I'm working on my brother's '72 F100 short bed 4x2. He wanted a 400 put in the truck (originally came with a 302). We have the 400 swapped into the truck, bolted to the frame stands and to the rear crossmember. He wants headers on the truck, rather than manifolds...as the engine is nowhere near stock. We ordered a set of flowtech headers designed for '77-'79 trucks with the 351M and 400, but they do not come anywhere close to fitting. The collector hits the crossmember on both sides. We took the crossmember off of the radius arm brackets and the frame, totally removed it altogether and solved that problem. But, now on the pass. side, the collector hits the radius arm bracket on the frame. The driver's side hits the steering box on top and on bottom. They just do not fit anywhere. Has anyone ever tried swapping a 400 into one of these? I am wondering if the frame rails are wider on the '77-'79 pickups, which could be why these headers don't fit. I know these aren't going to work without cutting/bending/re-welding (and they're already ceramic coated.....), so I guess I need a set of headers that WILL fit. Any suggestions? I thought about making my own headers as well...but that's time-consuming and I just really don't like doing it. I've done it before though, so I'm not afraid of tackling it. Just would rather get a set that will fit and be done with it!

Any suggestions?

 

IIRC the dentside frame is in fact wider by something like 4". I have a 400 in my '72 F250 and have wondered if headers for a dent would work, sorry to hear about your trouble but I am glad someone finally tried this out. Did you get 2wd or 4wd headers? I thought maybe 4wd headers would work on mine since it is 2wd but don't know what all they change between the two.

 

The headers I got are Flowtech part number 32506. They're supposed to fit '77 1/2-?? 1/2 & 3/4 ton pickups with a 351M or 400 engine.

What's weird is that the instruction sheet shows instructions for header code 051. Holley (flowtech is part of holley) says that instead of using the actual part number on the headers, they use a code number. I have the sheet for 051 headers...but stamped on the header collector is an 052, FWIW. Makes me wonder if they're not packaged incorrectly. Also, the 32506 headers are supposed to be 1 3/4" primaries....the ones I have are 1 5/8". The ONLY 351M-400 header I've found from flowtech that uses the 1 5/8" tubes is a header made for a '80-96 F150. That is what makes me believe that they are packaged wrong.

I called Holley earlier and the tech is supposed to call me back with more detail.

If all else fails, I'll build them myself. Not hard...just time consuming. They're plenty of room so it won't be all that bad.

If it was MY truck, it would have been a little different. I'd have put a 5.4 or even a 6.8 V10 in it....but that's me. It's my brother's truck and he wanted a fairly stout 400.

 

Mavman, you may be right on the mispackaging.Bump and dent frames are the same width from the front bumper to the rear of the cab.The width difference is behind the cab.The cab and rad support mounts are the same (with the exception of some F350's) too. You can swap a bump cab and front clip to a dent frame and vice versa.Set it down and put the bolts in.Done.Hope this helps.

 

Dittos on what Redcat said. The chassis width difference is under the bed, not under the hood.

John

 

yea i was just lookin at those headers i bought todd, in summit they list em as having a 1-3/4 primary and stuff, so i think there is a very good possibility that the damn things were packaged wrong, i'm gonnna email summit in a minute and ask them about that, also ask em about the whole 051 052 thing too, but like yall said, the latter is for a 80-87 frame, which i think is indeed wider, i'll let yall know somethin

 

well, after much investigations on my part, summit shipped me the wrong headers, they shipped a set of headers for a 77-79 4wd with a 400 in it, so i am now stuck with a set of ceramic headers i cant use, because i've had em for over 90 days so i cant return em, aint decided what i'm gonna do with em yet, whether i sell em with my 79 or just put em on here for sale, they are 32506 flowtechs, advertised with a 1-3/4 primary and a 3 inch collector, most likely they'll end up on ebay unless somebody on here wants em

 

a note on "ceramic" coated headers..... alot of the comments I see on them are they work great *if* you replace your headers every 3 or 4 months. lol

Apparently the coatings do ot hold up as well as promised more times than not....food for thought.

 

Lucky no. 7

If you ordered the correct ones and they shipped the wrong ones, whether by mistake or not, and you have the original packaging you can get them to accept them back.

If not then push the issue. Because they defrauded you even tho purchased in good faith. Fraud doesn't have 90 day statute of limitations, It's a vendor's rule, not law.

Also if they are not in the state you live in, it's now interstate fraud and the US GOV'T can put Pressure on them, so can tour consuner protection agencies for both states. . . .

Y'all got all the rights here, and you are the Soverign here, Summit isn't. I mean it's not a Govt of Summit, for Summit and By Summit, ya know? They weren't free nother was the shipping and if they are at fault you win.

Just my $.02 on being ripped off interstate. . . .

FBp

 

unimog, i didnt know you was from colorado, thats where i'm based out of is fort carson, i'm in baghdad at the moment though, as for the ceramic deal, this is the first set i've ever dealt with, and i didnt even get to put any heat to em, so i went ahead and bought a set of hedmans for it, we'll see if they fit better, only reason for that is the fact that dad and my bro are puttin it together for me, or at least the major work so i can drive it back to carson when i get back, as far as the interstate fraud goes, well, they have a stipulation that says if you buy it, you got it for 90 days its yours, but like you say pete, i could fight it and whatnot, but i figure if anything somebody else can use em more than i could fight it for. thanks for the inputs though

 

Update:

The Hedmans fit. They fit pretty good...went in from the top in the pass. side, from the bottom on the driver's side. Haven't put the crossmember back in to see whether or not they'll clear or not, but it looks like they will. Shift linkage for the C6 trans column shift is going to be a pain in the ****, cable and floor shift would be MUCH MUCH easier. Pics as soon as they're available (I have them on my girlfriend's camera because my camera quit working).