Has anyone used block hugger headers (street rod style) on a corvette..with 2.5" under car exhaust system....maybe with a crossover....no mufflers...out the middle of the back (no tire carrier) below license plate...any thoughts ?? trying to figure out power vs. long tube headers with same exhaust...thanks

 

 

I considered going with block huggers too, when i did my engine upgrade. i even bought a set. I then bought a set of long tubes- (Ceramic Flow-Techs, 250, out of the box) and didn't look back. there were 2 reasons, first, the block huggers empty straight down, so there has to be a pretty tight turn there, and that's restrictive,, and 2, you can't use the reducers supplied, you have to have the pipes your going to use bolt up to the header flanges,, other wise, the pipes sit too low, because they have to 90° after the lower flanges, no room for reducers on the vette. Your individual tube per cylinder is a good deal shorter then with full length headers. There is simply no advantage i can see to using them over full length headers, and you will have more H/P and Torque with the Full length set.

 

I had stainless steel block hugger headers for about a year. I had two major problems. The first problem was that they melted the poly in my Energy motor mounts. The headers came straight down between cylinders 3-5 and 4-6 about an inch from the motor mounts. (Other non-ceramic headers that come straight down from the middle may cause the same problem.)

The second problem was with spark plugs and plug wires. To get the headers to hug the block, then tubes are kept close to the heads. I couldn't remove/install plugs 1,7,2 or 8 without removing the headers. The small header-plug boot clearance fried 2 sets of plug wires in a year, even with fiber boot shields. The cracks in the plug boots were severe enough to arc to the headers, causing misfiring.

I switched to full length ceramic coated Dynomax from Summit. Those headers fixed both problems. The tubes come farther out from the flange, so there more clearance between headers and plugs/plug boots. They are swept back from the flange too, so there is much more clearance between the motor mounts and headers. AND the full length headers resulted in more power that was quite obvious on my butt-o-meter.

IMO based on experience, full length, swept-back, ceramic coated headers are far superior to block huggers.

 

Very valid points all....thank you for the input....and you are right....I mocked them up on a spare engine and noticed...they are indeed VERY close to the plugs/wire boot...too close...I don't want to burn my engine mounts !!!! and no point losing power either.....Again...thank you for the info....Rick

 

Thank you for the reply !!! I did not know how close the 90' bend would have to be for ground clearance (important on my lowered car)and no one wants to lose power.....I appreciate the info...I will use the long tube headers...DONE !!! you guys have saved me a lot of trouble..!! thank you...Rick

 

Wish I would have read this three months ago before I had my block huggers installed. I didn't realize how close to the mounts they would sit. Anyone have a suggestion on how to protect the mounts? Other than replacing the headers...

 

Sure. you can wrap them with some header/exhaust wrap around the mounts. I wrapped the tube going near the steering box about 8" above and below the box, on my full lengths, and suggest everyone do the same. Heat is not good for the steering box either.

 

I have ceramic block huggers on my 74 and have no issues at all! No problems with plugs, heat etc.

 

Some B H headers are shaped a little different...plug clearance is better...mine have the outer pipes going to the inner part of the collector...making them too close...anyway...what does the rest of your exhaust look like.....and thanks for the comment...Rick

 

I'm going to use these

http://www.sandersonheaders.com/prod...products_id=67

I found a hardly used set on ebay. They are really nice.

 

Who is the manufactuer of your headers. and did they bolt up to the original flanges.

 

Nine year old thread. Parts available then may not even be available now.

Mike