I'm working on swapping a 460 into a 1978 F-150 4x4.
Auto C6 trans, no body lift, 31.5" tires.
I currently just have open manifolds.

I've searched through many threads and see a lot of back and forth about good and bad experiences folks have had with L&L vs Mad Dog headers. However, it seems that fenderwell is the simpler way to go, at least for the initial setup.

I have a few questions that I'd really appreciate some help with:

Is one brand of the fenderwell headers clearly superior as far as fit is concerned? I realize without lift I'll probably have to trim some of the inner fender.

Regarding the rest of the system, for fenderwell exits do most of you do a section of straight pipe to a muffler?

Is it possible to bolt the header (Mad Dog 3.5" collector) straight into something like this: Patriot Exhaust H3805 Patriot Exhaust Mufflers or if I went with the L&L (3" collector) something like Cherry Bomb Glasspack Mufflers 87553 - SummitRacing.com ?

This won't be a daily driver, so would the sound be tolerable for the occasional weekend cruise or trip to Home Depot?

Thanks in advance! I've learned a lot from this forum so far, and I appreciate your expertise.

 

I run chassis exit, but I recall reading that the fenderwell headers usually require a slight body lift but I could be way off, however I am sure markA or monsterbaby or some "expert" will be of more help. I run flowmasters and pipe out under the flatbed, and if I can keep it from leaking, it is a nice sounding setup.

 

Thanks. How much pipe do you have between your manifold/headers and the Flowmaster?

 

I went with the fender well exit on my f-250. I already had the 3 inch body lift and they fit nice. With the l and l motor mounts the collector sits even with bottom of the frame. I made a 4 foot pipe bend upward so I could hide the flow master up in the bed side with no tail pipe. It is louder than I thought it would be but I like it. I'll prolly put turn downs on it in the future.
My buddy put the chassis exit on his '78 f-250 with the same mufflers. He used 2 1/2 inch pipe instead of my 3 and it is noticably quieter.

 

I have fender wells on my F250, M block. No body lift, no issues to speak of except the right forward cab mount is a touch close to #s 3 & 4 tubes. The plastic inner fender well at that point has its own header "conformity," too. And, like OleRed, I ran my pipes (3") along the rails, under the bedside, 36" cherry bombs exiting in front of the tires. I put the "quiet side" of the bombs facing the flow...loud but.....HooRah!!!!

 

I have a '78 F-250 S-cab 4x4 with a 460. I installed L&L fenderwell headers in 1997 and have had no issues to date, other than a bit of tire rub at full turn. No lift of any kind, just 33" tires. I also used the L&L motor mounts (insulators) with the stock frame perches.
Fenderwells weren't my first choice, but due to the Dana 60 front axle and no body lift I couldn't find a set in in-frame headers that would work.
As I remember I had to do a bit of inner fender trimming on the driver's side, as well as some brake line re-forming under the master cylinder. I don't remember needing to do anything on the passenger's side, other than making sure the starter cable was secured and in the open.
I couldn't be more pleased with the overall fit and quality of the L&L headers. 15+ years of trouble free service is hard to beat.

Roger Carter

 

Roger- Thanks. What exhaust setup do you run your headers into?

 

When I installed the fenderwell headers I had a nearly new 2 1/2" full length dual exhaust system on the truck. It had a forward crossover, mid mounted Allied truck mufflers on the passenger side with a pair of talipipes up and over the axle exiting at the passenger rear corner of the truck.
I didn't have the spare coin then to redo the exhaust so I had the exhaust shop make a pair of bent "S" pipes to connect the headers to the exhaust system. The new pipes leave the collector, turn and kick under the frame and then turn and kick back up inside the frame, connecting to the existing system.
It's not ideal now and I wasn't happy with it then, but figured I would do something different when it needed replacing. It's been the longest lasting exhaust system I have ever had on any rig I've owned. Damn it!
When I replace the system I'm not real sure which way I will go. I have thought of a couple options. One would be to run straight off the collector, hit a muffler and have it kick out in fron of the rear tire. The second option would be almost like the first, but after leaving the muffler to kick the tailpipe up and over the frame, ahead of the rear axle kick, and run the tailpipes out the back or rear corners of the truck.
Maybe in another 5-10 years, when I replace the exhaust, I will have come up with another option where I can have a crossover pipe without crossing under the frame, without a body lift. Hmm...

Hope this helps.

Roger

 

I have a set of L&L fenderwell exit headers on my 78 bronco, I had to cut a notch out of the passenger inner fender, and the bottom of the passenger cab mount that is rivited to the frame. The drivers side fit fine. I just bolted a set of purple hornie header mufflers to them, sounds good, just have to watch the fumes a little.

 

I'm leaning towards fenderwell exit headers, a two foot header extension, glasspacks (Jones?) into some turndowns to keep it from pointing directly at the tire.

Anyone see any potential problems or have any thoughts on glasspacks vs. a more sophisticated (and more expensive) exhaust?

 

i used L&L chassis exit for my bronco stock height but because the pipes had to swing to the pass side to clear the trans case i had my installer put in double header collectors on the crossover so i can unbolt it to remove the trans if i ever need to
i was quite impressed with the thickness of the L&L flanges and quality so far so good but at $550 a set.....

 

I've got L&L fenderwell exit on my 77 F-150 4x4 460. No body lift. I did trim the inner fenderwells. Fit was perfect. For the rest of the exhaust I welded a header flange to a 4 foot pieces of 3" pipe and bolted that to the headers. Then I bolted on a 3" MAC dump on each side. I had these mufflers left over from a previous Mustang set up. Works and sound great. Plus it was super cheap.

 

Has anyone used a chambered muffler (flowmaster hushpower or magnaflow xl, etc.) with this setup? Any major differences besides sound compared to glasspacks?