flat side up is not a good idea if you are concerned about ground clearance, that is why they are like they are. All in all I would suggest that everyone that gets LTs to go with a custom y-pipe because they don't cost much more than the ones you can buy premade. Plus they will fit alot better.

Originally posted by TQdrivenws6
Everyone that I have seen post on here with a leaking slip fit primary always mention something about sanding it down. I did not sand mine at all, just used some muscle to get it in there....no leaks here AT ALL. Mine were close to the k member, but new poly mounts fixed that, as mine had collapsed after 70k miles of hard use.

I had some issues with mine, but Jet-Hot was there, better than any company that I have ever dealt with. They even called a week later to see how the install went. They even cut me a sweet deal on the extensions because of a few issues that needed to be solved, I did not even ask, they offered.

The hookers are known for hanging lower than the jet hots, that is most likely why you got better clearance for your car. Having the flange rotated with the flat side up is not a good idea if you are concerned about ground clearance, that is why they are like they are. All in all I would suggest that everyone that gets LTs to go with a custom y-pipe because they don't cost much more than the ones you can buy premade. Plus they will fit alot better.


i froze mine slipped right in also used some duralube

no leak at all

Originally posted by CamaroBoy96Z28
I dont see it being easy to do anything else but a slip in primary to get around that steering linkage with little problem.

the new pacesetter longtubes for lt1 have no slip fit (http://www.texas-speed.com/images/lt1longtubes.jpg)

Originally posted by GT40MkI
i froze mine slipped right in also used some duralube

no leak at all
>How did you freeze yours ?
I wish I did that , but it would have been easy for me ... just put them outside for an hour or 2 :rolleyes: friggin Canadian cold front :mad: .

I dont' think anyone said they ONLY made slipfit longtubes......just that there isn't any easier way.

Joe

My install was the oppsite. Had to cut 1/2" out of the K frame on the pass. side. My motor mounts have less than 6000 miles on them.

all i can say is that jet hot has excellent customer sevice i bought mine back in like july and the first set he sent never made it here i guess they were stolen or lost but they promptly sent me another set of headers at no further cost. i think that if 2 sets didnt work maybe there is something wrong under the car. everyones engine bay is different.

I was in the GP for the very first batch and was quite skeptical at the time -- no one had installed them yet...

http://www.lt1.org/car/xpipe/xpipe-front.jpg

As you can see from the pic, there's plenty of floorboard clearance on the driver's side. My slip fit primary had never leaked.

Install cost: $0 -- I did it myself. :cool:


As for the slip-fit primary now... I have replaced it with a 2-piece custom-bent one for working around some supercharger tubing.

http://www.lt1.org/other/jpg/slip-fit.jpg

Jet-Hot coated this piece for me as well, but my craftsmanship wasn't quite up to par with theirs -- mine leaked a little. :mad: I threw a t-bolt clamp on it and viola, problem solved.

Jet-hot, you guys rock! :bow:

Mine are still in the box.;)