I have a 390 engine with the cast iron shorty headers. These were stock units used on early FE engines. Would a set of Tube type headers ( Hookers )
give me more H/P and would it be worth time and money.
Thank You
Martin.

 

Yes, and you could probably sell those shorty cast headers and come out ahead in performance and money!

 

just make sure u watch the heat on the starter from the the headers

 

Your shorty cast headers, are they the 406/427 stock headers? If you are working on a 64 Galaxie, check the new headers to see if the power steering will clear, some will not. Not alot of room around the headers on the 64's. I have had mine for 32 years.

 

Hello; Yes these are the short style use in the early 60's Cast iron. I will use a set, made out in Cal. They make headers and other parts just for FE blocks and for the 64 Galaxie.
Thank You
Martin.

 

Those cast iron headers command a big price. The headers should work great. The 390 will breath better with headers. Myself I run the stock manifolds with SS pipes and SS Megaflow muflers that exit infront of the real wheels.

 

Question:
I would presume that the cast-iron Ford headers (which my 390 has) would be inferior to performance headers. Why would cast-iron headers command a big price ?

 

They are a rare item that was mostly found on factory 406's and 427's. Might have been other factory HiPo Fe's. Don't really remember. People will give a pretty $ amount if they have an HiPo engine that came factory with them or in some cases they are easier to make fit than an aftermarket header. Like a set of Super Comps for a 64 Galaxie is around 450$ or a lil more and have to be slightly modified. For about 50$ more you can get a decent set of cast irons and it would fit perfect and still have a pretty good performance increase. Plus they look cool