I have a 352 with Hedman headers. I recently had to remove them to replace a couple of leaky freeze plugs. When I went to buy new gaskets, the guy at the parts store told me that I should use the same gaskets for headers as I would for the stock exhaust manifold. I put them on and now I have a pretty serious leak at the back end of the passenger side. I have tried tightening everything up, but haven't had much luck in stopping the leak. My question is should I use a different gasket for headers? I am getting ready to remove them tomorrow and want to make sure I get it right this time. Thanks...

 

Yes you should use a header gasket. There white cardboard type.
While your wifes not looking grab the glass 18 x 4 dish and boil a pot of water place the gaskets in to the dish and pour in the water let them soak for a min of 15 minutes. They will swell and get soft install them quickly as possible and you will not have leaks. The water will bake out and it lets them conform to the crappy header surfaces.

Best of luck
44Dwarf

PS: re-tighten after 5 minutes!

 

PSS, do not overtighten or you will bend the flange and never get the leaks stopped!

 

You can get premium header gaskets that are well worth the money. Try Victor Nitroseal( NAPA or Carquest) or Summit for some trick copper gaskets that are reuseable and very good at sealing up!