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Here is a comparison between out of the box from ARH and my modification that was needed needed to fit the headers. I know it doesn't look the greatest but it was like building a house and starting with a roof. But it's not visible and it fits like a glove.
Why is the #3 so far out is beyond me, obviously there is plenty of room between 1 and 5. I would like to know what car they used for mock up. Seems like I am not the only one with a problem with #3 tube, and for ARH to instruct a customer to flatten the tube on a $1100 set is absurd.
I partly agree with Sarum on the looks, if Chinese can get their header smooth and shiny for less than $200 you would think for $1100 these would look a little better. Send them back for a refund and buy chinese! I can't understand why yours didn't fit right and mine do!
Before
After
Last edited by wr1970; March 17th, 2015 at 05:14 PM.
What is it with you? Why are you taking this personal? Do you own ARH or something? I don't know why they don't fit, I just know they don't and obviously I'm not the only one. Inconstancy and lack of quality control, maybe they guy welding them was hung over from night before, I don't know. I'm just posting my experience with them so the next guy that's getting ready to part with $1100 knows what he may or may not be facing. If they would give me my money back I would send them back right now. I am tired of dicking around with them.
What is it with you? Why are you taking this personal? Do you own ARH or something? I don't know why they don't fit, I just know they don't and obviously I'm not the only one. Inconstancy and lack of quality control, maybe they guy welding them was hung over from night before, I don't know. I'm just posting my experience with them so the next guy that's getting ready to part with $1100 knows what he may or may not be facing. If they would give me my money back I would send them back right now. I am tired of dicking around with them.
I am not with ARH but if you were so unhappy you should have returned them before you modified them!! There has to be a reason they don't fit right in your engine compartment!! I have owned and installed hooker super comps 2" 3 1/2 headers they suck! I have hooker super comps 1 7/8 in my 67 i like them fit is good. I have used headman headers and they are okay headers. I have up graded my 1970 442 with these ARH headers that are 2" 3 1/2. I took off the hooker super comps 2 " 3 1/2. Now what part do you not understand that i have tried /used several headers and the ARH are by far the best and fit my car!!I am just posting my experience just like you except mine is positive.
I don't need to know what you've tried nor do I need to understand. I am happy for your positive experience with them, I wish I could say the same.
Obviously I am not the only one.
Overall from customer service to the product my experience was rather poor. Should I not let others know, should I keep it a secret?
Last edited by 70cutty; March 17th, 2015 at 09:10 PM.
I had to flatten my #5 tube because it hit the block on my ARH headers. I'm not knocking them because at this point in car crafting it seems everything I touch needs tweaking. They are a beautiful header.
I don't need to know what you've tried nor do I need to understand. I am happy for your positive experience with them, I wish I could say the same.
Obviously I am not the only one.
Overall from customer service to the product my experience was rather poor. Should I not let others know, should I keep it a secret?
No do not keep it a secret! I only ask to understand why they didn't fit with pictures of area that cause fitment issue. You are not in anyway wrong if you don't post any pics of the fitment issue. Again as i said before i am sorry you had these problems.
Honestly, I was so frustrated and pissed off that I didn't even try to take a picture. I marked the area where it hits and started cutting. Drove down to the local "rice rocket" shop and picked up a piece of stainless steel tubing and figured how hard can this be. Well it was a major PIA to fix it, but I am happy with overall result. It's functional and not visible.
BTW, passenger side fits good, after I cut the transmission "ear" off it bolted right up.
I gotta say I'm scared to purchase a set of ARH for my 71 Cutlass! Does anyone have a set of Kooks?
The guy who was involved with making Kooks is the same guy working on ARH! Now go buy those $200.00 headers on e-pay!!70 cutty had a problem didn't document problem with pics said he was so frustrated he decided to fix them! Nick offer to take them back!! It is sad that this happened!! What more can a company do than offer to take them back or replace!!70 says he is happy with his fix! For 1100 bucks he should have never had the problem in the first place!!On the other hand there were several in this thread that only had a minor problem with the motor mount. I didn't have any.That tells me for the most part with exceptions still a good header.
