[1]The Kooks Custom Exhaust Research and Development Lab – Images Courtesy: MotoIQ
It seems that our friends over at Kooks Custom Headers [2] are making lots of noise lately, and our friends at MotoIQ [3] went on a tour of their amazing North Carolina facility [4]. Kooks relocated to North Carolina within the last few years to a gigantic 50,000 square foot air-conditioned facility that’s been laid out from the very beginning to maximize the workflow and provide plenty of room for research and development. In this facility, they make everything from custom headers to X-pipes to cat-back exhaust systems, and even catalytic converters.
[5]One of the things that Kooks is most proud of is their ability to fixture up exhaust for just about any application out there, and they do this through the use of multiple computerized machines like the Faral Arm (shown at left) and Vector Coordinate Measuring Machine.
The Faral Arm allows the Kooks team to precisely measure the entire engine bay of a late-model vehicle and then subsequently works in conjunction with their computer software to plot out where each header tube needs to be for both performance and fitment.
Both of these tools allow the Kooks team to build incredibly-precise exhaust components that perform and look like the premium product they are – and that’s just the beginning of the capabilities they offer to the aftermarket.
They don’t rely on traditional jigs to build their product – each and every jig is created on a laser-cutter and have multiple points of contact to ensure a number of items are accounted for during the build process.
For example, in the photo below, their C7 Corvette header jig gives the header fabricator a detailed template for each tube’s position, holding the tubes in place to ensure that there is zero movement during the welding process.
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Check out the MotoIQ article [4] for a more in-depth look at the Kooks facility and their capabilities – it’s a fascinating read. For more information on the complete line of Kooks products, check out their website [7].