Shorty Headers.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 19,659
Likes: 34
From: Lenoir City Tennessee
Ci 6, 8 & 10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Shorty Headers.
I was thinking of putting shorty headers on my 70 vette. Mostly hoping they would be easier to install. Will the shorty style headers just bolt up? Or will I still have to go to the exhaust shop?
I know there should be plenty of opinions about this. Let them fly, I want to hear them.
Thanks. :cheers:
I know there should be plenty of opinions about this. Let them fly, I want to hear them.
Thanks. :cheers:
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 5,768
Likes: 3
From: San Diego CA
Re: Shorty Headers. (Eddie 96)
They will bolt directly to the engine (duh) but they are not designed to mate up with the factory exhaust system - this applies to the aftermarket shorties, which compared to the oem are very good.
Factory shorties are lighter than rams horns (again duh..) but are probably at best only marginally better - they are designed to mate up with a factory exhaust - just not the ones in our cars. However there are certain years where they will be right on or very very close.
For example the last 2 (or was it 3) years of the c3, had tubular shorty headers, those should mate, or be very close to mating, with the factory exhaust, ones from c-4's which flow better (or so I have been told) will not mate directly to c-3 exhausts, but they may come very close. I was also told by a corvette shop that does that conversion (factory c4 headers on earlier models) that there can be some interferance with the frame - ezpecially around the idler arm mount.
I have no person experience from this so take all the above with a grain of salt.
Factory shorties are lighter than rams horns (again duh..) but are probably at best only marginally better - they are designed to mate up with a factory exhaust - just not the ones in our cars. However there are certain years where they will be right on or very very close.
For example the last 2 (or was it 3) years of the c3, had tubular shorty headers, those should mate, or be very close to mating, with the factory exhaust, ones from c-4's which flow better (or so I have been told) will not mate directly to c-3 exhausts, but they may come very close. I was also told by a corvette shop that does that conversion (factory c4 headers on earlier models) that there can be some interferance with the frame - ezpecially around the idler arm mount.
I have no person experience from this so take all the above with a grain of salt.
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 19,659
Likes: 34
From: Lenoir City Tennessee
Ci 6, 8 & 10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Re: Shorty Headers. (silver79)
Thanks for the response guys. I haven`t given any thought to the c4 exhaust manifolds, I didn`t even know they would fit. I was wanting to get the ceramic coated for the look mostly. I do plan on upgrading the cam and heads eventually. I just thought that this would be a good place to start.
Just wanting to get some advice.
Just wanting to get some advice.
