Im looking to buy headers for my 85 L98 vette. I hear thats a good place to start to wake up some power. Im saw Headman Headers part no. 68440 for only $150. Are these a good product? Anyone have experience with them?

Heres a link:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HED-68440/


Thanks

 

You'll have a few issues to deal with. Those don't have AIR tubes for emissions. You'll have to delete the AIR system. They also won't work with factory brackets for the alternator and A/C compressor. You'll need to come up with spacers for those bolts to use the factory brackets. You'll need a front Y pipe that matches up with the catalytic converter or replace the exhaust from front to back.

I went with TPiS headers and their front Y pipe. They use all the factory brackets and bolts and have provisions for emissions. The Y pipe will connect to the factory cat. They cost more but they eliminate a lot of other work.

 

My advice is going the cheap route is never a good idea with anything in life.

 

Headers can lead into some $$$$$

They are a necassary evil for myself

I am looking at adding a pair of ARH longtubes to my vette and because of past car/header combo's I require stainless steel with JetHot Coating or the like,
Cool Socks for my plugs, locking header bolts, new exhaust manifold gaskets as well as insulation my my clutch fluid line oh and maybe O2 Extensions I may have the rear O2's deleted in "The Tune""

So in my case I have had to do some research and you are wise to be doing the same,
I don't know your car but I know KooKs, American Racing, And LG motorsports all make fine headers out of stainless steel

Incidently JetHot coating Hit me with a price of $340 for Coating the headers only, and they did'nt even tell me about the discount they have running on the front page of their website, And before that they oh nevermind let's just say I have doubts about them
serious Doubts

West Coast Bon

 

I'm saving for a set of Melrose headers

 

I was also looking at putting the 153.00 hedmans on my 85, Ive done away with the AIR system. The ALT bracket and A/C compressor, where is the fitment fault on these? The factory shorty headers didnt seem too close to either of these.

Is it actually the front tube or is it s flange issue?

Wouldnt shimming the brackets out make a serp belt slignment problem?

I have no cat, I was going to buy a http://www.mamotorworks.com/corvette-3-36-928.html true dual kit and take measurements, have a muffler shop cut and bend them to fit up to the collectors with a tubing adapter.

Are the Hooker street mid length a better fit?

 

I went with the long tube Hedman system on my 89. I also replaced the Y-pipe and eliminated the all the cats, all the emission gear, and had the air return pipes in the headers removed and the holes welded up. I did have a Flowmaster resonator installed, as the straight through system was too loud, even using a Corsa exhaust. The long tube headers are more expensive but perform much better than the shorter cheaper one's. It's always easier to do it right the first time!

 

There is no problem with the alignment of the accessories.It is to do with the braces back to the exh manifold bolts from the Alt and A/c compressor.
Aftermarket headers generally don't have the extention tubes on the header flanges like the stock manifolds have.
With some headers all that is needed is a spacer of 1/2" pipe and a stock bolt to mount the braces in original position. Because of the design ,some require the spacer and a new Alt brace back to # 3 exhaust bolt to fit

 

Hedmans are fine, just make sure and heat them w/blow torch or something similar, then after you get off the rust protective, then spray a couple of coats of ceramic high heat paint.
Do not use the gaskets that come with them, they will leak in 6mths.
Use mister gaskets and where the ac bracket goes, use stock bolt and 2 nuts, 1 under and 1 over the bracket and a 3rd to tighten the header.

Use a heatshield to protect the brake booster from heat, I used one off my old cats and bent it, drilled holes and use wire fasteners to hold it in place, not pretty but very effective.

 

Hooker SuperCompetition 1 3'4 works for the race car. No air tubes or fittings which is just fine.

 

I bought some, I plan to use some spacers like the stock manifolds have for the bolts.

 

hooker 2149 fit fine without mods. You'll have to remove and possiblly notch the stiffner brace connecting the side rails of the frame and the rist cross member

 

Correct.

The Hooker header flanges are flat, as are the Hedmans. I think some headers do come with pre-welded on sleeves like the stock manifolds. Hookers come with loose optional spacer sleeves in a bag for this purpose, but they need to be welded on because if I remember correctly on mine the supplied sleeves just pass through the bolt holes. That's why I didn't use any of mine. The solution for me was a little grinding on the brace end, a longer bolt, and a metal sleeve from Orchard Supply Hardware with a diameter larger than the bolt hole in the flange. So it sits on the flange instead of pass through the bolt hole and not clamp. This eliminated the need for welding. The sleeve came in the right length and diameter that I needed. After the pic (test fit) I painted it with black rustoleum. This sleeve restored normal use of the rear AC brace like factory. It works great. Very solid.

Here's my simple AC bracket solution with Hooker 2151 and sleeve from hardware store:



The nest two pics are not my car, but rather other forum members. Both are excellent examples of the rear Alt brace on the other side worth showing.

On these Hookers, the second header bolt was blocked and could not be used due to the bend of the #1 tube coming across. Instead the 3rd bolt had to be used, and a longer custom made brace with sleeve since stock brace won't reach.


Here because the #1 pipe first runs straight down instead of across, the short stock brace was able to be reused on the second header bolt. Note the welded spacer sleeves at the flange.


Here's just some of the AIR stuff. Removal of the entire system is optional regardless of header emission provisions or not. No codes are set either way, even with electical connectors at the diverter valves unplugged. If you don't have emission testing, removal cleans up the engine bay rather nicely and rids the engine of all this clutter. If you have testing to deal with and you remove it, don't throw them away. You'll need them come test time.



I had to notch the high edge of this brace right here along the green line to clear. Otherwise I could not line up the bolt holes at the head because the header would hang up on this raised corner.

2151 and 2149 have identical bends. Difference is 2151 has no air tubes and no O2 sensor bung on #7 tube.


Had to drill a hole, then weld on my own O2 bung. I chose this spot for the O2 reading. A reading high up on the #7 tube as in the 2149 isn't ideal.



The fit of Hooker's #16720 three inch front y-pipe on an automatic car is garbage. It won't clear the trans pan which means you can't raise it level to seal the collector joint right. Not to mention that it totally blocks access to several trans pan bolts. They made the bend on one of the pipes cut way too close and not following the car's undercarrige exhaust "tunnel". I had to cut out the entire section and weld in a new piece with a correct bend to clear. Extra work and expense that should not have been necessary which I didn't really appretiate.

Indeed, I found that to be the case with the supplied gaskets. They blow easy at the collector seal specially. I run Fel-Pro aluminum for the flanges and collector joints. Mr. Gasket aluminums are also good, and the Percy's are also an excellent choice.

The last bolt on passenger side can be a royal pain in the azz to fully snug. This is my solution to that problem. I can tighten it all the way with ease as well as remove it. There is plenty more room to ratchet than what the second pic actually makes it look like due to the angle of view.

Small 1/4 drive ratchet, short u-joint, small hands, and regular socket.



It's a good idea to stab all your supplied small head header bolts in a piece of cardboard, then coat each head with rustoleum unless you're using stainless. If you don't they can turn ugly after while.