I had headers &  4" side pipes on my vette when I bought it. Made alot of noise & almost choked me to death when stopped. Ears ringing after exit was also a problem. Burning the back of legs was also a occasional problem. Used to carry a piece of heavy leather & lay it over the passanger pipe after I burned my leg so my wife wouldn't do the same.  Shorter people have a harder time doing the split to get out. I went to stock headers & stainless 2 1/2 pipes with noisy mufflers. The car actually has more low end tq (like I need more) & I can talk to passengers & breath fresh air. My two cents. 

Alan

Different diameter headers and pipes are tuned for best performance at certain rpm ranges. Short headers vs. long tube headers give different results, etc. The best thing is to talk to a performance shop that knows its stuff (or call companies like Summit Racing or Jegs) and ask questions. You'll get good advice on what style you need then you can decide on brand.

You may want to call Allen Stainless Exhaust.  I bought my pipes from them.  You can get stainless or aluminum alloy steel.  My headers and mufflers are from Holley.  Very happy with all.

With side pipes that are not covered burns are a big problem.  For most of us we tend to "fall" in and out of our Corvettes so avoiding the hot pipes is a feat of acrobatics. 

Also, passengers are most likely to be burned.  I had side pipes on my first Corvette and my 13 yr old daughter got third degree burns and scars from the pipes.  I felt like crap when it happened. 

I just love my under the vette chambered exhaust for mid america.  $.02

Well heres what I think, the 69 has Hookers and black side pipes, look and sound good, still look good the sound got old after a while, you might want to listen to the radio or talk to your date when going down the road, the 72 has hooker compatition ceramic long tube headers, got the 2 1/2"off road exhaust with mufflers welded on from Corvette Central, fit was perfect,has a little sound but not so loud you can't hear the radio, only bought the secondary pipes with mufflers, mocked up the primary pipes from the old stock primary pipes and had my friend make up new ones at his shop, I double flanged the pri. pipe at the collector so if I had to pull the trans that I wouldn't have to pull the headers or sawsall the pri.pipe to get it off, the only slip and clamp joints are at the trans crossmember and at the muffler tips, the rest welded and bolted.