The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Headers on a 292 ??

My truck needs a complete exhaust from the manifold back, so I was thinking it would be a good time for headers. Is the expense worth putting them on? Do they really make a big difference in driveability, even with a stock intake? Headman makes a set that is reasonable $180, and it has dual outlets for dual exhaust.......will it sound "ratty" with duals and a nice set of mellow mufflers? Anyone running them?

A LOT of us run them so yes, we would naturally think the are good to have. Most of us run cast dual exhaust manifolds and not so many have true tubular headers. They both help a lot with the flow of exhaust and the cool factor is nice too, especially when viewed from the rear. Mine sounds very mellow with no ratta tat tat that the old split manifolds had. Sorta miss that. I have a muffler with one in-two out so I get just the right amount of back pressure. Take a look at the link below to view them.

I put a set of long tube headers on my 292, shortly after I got the truck.I still have the stock intake. When I first put them on I connected then to the stock exhaust which was new, but still OEM. I did notice some improvement even on my tired old 292. I wouldn't say the improvement justified the cost. I have since rebuilt the 292 and it had a ton of bottom end. The 292 is now about 302 with an RV cam. I've redone the exhaust, went with duals, 2.5 pipe all the way back on the same side. I used a pair of dynomax turbo mufflers. I lost some bottom end not much, but gained in how it revs.The sound is fairly mellow about what what I like, no drone when cruising. I have noticed that I can change it a bit by playing with timing and jetting. When I put the 4 bbl on it will get louder.

I'll go along with 53moneypit say go for the cast headers. The tube headers are a PITA to get to seal. When they build the headers weld a small bead around the tube on the side of the flange where it meets the head. If you flatten out the bead too much you loose your weld. You can double gasket and it will help some. I've got another set of headers and I'm going to braze around the tube on the outside then flatten the bead a bit.

Larry

i put tube header's on my 65 3/4 and they were a pain ,they leaked all the time ,you lost the manifold heat to the intake ,cold weather driving went to hell ,i went to cast headers now just working on the manifold heat for cold weather . use a exhaust heat adaptor or a water heated carb spacer work's my ole man's got one on his 4 brl 235 and it works.

these are mine
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=4A-1.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=3A-2.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=6A-1.jpg
2 into 1 walker quiet muffler. water heated intake. there is an issue running these headers w/ a stock steering box. tom langdon knows about this as the flanges must be re-welded 90 degrees to clear the box and allow the brake pedal to clear.