What is the best "bolt on" header which involves no modifications?
I want to replace my restricting manifolds.
I have 79 L-48 with Sportsman II heads.
The Canadian Dollar is good right know and ready to buy.

 

they all involve modifications to the exhaust system....

 

I meant mods to your stater etc....
I have scrapped my exhaust and starting from scratch.

 

The Dynomax Corvette SB Cerama-Coat fit & flow great, much better than is commonly known. Have been rec. them & many have them now.

 

you should have no starter issues except for the fact they are real close and the starter may get hot and not want to work to well... this was the case in my car so i cleaned all the connections ran a new ground strap to the starter and it helped... in the new engine i'm putting in i have gone to a hi torque starter which is alot smaller of a unit so the distance between starter and header will be larger...they do make heat shields etc for the old type of starter, you may also have some tuning issues you need to work through after the installation beacause of increased exhaust flow...such as rejetting/tuning the carb...its hard to say exactly how much your car will benefit from the headers unless you know everything thats in your engine.. good luck it sounds like a fun project..

edit: my headers are the inexpensive Hedman type

 

They bolted straight on to my '81 (no A/C compressor fitted). I used copper gaskets that I bought from Summit at the same time as the Headers. The bolts that the Headers are supplied with look a bit short so I got a pile of st/st allen head bolts that were either 1/8" or 1/4" longer than the supplied ones (when the Headers are fitted measure the depth of the threaded portion of the holes in the heads & base the length on this (+Header flange thickness). The allen heads were fitted with some st/st spring washers under the heads & in 2 years I haven't had to touch them.
I used the collector gaskets supplied. I tightened the nuts/bolts carefully, working round tightening each one a bit at a time, so that they were tight, but not tight enough to force the gaskets out or split them. They still don't leak, or have needed touching. Take your time & be careful & you can get a good seal (even though the gaskets look like they'll only last 2 mins).
Something to be aware of is the starter motor. The Headers cooked mine (fatally). I fitted a cheap heat shield over the new starter & it's never had a problem. It's a right royal pita getting the heat shield on the motor so that it clears the Headers & doesn't short out on the starter terminals (you MUST disconnect the battery while fitting it).
Don't know what carb you've got, but my Q-jet needed the stock CH secondary needles changing to DA (I'm just above sea level. For high altitudes the CH needles should be OK). The difference when the secondaries open with those needles in there is "feelable". The DA recommendation was from Lars, it's not something arrived at by a crazy Limey guessing