i recently purchased a magnaflow dual exhaust and i am looking for headers...what should i put with the magnaflow exhaust?

thanks

 

That's a pretty vague question...kinda like "I have a 1980 Corvette. What color should I paint it?"

How much would you like to spend? How modified is the rest of the engine? Auto or manual? Diff gear? How do you drive it, like you stole it, or like a little old lady driving to church on Sunday, or somewhere in between? Is ease of installation or ground clearance an issue?

Also, just FYI, no matter what headers you buy, the chance of them lining up properly is extremely low, you'll need to take it to a muffler shop to have the hooked up properly.

Here is a good set of headers that won't break the bank:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bi...ette/year/1980

Scott

 

I run Shorty headers with my 2.5 inch duals-not a fan of long tubes on the street and especially on corvettes unless you race or plan on spending most of the engines time above 5,500 RPM. I have McJacks Shorty's but they are pricey. I would look at Sanderson headers and read this:

http://www.sandersonheaders.com/Lets-Get-Technical.html

 

You bought Magnaflow so I take it you are not on a bottom of the barrel budget. You fail to tell us if you have a Big Block or SB motor. If you have a SB Chevy the American Racing Headers stainless are some of the nicest offerings out there. I have a brand new set of Stainless Works SBC 1.75" dia headers for a C2/3 chassis first $600 takes them if anyone is interested.

 

i have a SBC

 

Ceramic is the way to go it will really cut back on the heat.

 

should i go with a shorty or original length?

does it effect anything either way?

thanks

 

Full length if you are after performance.

 

Again, the difference between LTH and Shorties on the street is very small in terms of HP and torque. There is tons of information written on the subject on the internet. Do a search on the subject. For a mildly street built engine, the shorties will give you better torque, generally, below 4,000 RPM, than the LTH Headers, and the LTH headers will give you better high RPM HP, generally, over 5,000 RPM, but the difference is really very small, 5-10 HP. I have had both and prefer shorties since they are easier to install, have very similar performance gains, have no road engine clearance issues, are quieter, and are a much neater installation. Heck, even my 10 Z06 has shorties-this on a high HP engine! Think about that for a second! Why wouldn't GM put long tubes on a car like the Z06? Most Z06's don't do much track duty and those that do, LTH's are probably are a worthy installation since the LS7 would be spending lots of time between 5-7,000 RPM. A great 2.5 inch dual exhaust with free flowing mufflers is going to make more of a difference than the LTH versus shorty header decision. Corvette Central makes a really nice 2.5 magna flow exhaust with shorty/block hugger headers for reasonable money. Just my 3 cents!

 

There are trade offs with all exhaust. I have long headers with 2.5 pipes it sounds good and installation was easy from the header stand point but the heat during the summer is more than I want to deal with (also a bear to change trans fluid). That's why I am saying ceramic it will help reduce heat. Probably less heat with shorties JB can probably share his experience on that subject. For what its worth I am taking my headers off going back to factory manifolds because the heat issue out ways the performance gain for my application. Headers are one of the biggest HP gains for the dollars spent. Its like Scotty was saying it depends what you are after, weigh the trade offs and decide what work best for your application.

 

I forgot about the brutal heat issues with LTH! Thanks for that reminder.

I have McJack's shorties on the 78 and BBK shorties on a 5.0L mustang GT. No heat issues whatsoever! Really nice. The last car I had with LTH's was a 73 Nova SS which I owned from 78-90. To me LTH are just not worth it on street engines unless a big HP build.

 

I am using the Patriot ceramic coated block-hugger headers that came with my Corvette Central Exhaust, and I really like them. Easy to deal with, simple to install, better and lighter than the stock manifolds. None of the hassles that long tube headers are sometimes associated with. I can get at the starter, the spark plugs, and the oil filter with ease. I've never run a 'vette with long tubes, so I can't really give a comparison, but I don't really have any heat issues. So much so that I am contemplating getting rid of the air conditioning.

Scott.

 

Lol, sure up in MA that may be an option. Try that in a black vette in hot country headers or otherwise.

 

will any set of 350 headers work?

thanks

 

here is one potential....

Flowtech
31504FLT

 

When I got my car, it had long-tube headers on it and the collectors were ground flat from scraping the road. I now have stock manifolds on it. Something to consider.

 

I have a set of Hedman 68300 long tube hedders that I had ceramic coated locally. The also make ceramic coated units directly from Hedman which are nice as well. The fit is good with no clearance issues.

 

I'm still on the fence about headers, but I have narrowed it down to McJacks shorties and old school Tri-Y's built by Stan's Headers. I'm leaning towards Stan's. I remember the Tri-Y's from way back, if you had a SBC, you ran Tri-Y headers. I do, however, like the semi stock appearance of the McJacks.

http://www.vetteheaders.com/servlet/...rvette+Headers

http://www.stans-headers.com/tri_y.htm

 

Here are the McJacks on my 78 L-82 4 speed:

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I had mine for about 7 years. The McJacks helped power throughout the full RPM range versus the cast iron manifolds but probably slightly less than LTH's. They are a really nice piece and well suited for the street.

 

One of the reasons I would not use LTH on my C3!