The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Headers that fit SBC with IFS

I am working on a 54 Burb. I have a Scott's Hotrods IFS with a power rack and pinion. The engine is a SBC. I have a Flaming River steering column and am using a floor pedal/floor mount master power cylinder. The motor mounts and steering column make it a tight space for the standard frame. I talked to Scott's Hotrods and they make/sale custom headers (for show quality vehicles) and did not want offer any competitive recommendation. However, they did say a rear dump, block hugger such as Sanderson makes would probably fit. Only problem is they make numerous versions. My first question is has anyone used one of Scott's IFS and if so, what type of headers did you use. My second question is I have a drop down battery box, and am not sure where to mount it. Any thoughts on this. Thanks for your assistance. Sandy

Do you plan to actually drive the truck, or are you building a trailer queen that will only be driven on and off the trailer at a car show? Headers of any kind on a street-driven vehicle are a huge mistake- - - -they leak, burn out spark plug wires, and increase the under hood temperature dramatically. Get a set of rear-dump exhaust manifolds from a late-1980's 350 and you'll be much happier with the whole situation. I ran those manifolds on 400+ HP round track engines- - - - -real dyno figures, not bench-racing fantasies after consuming a case of Budweiser!
Jerry

I seem to recall (and if I'm wrong someone will let me know) that a lot of the V8 swapers are really happy with the Rams Horn straight down in the center type manifold. Suppose to clear everything and makes it easy to build the rest of the system. Good luck.

I used 2 left side, straight down in the center rams horns to accommodate my 350 in my 3100 pickup with power steering. They hug the heads very tightly and clears everything.

Ram horns on my small block in the 52 panel and works great... but not sure how they would work with the type front crossmember set up he has??

I did a pre-purchase inspection of a 1954 resto-rod truck that had a similar setup, IFS, rack & pinion, small block V8, headers, etc. It was headed for a purchaser in Europe, at an outrageously expensive price. (Over $60K IIRC) The way they had to route the steering shaft around the headers resulted in a tight spot in the steering every 1/4 turn of the steering wheel when one of the U joints got into a bind. I reported on that little gremlin, and I never heard if the problem got corrected or the sale got cancelled. In my opinion, it was an unsafe installation, no matter how slick the truck looked from the outside.
Jerry

I used s10 sbc conversion headers on my 42 rod. They are shortys and fitted well. The steering shaft went under the 3 and 5 exhaust tube. Not sure they will work for you but maybe something to check into.

Otherwise I do not like headers.

First thank you to each of you for your input. I appreciate your thoughts, time and experience. This is not a trailer queen, plan to drive it to shows. If I ever win a trophy, it will be at a small parking lot show.

I have tried a OE ram horn and it hit the rear of the motor mount on the drivers side. I will recheck that approach again to see it I can make it work.

Jerry I will follow up on the late 80ies rear dump, and I share/understand the concern for the steering. Shop Shark I will also look into the s10 conversions, seems I saw a set like that in one of the catalogs.

Martin congrats on your retirement brother.

I believe there is a version of the ram's horn manifold that turns the exit flange to the rear on the driver's side. That might give you the needed clearance. My dyno tests have shown a slight HP advantage for the ram's horns over the rear-exit manifolds, but only at fairly high RPM- - - -6K+.
Jerry

I saw an article in classic trucks recently that had a solution to a similar problem, but I think they were using a SBC on a straight axle not IFS.
Anyways, they took a right side rear dump exhaust manifold and flipped it backwards onto the driver side to clear the steering.

Well, you could always mount the manifolds upside down and run the exhaust pipes through holes in the hood like the mud truck guys do!

