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Kooks started in drag racing and continue to push the boundaries of exhaust technology in some of the most demanding applications on the planet. Chris Rini’s Camaro SS is the NMCA Pro-Street and Extreme Outlaw Pro-Mod Champion and runs a set of custom Kooks Fenderwell Headers. Don Fezzell’s Mustang runs Kook’s Cobra Jet Headers and is the current NHRA Stock Eliminator Record Holder.While Kooks primarily focuses on late model domestic cars, they are starting to branch out to imported brands as well. With their state of the art facility, they have the ability to design, test, and manufacture race grade “Custom” headers and exhausts for any car. They already have a full C7 Corvette header and exhaust package on the shelf. There is no other header company in the country that can offer you a header for your gas engine truck, while still building handmade custom race headers that are used in applications making over 3,000 horsepower. If you have an early or late model domestic car or truck, they have parts on the shelf ready to ship.
Everywhere you look you see exhaust systems varying stages of assembly. Here you can see racks full of pre-bent tubes for both the new C7 Corvette and a 2009 Cadillac CTS-V ready to be welded to become complete systems.Kook’s is truly the one stop shop for every header or exhaust component you need. They have some of the best MIG and TIG welders out there. NC is one of the biggest hot spots for talented fabricators since it’s the home state to almost every NASCAR Sprint Cup Team. Kooks has not rested on their laurels and have a modernized facility with robotic MIG welders, CNC Mandrel benders, CAD design work, Precise digital scanning with their CMM 6-Axis Arm, Vector Coordinate Measuring Machine, laser cutters, and laser-cut precision made fixtures. They make everything in-house from mandrel bending their own tubes, burning custom flanges, High Flow Race Cats, producing specialty collectors and they even have our own line of racing mufflers and tips.
The CMM 6-Axis Ferrell/Roamer Arm is the first step in the development of any Kooks header or exhaust system. Every OEM production car is scanned and digitized into a 3D model to accurately determine the amount of clearance there is. With the clearances known, they can go through every design option that will fit to quickly and efficiently determine what is best before any tube is ever cut or bent. This saves time and development cost for Kooks, which results in a better product at a more affordable price for the consumer.
Here you can see the CAD drawing of the NHRA Pro-Modified in the first picture of this article. Ensuring clearance from the tires and chassis, the CAD drawings enable Kooks to design the best exhaust that will fit the very first time.
The 3D Roamer Arm is also crucial in developing the jigs. Here you can see an Axle-back muffler for a Shelby GT500 Mustang inside its jig.
Once the jigs are determined, they are laser cut in-house and welded together like a model dinosaur. All of the jigs are built on rotisseries for ease of welding in every nook and cranny without stressing the worker. Check out the exact similarity to the digital file in the previous picture.