Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Tight headers

They finally arrived. In place and boy are they tight to the block/bell housing. Hope there is room to set the cab back down?

I'm sure they will clear the cab but I'll bet the toe board will get plenty warm. I would have thought that the Headers for your chassis would have dropped father down, similar to a long tube design.

PS.. Waiting for Jerry to give you his Header speech

I tried 3 different designs on my ‘62 w/350 and 700r4. The only ones that gave me all the clearance I needed were the rams horn style.

Dunno how well they will work for you, but they sure look pretty.

(Also waiting with popcorn for Jerry's header speech/rant)

Had a paper airplane contest at my place of employment back in 1989.

Three categories:
Distance of flight.
Time of flight.
The Marketing category, ie. Looks good, doesn't fly.

No rant- - - -P.T. Barnum is alive and well, and now he's selling headers and other eye candy!
Jerry

And here I thought I could count on you...

Honestly though, who here has not bought a part for their truck just because they liked it? I will defer on the performance questions for headers because I have seen dyno tests that say they make some difference and dyno tests that say they don't. My *opinion* is that it is a function of the entire engine from air cleaner to exhaust, but I am not a builder.

I will say that I like the look of them and I have put them on more than one engine just because I wanted to.

Stock up on spark plug wires- - - -you're going to need lots of them!
Jerry

My brother used to burn his plug wires all the time, but I never had an issue with it. Maybe I was just lucky with my choice of headers or smarter about my routing.

Back on subject, what's next Ferris? You are tearing through this project. I ended up helping my son with some schoolwork last night instead of looking at your AC stuff. Slap me around if I don't get it for you tonight.

I hate headers. But doing a cost and time analysis between all options this was the best option due to Blue Print head design. These are supposedly no gasket headers? We will see, but I plan on using gaskets.

I am going to route wires 1966 style and keep them down low on the block and up the rear of the engine. Only the rear boot is remotely close to the tube.

Fibonachu. Uggg I am math teacher almost every night with my kids. Its is brutal cause they don't like direction from me.

[quote=TUTS 59]I'm sure they will clear the cab but I'll bet the toe board will get plenty warm. quote]

May have to wrap them? It is a ceramic coating. but I doubt it will keep it cool enough.

I have headers and opted to use copper gaskets, a little more money but much better sealing. Don't forget to use good header bolts and enough exhaust mounts to spread the load out over the system.

I just got a e-mail about another delivery from Sanders? Maybe they sent me the wrong ones? Won't break my heart to have a second set to sell?

Did Blueprint tell you ahead of time that your stock manifolds would not work? That seems like an odd design choice that you should have been made aware of up front.

I couldn't tell from your original post if you knew or not.

I don't remember having that conversation with them. It was an assumption on my part that all sb stuff fit other small blocks. I asked dang near every other question there was but that one.

Did you end up with another (or different) set? The more I look at your pictures, the more it seems like those collectors are really high and pointed more back than down.

I received an identical set. I have everything set in place, and have used a tape measure and eyeball. I am going to have to set the cab down to make sure.

Other than being outrageously expensive eye candy, does all that stuff, heads included, have any practical purpose? I've done several dyno runs that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that aluminum heads produce measurably less torque at the flywheel than similarly equipped engines with cast iron heads, due to excessive thermal transfer to the cooling system instead of energy transfer to the pistons. They do make the heater work well, though!
Jerry

Lord help me-
I have headers AND fiberglass body repair in my truck!!!

(What is “Blueprint“?)

I asked the same thing in another thread.

It's the brand name of a custom engine builder.

Previous owner repaired my floor with fiberglass, too. Doesn't look like the problem was too bad, though. It's all hidden by the mat.

Alone they may or may not make a difference. If you have good flowing heads, headers generally allow you to size up a jet or two. According to a excellent friend who builds engines and has had many dyno hours on his builds pushed me to go with headers vs my rams horns. He even had the numbers showing the HP and TQ curves for 1 1/2 vs 1 5/8 tubes. I opted for 1 1/2 as I doubt I will be running at the high end of the rpms and the mid range tq and hp were higher vs the 1 5/8 until 5k.

All that said I hate headers for the sealing issues. Sampson advertise no gaskets to the head and I have bought copper ones for the collector.

I have not previously encountered someone who
a) has purchased really nice headers
b) hates headers

So it goes.

After spending approximately 65 years building engines, and running dozens, if not hundreds of dyno tests, I have yet to document any sort of usable power gains with headers in an RPM range that the average street-driven engine ever sees. Therefore, I will stand by my opinion that headers, and other visually appealing accessories have no practical purpose. They usually have noticeable downsides such as actually reducing performance in some areas, or increasing under hood temperatures, leaking, and burning spark plug wires. "Your mileage may vary!"
Jerry

Bought a nice set of Hooker long tubes for my 83 Bronco. Hated them. They could not keep a gasket in them. Had to remove to get to the starter.
Bought a nice set of Headman shorties for my 94 Bronco. Hated them. I wrapped them, and they rotted out in a year. I went back to the OE manifolds.
Bought a nice set of ASM equal length equal bend shorties for my 95 Impala SS. It was a 10hr job to get the pass side one on or off. Hated them.

Now I have purchased a nice set of Sanderson. The rear plug is impossible to get to.

The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.

Just sayin'...

Ferris: have you gotten to check your cab clearance yet?

No I have not. I figure once I get the rest of the front clip internals panted and bolted on I will set the cab in place, mount the doors, and begin final bodywork before cab paint.

I hope to get pleasantly surprised with enough room for everything at that point. I do think it will be ok, but I am worried about the clutch hyd lines, and how/where I am going to fit a muffler and diverter under the cab to exit out under the step. Even if I went out the back there is no room due to the factory 3 link.

Otto,

You are correct, but the OE rams horns do not mate well with the new style head. I had few options.

I knew that popcorn time would come.

(Honest disclaimer: I hated my headers the day I changed oil on my 283 for the first time. Swapping filters was a very bad experience. I have made peace since then. Someone else will wrestle filters next time.)

A remote filter would solve that problem, but needing to do stuff like that to resolve a self-inflicted inconvenience just reinforces my original commentary about running headers when they do nothing for improving overall performance.
Jerry

Haha!

The only vehicle I've ever owned with headers is the 1976 F150. Previous owner installed them. It's a 460 so there's no room under the hood as it is. Those stupid things are so hot it's ridiculous. They're also about 1/16" away from the steering gear so when I had to have it rebuilt it was a chore getting it out.

Mocking everything up ahead of time is key when building something modified. I was gifted a newest of headers but had used an older set for mock up, of course the gifted set wouldn't fit. I did some serious research and talked with a ton of Tech Rep's before I found a set to clear everything, even the starter.

My '59 is modified using a 327 V8 with side mounts, dropped front axle and a CPP power steering gear. These headers clear, I still have the rear engine cross member.

Set the cab on the frame today to see how they fit. It is tight for sure but they fit. I may have to fab up a simple heat shield for the fire wall?

Nice looking candy. I like 'candy' when tastefully done. Just line your glove box with foil to keep your M&Ms from melting.

They clear pretty well. If your concerned about heat add some Dynamat or other thermal insulation to the floor.