Jerry

Hey Sandy,
I put a 400hp SBC in a 1950 3600 with a stock frame, Mustang II IFS, manual rack and 11 disc brakes. Stock position master cylinder,stock steering column using "steering column saver" bearing with 3/4" DD shaft and SS U joints. Also a Saginaw 4spd trans.
The headers I used that fit perfectly and clear everything perfectly are block hugging, center drop, shorties that drop straight down and the exhaust pipes
have the 90deg curve which all has a 8in road clearance. I bought them for $150 off ebay.
I can send you pics if your interested, just email request.
my 2 cents,
Bill

I have a 283/turbo 400 setup in my 52 Chevy truck with stock steering and straight stock front axle and have Rams Horn exhaust manifold on the passenger side and a 265 manifold on the drivers side no clearance problems at all works well as advertised. That 265 manifold dumps out in the front giving me all the clearance needed, its simple and effective and it doesn't leak or get things to hot and its aesthetic to the eye. Had to drop the alternator down to where the power steering pump would usually ride on these old trucks

I got well and truly p'eed off with the generic 'block hugger' headers on mine constantly blowing gaskets etc and took Jerrys (Hotrod Lincolns) advice and got a set of these.
They came from a friends '57 sedans 283 to which I removed the pre-heat tube,butterfly and generator cast mount and smoothed them off a bit.
Fortunately they also match up perfectly to my bespoke stainless exhaust downpipes but i've been unable to locate a set of head bolts here in the UK to fit them so cannot comment on an improvement in underhood temps etc but they DO offer the much needed clearance for steering etc.

Jock, are you referring to the bolts that attach the manifolds to the cylinder heads? If so, there's nothing particularly unique about them- - - - -they're simply Grade 5 3/8-16 bolts. (3/8 U.N.C.) If you can find bolts that will allow 1/2" or slightly more thread engagement in the exhaust port threads they will work just fine. Slightly over-length bolts can have the threads trimmed to fit without any disasters, also.
Jerry

Yes Jerry that's the ones. I'd looked at ARPs site and their bolt kits were all equal length,but the centre port bolts obviously have to be longer to compensate for the thicker casting.

Asking hardware stockists here for Imperial stuff nowadays just causes brain farts.
Remember...we've been Metric here for over 40 years.

I was a little unsure how much thread engagement was permissible,so your reckon 1/2" minimum will be sufficient?
Now i've got a better understanding I can get the correct bolts online.
I wish we had McMaster Carr here.

Thank you once again for your valued input.

I don't see a need to go to grade 8 bolts, as they're being threaded into cast iron and the extra torque needed to keep them from backing out might get close to stripping the threads out of the heads. I like to use star-shaped lockwashers under exhaust manifold bolts rather than the split-type locks.
Jerry

I always liked the look of the ram's horn manifolds. 😎

For those of you having header gaskets blow out. I will suggest Earls pressure master. It is an aluminum frame with a graphite impregnated gasket insert. There is also a similar part for the header collector. Once I started using those header and collector gaskets, never a problem and no more messy ultra-copper pushing out around the outside of the leaky paper or steel shimmed header gasket.

"I got well and truly p'eed off with the generic 'block hugger' headers on mine constantly blowing gaskets etc and took Jerrys (Hotrod Lincolns) advice and got a set of these."

Jock,

About 14 years ago I built a new small block Chevy engine for my street rod, a fiberglass replica 1932 Ford roadster. In comparing costs of a high quality "valve job" and my time to clean up the ports of used iron heads versus new aftermarket aluminum heads I found the comparison favored the aluminum heads.

In assembling the engine I used jet hot coated "block hugger headers", the exhaust manifold gaskets that came in an ordinary Felpro gasket set and stainless steel allen head bolts. I did tighten the bolts a few time during the first few hundred miles of driving but after that they couldn't be tightened any more. In the 14 years and about 22,000 miles of driving since the engine assembly and installation there have been zero problems with exhaust leaks. That includes the exhaust ports and also the flange gaskets at the header-exhaust pipe connections and the flange gaskets at the "H" pipe connections.

From that I conclude that if quality gaskets are used and tightened as they initially compress there will be no leaks. I don't know if iron heads are more or less prone to leaks at the exhaust ports than aluminum heads. The actual heads I used were Edelbrock 70cc chamber "Performer RPM" heads.