When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Anyone have any experience with using the hi pro cast iron headers on these old trucks? I believe they came on the GT500 Mustang with a 390... anyone think of any reason they won't bolt up to a 352/360/390 FE motor in a '67 F100? I've had it with my headers, tired of warped flanges and burned up starters... no clue what they are, came on the truck when I bought it... anyone in Texas wants them let me know.
Odie, I know Ford used them for a while back in the 60s on a few of their HP cars. After that they made some shorties for the 5.0 and that is about it.
IMHO, unless you are racing and turning your engine over 5000, you don't need to bother with headers. Every man ought to have a set once in his life, and there is a set on my pickup. If I was gonna do it again, I would use two driver side logs from the 360 engine and have the right side pipe custom bent. I hardly ever turn my engine over 4000 anyways, heck in high gear it's way past a hundred by then.
If you have a set of cast iron headers, put them on Ebay and get some money to build you a decent exhaust set up. Someone will go ga ga over them.
Every man ought to have a set once in his life, and there is a set on my pickup.
John, I grew up building fast and driving muscle cars (sorry, mostly Chevy's) in the 60's... I'm good, thanks
If I was gonna do it again, I would use two driver side logs from the 360 engine and have the right side pipe custom bent.
I'm going to have to Google that, can't quite picture how it would look with the right side exhaust coming out the front and turning back... almost seems like I'd now be throwing heat on my alternator vs. my starter... but, hey, at least it's easier to get to!
If you have a set of cast iron headers, put them on Ebay and get some money to build you a decent exhaust set up. Someone will go ga ga over them.
Nah, I was trying to glom on to a set... I think the bolt pattern is staggered vs. up-and-down like my current heads anyway, so I doubt they's work without swapping out the heads too... if I can find a set attached to heads in a salvage yard maybe I'll grab the whole mess. Or just get the cast iron manifolds that are original to the truck, since I'm trying to take it back to factory fresh anyway.
Thanks for the reply, John... always appreciate sound advice from people who know what they're talking about.
I'm going to have to Google that, can't quite picture how it would look with the right side exhaust coming out the front and turning back... almost seems like I'd now be throwing heat on my alternator vs. my starter... but, hey, at least it's easier to get to!
Odie
Odie, You are thinking passenger side. The driverside drops down at the middle. The only issue is it doesn't drop straight down, so the passenger side would be angled forward and the pipe would have to turn it back. Here is a photo of my new 390 that maybe you can get an idea of what it might look like. http://forum.ncfto.org/coppermine/di...=10006&pos=-19
Stock Mustang GT exhaust manifolds have a different bolt pattern than the truck manifolds. The heads on the GT have 4 bolt holes around the exhaust ports.
That looks like a later manifold from the mid 70's with ribs vs the smooth log
style that cracks. The rib style is wider and flows better than those logs.
I have given away 4 sets of cast as the last 30 years only headers are installed on my motors and yes they get spun over 5,000 at times.
John; what do you got, manual box with 3.54 gears, 33" tires to do the "Ton" under 4,000 rpm's?
.....=o&o>.....
Last edited by "Beemer Nut"; Sep 9, 2006 at 07:26 PM.
I paid $45 for the 75 manifold as I cracked a log style, had to pay a $30 core deposit as the manifold was still bolted to a head. Never returned the head for the $30 deposit as it was a C4AE-6090-G head.
Golfer, you need a differant pair of headers. Yes there are cast iron headers out there with the bolt pattern you need, but they are WAY exspensive because the galaxie boys want them for numbers correctness. And they don't exactly fit the truck frame anyways. But you just gotta have headers of some sort. The FE truck manifolds really are that bad. Don't believe the 'just a few hp' or the 3K, 4K, or 5K arguement. It doesn't hold water when you are talking about an FE. Bill Stroppe tested this stuff back in the mid to late 60s, and headers were worth 50 hp and 55 lbsft of torque on a stock 390. I can't imagine that anyone could leave that much easy power on the table. The headers you need are from Sanderson, they are big tube shorties. They will totally outflow the horrible stock manifolds, they are plenty durable, they won't leak, and they won't cook you starter. DinosaurFan
I have a set of cast iron headers on my truck. There are some clearence issues on the passenger side, need to notch the frame about an inch for them to clear. Good luck finding a pair, they are fairly rare, only came on 406 and 427's. some 427's had long tube headers, and the people that have them want lots of money. For ones that have not been cracked and welded on asking price is between $450-700 depending on who you talk to.
That makes high end headers (original Thorley's) ceramic coated inside and out (HPC) with Hussey copper header and collector gaskets look affordable besides the better flow of headers than cast iron headers. With the above items install and forget for 100's of thousands of miles without leaks, thats what I install without starter problems. Thirty five plus years with headered FE's.
.....=o&o>.....
Last edited by "Beemer Nut"; Sep 10, 2006 at 08:12 PM.