I am working on my 55' Bel Air with a 400sb and badly need to replace the shot to **** headers. I've been looking around on line and found some shorty hugger headers on ebay made by KMJ Performance for about $75.00, they're painted steel and not heat coated at all but the welds and machining look quality (based on the pics). Honestly, I am not the most mechanically inclined and am learning as I go. But, I am a fast learner. So my question is; what are the pros/cons to getting hugger headers as opposed to say some Hooker Comps? Price is a factor, but so is quality. If anyone has any ideas or if you can simply enlighten me to what a good direction would be to go in, please let me know. Thanks.
Also, is changing the headers something I can do on my own if I have access to a shop, tools, etc? It looks pretty easy and straight forward.
there are some mid length chrome headers on ebay for about 150 . I thing you will be happier with them . I have a set on my 56 and they work nice. shorties are usually a ******* header and have poor spark plug clearances . I think any beginner mechanic should be ale to put on a new set of headers . just my 2 cents .
Welcome to Tri Five. IMO the best bet on a header is NOT the cheapest you can find. They are going to be problematic and most likely leak most of the time. Find a good pair with good/thick flanges which are less likely to leak. I also have the 3/4 length Patriots and in 6 months have had no leaks. I found mine for just under 300.00 on ebay.
Terry
Agree on the 3/4 Patriots. I bought 4 sets of headers for my car before I finally got the Patriots. First set was a full length Hedman, they fit, but they hang down too low if your car is lowered any at all. Second set was a brandX shorty set that I bought on ebay and they would not even bolt up to a cylinder head on the bench they were so bad. Third set was a name brand shorty style header that fit nice, but they dumped right on top of the steering. Save time and aggravation and just get the Patriots.
I've got a 327 in my 57 chevy, and I went with the headman shorty block hugger coated headers, no modifications, fit perfect. good custom exhaust shop did a great job installing the flowmaster 40 series mufflers and aluminized piping with h pipe. couldn't be happier.
In other words, stock manifolds or real hot rod full length headers.
The Patriot 3/4 length headers would seem to be a choice, but those headers are notorious for fitting poorly. It's not that they can't or don't, they are just very inconsistent from one set to another.
Common wisdom is that "generic" block huggers dump right into the frame rails and steering box.
I went from long tubes that hit every speed bump in SoCal to the Patriot H-8035's, which are 3/4 length.
These are sold by Jeg's and Summit, and I got one of my sets from www.streetrodstuff.com.
The going price is around $275-300 for coated, but some of those "no-names" on that auction site are actually Patriots. I bought one set for $100 coated and another for $125 on line.
This is how much clearance I have with the steering box
I have used these with a 605 and a Dephi steering box and there is plenty of clearance.
Bottom line, don't fool with block huggers and save your pennies for a set of coated Patriots. I would have had an extra set to sell, but they fit my LT1 in the 36 Buick with angle plug heads like they were made for it:biggrin:
You cannot beat the Doug D353 headers for 55-57 Chevys.
They fit stock, 605 and CPP500 steering boxes, do not hang
below the bottom of the frame and the quality is terrific. 1 3/4"
full length tubes, 16 gage, and 3/8" flanges. Pricey but you will
never have to buy another set.
Their only draw back is they do not work with rack and pinion steering.
I agree about using full-length headers. To me, the rest are a compromise.
I went with the William's full length, 1 3/4 tube headers. They look a lot like the Doug's D353 and do not hang below the frame. They are even more spendy than the Doug's.
Thanks Don. My pipes are just mocked up at this point. I intend to take the pipes back off, blast my welds and paint the welded areas with VHT ceramic paint so I don't get any rusting. I've got V band clamps at the rear of the mufflers and am going to use the standard type of ss band clamps in front of the muffler.
I think the quality and fit of the William's headers is superb. I did mount my engine 1/2" forward and 1/4" to the right of stock to get the best fit to the 500 steering box, pitman arm and center link.
I know that I posted a picture of the Doug's D353 but could not use them because they are not RP friendly. I am using Dynatech Chevelle headers that are very similar to the Doug's in quality but have the right configuration for the Rack and Pinion setup. They only hang below the frame about a 1/2" so if I am careful they should work fine. There really is no other choice if you want to run full length headers with a small block and Rack and Pinion Steering.
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