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hey guys, i have had a couple of people tell me tht headers arnt worth it. i just dropped a 460 in my bronco and would like to know what you guys think. 2 of my mechanics said just sandblast the manifolds and paint them and port them alittle to teh gasket and that will be fine. they said that headers leak and you have to tighten them up alot and for the amount of power you gain/money you spend ratio is not worth it. i already have teh manifolds painted and ready to go it, just wondering your guys opinions. thanks guys
Headers are worth it if you buy good ones. Cheap no-name headers (and some with names) that sport thin flanges and little in the way of R&D in their design, and will most definitely cause you problems.
The 460 responds well to a good set of headers, especially if you combine them with equally good cam, intake, and carb choices. Use good header bolts with a dab of anti-sieze unless you enjoy hours of cursing and stacks of broken drill bits trying to get broken header bolts out.
thanks man, i'm probly going to go l&l eventually, but my choices are very limited due to the face its a cusom application of a 460 in a 89 bronco. i'm hoping teh manifolds fit on for now, i'm having a custome 3" true duel exaust bent w/ an x pipe. so headers will be in the future.
Try for headers that swap a 460 into a 1980- 1996 F150, as everything is identical. Go for L&L's if you're looking for solid, dependable performance, that are guaranteed to never wear out. Hooker Super Comp. headers are great for power, but the primaries are larger(good) and are thinner guage(not so good) than the L&L's, along with a thinner mounting flange(not so good) and longer primary tubes(good). So basically, It's all 1 tradeoff after another, so ultimately, the choice is yours.
FYI- i am swapping a '94 460 into my '90 bronco and i am going with the hedman elite series. pt no. 89468
they are ceramic coated, have thicker flanges than normal hedman products, have a nice routing, AND they have ball style collectors that are not as prone to leaking as the old flat 3 bolt style ones. and they are about $425 from summit or jegs.
i like their routing much better than the L&L's.
hope this helps somehow, as i spent many days searching for a set of headers that would fit for my swap and this was about the best i found...
I put a set of Hooker Comps on an 80 F-350 with a swaped in 460 and had to tighten the bolts one time after a couple of days. That was 3 years ago and have not had to touch them since. The guys are right you get a good set with a good heavy flange and you should have little to no problems.
I put a set of Hooker Comps on an 80 F-350 with a swaped in 460 and had to tighten the bolts one time after a couple of days. That was 3 years ago and have not had to touch them since. The guys are right you get a good set with a good heavy flange and you should have little to no problems.
how did the Hooker Comps fit ?
I'm considering headers for a 87 F250 4x4 with a 460.
in frame style.
and the drivers side header exits straight down so that you can wrap the pipe tight to the bellhousing area. seems more logical than the l&l's that exit straight back and you have to have a pipe hanging down under your trans pan.
any experience with the ZF trans? i was looking the other day and i'm concerned about the slave cymender, its an external slave that sticks out about 3 inches to the right of the transmission. for this reason i would like to do short tubes. lemme kno what you think again, thanx guys. so far really helpfull.
The hookers were an extremly tight fit on the starter. The truck was a 2WD but hooker said they would fit a 4X4 as well. I would say working around the front drive shaft would be interesting.
the hedman elite series are not a "shorty" that bolts up to your exsisting Y pipe, but they are also not a "long tube" like the L&L or other traditional long tube styles.
they are more of a mid length header that alows tighter routing for front axles and skid plates and such. they are also a 1 3/4" primary diameter, which is a nice size.
i wish i knew if they will clear your slave cylinder on the manual tranny. a quick call to hedman would let you know... or call jeg's and ask them.