Just an update on the header problems. I haven't had the time to work much on the car but I called ARH and discussed the problem with Nick, something I should have done from the start. He was concerned about the problem, he wanted to know in detail where the problems were. I sent pictures of the problem areas, and the tube I had fixed, he was certain they should have fit unless there was some type of assembly issue. Nick insisted that he make a new set for me, I recieved them yesterday and installed them last night they fit great. Not sure what the lesson is here, but one thing I had going for me I wasn't in a rush for the parts, or be persistent in your quest for the quality in the parts we pay big money for. Thank You for all the input on this discussion ,it was probably the reason things worked out.
I'm glad that they got the issue corrected and your satisfied. That's a lot of money to spend and then wind up with a set that are no better than an off the shelf pair you could of gotten for less than $200.
To get the exact bends you want, when bends are right after each other, it is common to weld tubes together. You can only do so much with the mandrel bender. I have no problem with welded headers. I have Headers by Ed that I bought in the 1970s and 1980s which have around 5 pieces to some tubes so he could get the right bends and make them equal length.
Just an update on the header problems. I haven't had the time to work much on the car but I called ARH and discussed the problem with Nick, something I should have done from the start. He was concerned about the problem, he wanted to know in detail where the problems were. I sent pictures of the problem areas, and the tube I had fixed, he was certain they should have fit unless there was some type of assembly issue. Nick insisted that he make a new set for me, I recieved them yesterday and installed them last night they fit great. Not sure what the lesson is here, but one thing I had going for me I wasn't in a rush for the parts, or be persistent in your quest for the quality in the parts we pay big money for. Thank You for all the input on this discussion ,it was probably the reason things worked out.
what size header, year car what size engine? Im gonna need a set soon, but seeing how these fit im considering bringing the car to kooks and having a set buiilt. I refuse to spend that kind of money and have to deal with issues.
This really pisses me off, everyone has different fitment issues it seems to me that the QC is so bad none of the headers come out the same.
Hey guys, I just wanted to add my experience with ARH to this thread. I ordered a set of the 1 7/8" small block headers for a '68 A body, when I ordered them, I did so online, that was a mistake, the auto fill that Google has put the wrong city in the shipping info. I called the same day, spoke with Steve and he corrected my mistake right away. Although it has only been a week and a half since I placed my order, because I am ****, I called to see the status of my order and find out if they had a time frame on the completion, again, I spoke with Steve. Steve couldn't have been more helpful, we spoke for about 20 mins., not just about my order, but about Oldsmobiles and Nick, the owner and his involvement in the community. For me, the experience has been great.
I gotta say I'm scared to purchase a set of ARH for my 71 Cutlass! Does anyone have a set of Kooks?
I guess I called it for myself a year ago! I've had problems with ARH! Glad somebody else has had better luck! How can people with such horrible services have a great product? Makes no sense! Either way I'm disappointed! I won't make the same mistake twice! Next time I'll have custom made headers done!
ARH builds a high quality header for many cars and in my opinion is the best all around box headers for A-Body Olds. We use them on many of the NicKey Hi-Performance Builds.
Nick the owner, is an Olds guy and has been racing Olds for many years. If you have an issue its always best to contact the company direct to see what they recommend.
I have seen non factory motor mounts cause fitment issues as some of the aftermarket mounts are off by a bunch........just sharing my experience.
the headers for my car are for a '68 sbo, '70 cutty's are for a bbo.
My headers were screwed up, who the hell knows what they were built for. Whoever was building them must've had a bad day or something.
Here is a picture that qwik71442 posted in another thread (ARH Service Sucks!), his are BBO as well. you can clearly see that tube #3 looks different than mine. On mine (bottom)#3 sticks out too far towards the front of the car and it was hitting the crossmember.
Hey guys, just wanted to update where I am with my new ARH headers. These are 1-7/8" primary tubes for a sbo. The headers fit perfectly with no dinging of tubes, modifications to motor mounts, suspension mounts or any other issues.
March 17th, 2015, 05:12 PM
