Help with headers and mufflers
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New User
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 5
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Help with headers and mufflers
It's been a long, expensive road to get this 1977 Ford F-150 400m running. Now it's time for new exhaust system. Need some advice on what works best for this engine. I'm thinking hedman headers with flow master mufflers, I also want to put the exhaust coming out before the rear tires.
Last edited by BiGxTrUcK; Feb 16, 2015 at 04:36 PM. Reason: More info
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 372
Likes: 4
From: New Mexico
With exiting in front of the rear tires, going with fenderwell headers makes this very easy as you can run straight pipe to a muffler and then use a short turn. I've got Hedman headers and Flowmaster 40 mufflers.
Elder User
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 685
Likes: 2
I have headman headers and Summit Racing Street/Strip mufflers. They are a two chamber Flowmaster knockoff. My fender skirts were trimmed just a bit to let the primaries clear. I used a short section of 3" straight pipe going outside the frame rail. It comes out right at the edge of the cab, but I need to finish the tail pipes to turn out in front of the rear tires.
Summit's mufflers seem to be of extremely high quality. Very heavy gauge metal and they have a durable coating. 5 months later they still look like new, not a spot of rust or burnt paint. They sound pretty darn mean too! Not bad for $30.
Summit's mufflers seem to be of extremely high quality. Very heavy gauge metal and they have a durable coating. 5 months later they still look like new, not a spot of rust or burnt paint. They sound pretty darn mean too! Not bad for $30.
Cargo Master
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,211
Likes: 321
From: SW PA
nice pics NMFirst - so you were happy overall with the hedman header fit?
Did you have to re-route some brake lines on the driver side?
Did you have to re-route some brake lines on the driver side?
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,931
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From: Ohio
I'm actually in the process myself of building an exhaust for my F250 with a 351m (eventually a built 400). I will be using the hedman fenderwell headers and a set of 3" borla XR-1s.
Here's a vid of my mufflers on my buddies 78 F250 with a built 400 to see how they'd sound:
Here's a vid of my mufflers on my buddies 78 F250 with a built 400 to see how they'd sound:
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Elder User
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 990
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From: Tamaroa, IL
I run Flowtech long tube chassis exit headers into 2.5" piping, dual VX series mufflers, then 45'd out the back into two 3.5" stainless steel tips. I'm very pleased with the sound. It has a lot of low end roar without much cackle. The one thing I don't like about the Flowtechs is that the hang down under the truck too far. Sorry the video is so short, I took it on my phone.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4sf3LsnKYdQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4sf3LsnKYdQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 372
Likes: 4
From: New Mexico
somethingclever - I had no issues with the headers fitting. Other than the bit of trimming I mentioned, they bolted up easily and the quality is good for the price. In hindsight, I'm thinking I should've got the coated version. The original paint backed off pretty fast. A few months ago I pulled them off and sanded/painted with some header paint. It's holding up well except I see some rust starting to show in a few places. I can't imagine what they'd look like if I lived in a wetter climate. No changes to the brake lines other than bending the driver side closer to the frame to increase the air gap to the header pipe.
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