Inliners International Forums General Discussion Hi Performance Headers for a 250 in a passenger car

Hello all,

If I want to put headers in a passenger car I'm basically stuck with one of three, clifford's, langdon's, or make my own right?

can anybody give me an idea of what custom headers might cost?

Also I've been thinking about the feasability of getting long tube headers for a truck and modifying them for my purposes. I figure that by getting prefabbed headers and modifying them I will already have the essential and more difficult parts already made (flanges and collectors).

What I want to do is make headers that resemble block huggers for V8. I'd like to make them short and then immediatly after the collector put on exhaust cutouts (race readies, to taunt the ricers..) after the cutouts I'd join both pipes into one and then into the stock cat-back. That way those little ricers won't know what hit em (until I uncap the cutouts of course..)

I'm thinking of modifying two heat riser valves from Bigblock V8's so that I can use them to open and close the cutouts with a cable from inside the car.

Any opinions?

PS this is for a 250 in a 78 nova

Luis, the headers from Langdons (about $275.) are cast iron and are relatively short and will have a long life to them. I believe that Clifford has a shorty header (have a set on my '54 but they were on there when I bought the car) Ebay is also a good place for headers as they show up on there quite a bit. How did you make out with the mounts for the Nova? Is the motor mounted yet?

GMDAD

It's a 78 nova, it originally came with a 250 with integral head, It uses the same clamshell type mounts as a small block V8. I replaced the rubber inserts in the mounts for polyurethane (I also replaced the trans mount as well) BIG DIFFERENCE you can feel that the motors power is going to the wheels instead of shaking the car.


Anyways, so was I right? the only available headers for a passenger car are cliffords and langdons?

thanks.

Hooker makes headers for 68-74 Novas. The should fit right up with a non-integral head in your 78.

Do you know the part number??

I just found the hooker header..

Its $369.95 at summit!!! and I thought the cliffords were expensive!!

Anybody know where to get it cheaper?

Try Headman Headers,i think i recall seeing a listing in one of the speed catalogs for inline headers and were alot cheaper than the Hooker brand.

Pacesetter headers dude, the number part is
PSM-70-1204 and cost $185.99
In summitracing, I have them and work great...

I recommend a lot..

The problem with the hedmans, pacesetters, and dynomax headers is that they are TRUCK headers. They are too LONG for a passenger car. They stick out the bottom.

Summit actually has some dynomax headers for about $149, I think I'll probably get those and modify them to suit my needs.

I recommend you go with Langdon's (if for no other reasons other than not having to worry about leakage AND lasting 10 times longer than cheap tubes.

If you plan on running this engine for a while, I advise you to pay the extra $125 or so and have these issues behind you for good.

-magic mike-

I've been reading up on headers and am starting to have a lot more questions than I had before..

I understand that long tube headers will give you a broader power curve.

Shorties are better at high rpms (so I guess they're not so hot for inlines)

I keep finding that unequal length headers are good for nothing except clearance. hehe (although just about anything's better than stock exhaust)

What I want to know now is about the tri-y headers. Anybody got a clue on why this design would be any better than equal length headers?

My welding skills are improving so making my own set doesn't seem too problematic now...

Hey Luis BRW,

I've been looking at pix of long tube truck headers and was thinking that with the use of some properly sized connectors you might be able to shorten the "down tube" sections and recouple them for use on applications that aren't covered by the manufacturers.

To answer your question on Tri-Y's . . . .

I believe the Tri-Y's are supposed to be great for torque but that's not really a problem on the inline sixes.

Here's a link you may find interesting if your considering building your own headers. It should also answer most of your questions about Header design. It's a VERY informative site.

www.headersbyed.com

'Crockett

Ed is a Very good guy to speak with. I spoke with him any years ago WhenI got ready to build my own headers for my 250 in my 64SS chevy2. and my header tubes are with in Less then one inch of each other.Which is hard to do. And I must say to Ed once again Thanks for all his help }[oooooo]

Actually, most of what I've learned about headers has been at both ED's site and S&S Headers' site. (http://www.ssheaders.com/header.htm)

I found the S&S sight slightly more informative on general header function, and I also liked their collectors more.

ED's site did help me realize the true value of equal length long tube headers. ED's site also explains more about the actual process of making headers.

Twisted, if it's not private information.. what are the specs on your headers? primary length, diameter... are the headers you made the ones on that purple 250 for your 64 in your site? Those pipes look really large.
Why did you make the collectors flat?

Hey Luis BRW,

You are so right about Twisted6's headers, they are niiiiice! I e-mailed him for info about them a while back! I really like the "flat" profile before the collectors.

I'm will check out the S&S headers site.

'Crockett

Luis,
In a passenger car with mufflers and tailpipes, header tuning isn't going to matter. A properly tuned exhaust system counts on an open system. Putting mufflers and tail pipes on a header system will negate any real performance gain. This is why so many of us are pleased with our cast iron 3 into 1 shorty headers. Just relieve as much back pressure as possible and enjoy your ride.
Jim

Well said Jim!!

Open exhaust...

So I'm still interested in tuning the headers

If you have the exhaust exiting straight out the collector and the muffler head pipe at an angle to the collector just before the cutout (illegal almost universally), you may find your normal street peformance less than stock. It is unlikely that you will beat a rice burner with open exhaust that you wouldn't have beaten running through a well designed system with low backpressure mufflers. FWIW

Yes they are the set on the purple motor they are of 1 5/8 stepped up to a 1 3/4 If i remember right I'd have to check The are stepped up about 10-12in before the collector Over all lenght are 36in with I beleive is a 3in collector out let That too i would hae to double check for you. It has been some long since i built them headers. But i hope this helps. }[oooooo]