hey everyone,
i'm replacing a whole bunch of stuff on my 81.
does anyone have any good feedback on any particular brand of headers
there are so many on the market and these cars are so particularly tight in the engine compartment.
what's everyones opinion
i have a slightly modified 350, less emmissions, true dual exhaust (which i'm replacing also. feedback on that too)
thanks

 

I have a 79 and want to put headers and dual exhaust on, the threads go on forever on this subject, Please e-mail me what you end up with,
Thanks in advance

 

What are you trying to build? The type of power you are trying to make will affect the type of headers that you want.

For a mild engine, as it sounds you are making, I would recommend a set of flowtech (Holley) headers. You can get the black painted for around 100 bucks or chrome for 200-ish.

They are 1-5/8" tubes to 3" collectors. They slide in great, no problems, and they clear all of the stock parts inc. a heavy duty idler arm. The one thing with any headers is that you are likely to need either shorty plugs (can get them from accel) or some high temp boots.

 

A few weeks ago, I helped a friend hang a set of headers on a '74. I'm pretty sure they were DynoMax headers that had been ceramic coated (I can verify this if you want). The fit was surprisingly good. No clearance issues arose. I would expect the fit to be as good on an '81.

We installed them from below with the engine in the car, using a four-post lift and one person above, one person below. We had to drop the transmission crossmember a few inches to allow the rest of the exhaust sytem to drop out of the way (we were replacing a beat-up set of headers). We also had to remove all spark plugs, starter motor, oil pressure sender and A/C compressor bracketry. We left the temperature sender in so that we didn't have to drain the cooling system, but it would have been nice to have it out of the way.

Most of the header flange bolts had enough clearance around them for (reasonably) easy tool access, but a few were somewhat problematic.

So far, this car does not have special angled plug wire boots, or heat shields, and the plug wires are holding up okay. Time will tell how long they last.

All in all, the job went easier than I'd guessed it would, and the fit was much better than I'd expected. No leaks have shown up at the cylinder heads (we did re-torque the flange bolts after a few temp cycles), and no mods (dimpling, etc) were required to the headers to make them fit, which was especially nice considering they were ceramic coated.

Be well,

SJW

 

thanks for the info
there are so many brands and such a variance of prices
it's nice to get some opinions

 

Dynomax ceramic long tubes here. No adjustments made, but they were installed prior to putting the body back on. Looks like they would be tough to do with engine in the car. I went with these because they work with angle plugs, they fit the car and $279 I believe, from summit.

 

I always say, if you can afford Hookers, go for it

 

Stan's Headers
http://www.stans-headers.com/tri_y.htm

 

stans headers look pretty cool
but there are no prices on the website at the moment

 

Don't know much about some of the other brands, but I always recommend Hookers to my customers, unless money is a real issue, and then I've had good luck with Heddman headers.

Hans

 

I'm happy with the Hookers I purchased. They are very curvy and were easy to get in.

I got them ceramic coated by a local guy and I am glad I did. The ceramic coating protects the metal, but remember that not even a ceramic coating withstands winter road salt.

The header gaskets that come with the headers usually don't last very long. After a while you will start to hear a ticking sound that most people mistake for valvetrain noise. The ticking sound is actually exhaust blowing through a small hole in the gasket. Header bolts are nutorious for slowly working themselves loose as they heat up and cool down, which further adds to the gasket blow-by problem. Spend the $ on some decent gaskets. Locking header bolts are also available. Some guys don't even bother with the gaskets, they just use high temp RTV or a combination of gaskets & RTV.

For exhaust I went with 2.5" stainless pipes, two high flow cats and stainless Magnaflows. I am happy with the Magnaflows, they look good, are not too loud at idle but they purr at cruise and roar at WOT.

<---me in 3 hours

 

Just had a set of Dynomax installed on my 79 with true 2 1/2 pipes, no clearence problems. You might consider installing a different crossmember. Yours only has provisions for one pipe thru it. The earlier one were set up for duals. Gary B.

 

yeah last saturday i installed dynomax blackjack ceramic coated headers on my 74, it took the later part of friday night and early saturday morning. the install is pretty easy you just need to take the plugs out and if u have a/c u have to take off the compressor and make your own spacers. i also went with 2 1/2 inch true duals to flowmaster 40 series mufflers and its loud and sounds like a beast

 

thank you everyone
i'm going to keep my eye out on ebay and see if i can get any of the headers recommended here.
i will also reweld the header tubes to the flange on the outside and grind off the lip that faces the head side of the flange. i've seen this done before and it solves the leaky gasket and loose bolt problem.
thanks again everybody
the advice is always appreciated

 

I fitted Dynomax ceramic coated headers to my '81 with no probs at all. Removed the trans mount bolts, stuck a jack under the trans so that I could tilt up the engine if needed & put the Headers in from below. They fit fine (I've go no emmissions stuff & have also removed the aircon). I used copper head gaskets & bought some stainless steel allen bolts & spring washers & chucked out the supplied bolts. With an Allen key you can get to the bolts easily & tighten them up easily. After a couple of heat cycles I snugged up the bolts & have never had to touch them since. Since fitting th Headers (& stainless dual exhausts), cabin temps have dropped (which is lucky, having the aircon system in the attic!).

 

OK...
i'm going with stans headers, thanks meister!
i called the company
the tech was very helpful and knowledgable. i would rather pay a little bit more and get a product that was designed and made by a smaller company in house, then a mass produced item to fit the masses.
the headers are a little over $400 and the try Y design and the custom design i believe will be superior
i'll let you all know how they work when i get them in
thanks again for all the input