I am looking at putting ceramic coated headers on my 80 vette but I keep seeing this "long header / short header " coming up all the time. With the standard style exhaust system what type of header should I be looking for ? Thanx Brent ...

 

brent, i'm looking for some headers too so this thread will be interesting to see what people have to say. my car is lowered so the typical long tube headers you see listed in most catalogs won't work for me, and might be a problem for you too.
pacin'calilfornia bought some long tube headers for his car about a year ago and instantly ran into problems with the headers hitting whenever he had to traverse speed bumps.
the problem is that most headers listed for the corvette, are 'generic' headers that fit pretty much any SBC equipped G.M. product. because of that and because of the design and position of our engines in our cars which sit lower in the frame by 2-3" than most other G.M. products, we run into ground clearance issues.
for that reason, i am looking for a 'shorty' style header. i would also like one that is smog legal just in case.
not sure what type of smog issues you have in manitoba, i imagine not much. but if for no other reason than the ground clearance issue, i would recommend the shorties. unless your looking for absolute maximum performance, i don't believe a good set of shorties are going to be such a significant restriction, compared to long tubes, that it's worth the risk.
i just don't like the idea of the weight of the car resting on six little header bolts.
anybody found some good headers with plenty of clearance?

 

I have a set of Sanderson shorties that are built exceptional well. The heavy flanges are touted as not even needing a gasket to seal. If a short header is desired I believe they are the best ones.

Gary, E-mail me, I have a set of new Sanderson Shorties I am not going ot use. we may work out a deal, Jim

 

The Corvette engine sits behind the front axle rather than over it so Corvette long tube headers are not "generic". You can look at the header manu. & see if you can find Corvette long tube headers that fit something else.


clutchdust

If you or someone else does not want to run full length headers you can do well w/ 3/4 like Dynomax or Flowtech 3/4 in relatively mild setups like 400HP.


Full length
The Dynomax Corvette SB Cerama-Coat fit & flow great, much better than is commonly known. Have been rec. them & many have them now.
The Hooker Super Competition full length are also very good.

 

I'll second the dynomax ceramic. They fit like a glove on my 81. Very rarely do they ever hit anything, but i took speed bumps uber slow as well.

 

What diameter primaries do you run?

 

Are these sold yet?

 

I'd like to see what you guys come up with on this one, because I won a few bucks in Vegas, so I convinced the wife that it's ok to spend it on my '77. It's between the Dynomax ceramic and a new pair of seat belts to replace the rusty non matching ones I have. I was thinking that my true duals with the stock manifolds were plenty loud enough as it is, but it seems a shame to cork up my ZZ4 heads with the stock manifolds. What do you guys say - big difference in power? In noise? Would I need to change the alternator & air cond brackets? Any other hidden costs? Thanks.

 

Ganey,
Thanks for that advise, I have been watching this thread because although I already have a set of Hedman headers, I am fitting Steeroids and I know they clash with Hedman. In another thread I discovered that Dynomax fit with Steeroids, as well as some of the Hookers, and although I was leaning to Dynomax ceramic coated I wasnt sure, this thread and your advise has clinched it. Dynomax it is! The downside is more import duty!!!

Graeme

 

Stainless Works sells the shorty headers in stainless steel. Shorty's are what you want in a C-3 IMO, & the ones they sell are my next headers. I have long tube Blackjacks that I've bottomed out at 90+ MPH. Let me tell you, at that speed if you bottom out anything, it really unloads the suspension. I almost lost it.

http://www.stainlessworks.net/

 

Dynomax went into my 77 with no problems. The only thing you need to do is fabricate a spacer to make up the difference between the thickness of the header and the ram horns for the a/c bracket attachment point at the front exhaust bolt. I bought a piece of tubing with the same size inside diameter as the bolt and used a Dremel to cut it to the right size.

 

As far as performance; the long tube header would more than likely produce a greater increase in peak HP and peak torque over the short tube but the RPM at which that peak occurs may be above the RPM where you "normaly" operate your engine.