I'm looking to put headers on my '78 F250 351m, 4spd. Everthing is stock, I might add something later (cam, ignition, intake, carb) but for now I'm just looking for a header kit with dual exaust. Can anyone recomend a kit from summit or someplace like that?

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 15-Aug-02 AT 01:42 AM (EST)]just look on the web - summit, jegs, hooker, heddman, blackjack, dynomax...

look for 400 headers - a lot of them don't show the 351m, but they're the same for headers. you're in luck - the cheap ones with the 1-5/8" tubes are perfect for your application. i don't think i've ever seen 1-1/2" tubes listed for a 400 or 351M, but if you find some, they'd be good too. maybe even a little bettter, as long as the rest of it stays stock. if you do a mild cam, intake & 4v carb, you'd be better off with the 1-5/8" ones anyway. if you make it into a 400 with higher compression and little bigger cam & carb, then the 1-3/4" ones would start to pay off at higher rpm's - but unless you are definately going to do that, you shouldn't go bigger than 1-5/8"

also, they don't always show every year model - especially on vehicles that had a catalytic converter from the factory. if that's the case, find the closest year listed, then try to figure out if it'll work. you might try asking in the "'73-'79 ford trucks" forum.

 

I think ol' Cooter would benefit from some cheap Dynomax headers. I bought some for my truck and they bolted right up. I bought mine though Summit, and if I recall, they were only $100. All of the tubes are pretty close in length, and they are 1-5/8" primaries. I put some Purple Hornies (mufflers) behind the headers, and it sounds like a freight train going down the road. I never need a horn at a green light, I just rev it a bit, and they get moving. If you put on a four barrel carb with a new intake, it will free up a lot of power in that truck. It will feel like it wants to get up and go, instead of pushing harder on that gas pedal to creep along! The whole thing would take you an afternoon and about $500 if you buy all new parts.

I also have a truck I call "the turd" Mine's a 72 big mud truck. It's brown, and looks like a piece of *****. The name "the turd" just fit perfect. Good Luck.

 

one other thing - the "jet-hot" or "ceramic" coating is definately the way to go. if they cost $150 instead of $100, pay the difference for the coated ones, even if you have to eat plain hamburgers instead of cheeseburgers for a while or something... the ceramic/jet-hot ones look like semi-polished aluminum when you put them on - and they look exactly the same 10 years later. the "painted" ones look ok when you put them on, but in 6 months you'll see some rust. in a year they'll have a lot of rust. in 2 years they'll be fuzzy rust-colored hearers, and in 10 years they'll already be buried in the local garbage dump because they rusted through. aside from looking better and lasting longer, the "real" coated ones keep more of the exhaust heat inside the pipe, so it doesn't get so hot under the hood. i say "real" because there are some companies that advertise their own "special" coating (like HTS or HTC), which is not any better than high-temp paint. it might be, if it was applied a lot thicker and if the headers were wrapped up like a mummy for shipping, but usually headers are already banged up when they come out of the box, and even more banged up by the time you get them on!