I was wondering how many guys are running headers on their pickups because I was thinking about putting them on mine. What are the advantages and disadvantages?
What brand is the best for the money. I was looking at Heddmans. Any help is appreciated.

 

I just put headers on my '82 F150. I swapped out my I6 and put in a 351W. The headers were about the same price as purchasing the cast exhaust manifold. You gain some horsepower and tork and a terrific sound. You lose on longevity. The headers will not last as long as the cast manifolds.

Steve

 

Advantages:more torque and horsepower, and they sound good
Disadvantages: in time, they'll leak and rust out and you'll need to spend another $200 for another set. Cast iron manifolds last a looong time!

 

I have a set on my truck, but they were already on there, so I can't comment on brand since I don't know, but they seem to breathe well.

George

 

I can not really comment on the performance advantage of headers over ex-manifolds because my '69 F250/390 came with headers when I got it. I also have a set on my '76 Bronco/302. The weakest link in both sets is the 3 or 4 bolt flange at the collecter. It is difficult to get these bolts tight enough to seal without bending the flanges on the collector & exhaust pipe. I had to beef them up with weld & heavier plate in this area to keep them from leaking.On the F250, I can not remove the starter without completely removing the header on that side; turning a 15 min. starter change into almost an hour. You may also go through more starters since the extra heat that headers put out is very hard on them, ecpecially if the tubes bend in front of and below the starter (heat rises). I don't have this problem on the Bronco because the starter is below the tubes.I installed Thermo-Tec header wrap on the F250's headers and this helps to reduce the underhood & starter temperature considerably. It also seems to reduce some of the noise under the hood that headers produce. However, I have heard that it also reduces header life. I did this about 10,000 miles ago with at least 65,000 on them before the wrap without any problems so far.When they do finally go out, I will probably get the Hedman Heavy Wall "Elite" Hedders. The tubes are bent out of 14 gauge instead of 18 (about .028 in. thicker) and the flanges are made from 3/8 in. material instead of 1/4. However they cost about 2 1/2 times as much as their regular set.If you do buy headers make sure you also use the special header bolts. The thread is the same 3/8-16 however the bolt head uses a 7/16 wrench allowing you to get into the tight places easier. Use a liberal amount of anti-seize compound on the threads so that you can remove them easier later, and if the gaskets leak at the heads, try using Ultra Copper RTV Silicone without gaskets. One 3 oz. tube will easily do the left & right. Apply a thin bead to both surfaces after cleaning with laquer thinner, and tighten up the bolts. If you can help it, don't start the engine until the next day to allow the RVT to completely cure.Good luck in your choice!

 

I don't remember which seris they are but the Hookers that I have on my 66 352 don't have bolt flanges but round ends and the pipes are slipped over and clamped. I also used copper gaskets. I sprayed each s s bolt with Pam before inserting it. I had read that Nascar teams use Pam for a lot of things. Since I only have 3000 miles on the engine, I don't have any long term answers for you.

John

 

I just put a carborated '91 5.0 HO in my '59 ford house car (motor home) To replace the 302 that was in it. And it has headers. It made a big power improvement over stock exhaust manifolds. The disadvantages are as said but in Arizona rust is not a factor here but the heat dose eat starters ( FE engines with in frame headers are real bad at this. about 1 a year in my '69 ) One thing is to keep an eye on the bolts so as to keep them tight or you will blow out (burn) Gaskets repeatedly. when installing headers it is a good idea to put in a cross over pipe between the exhaust pipes as close to the header as possible this will let the engine think that it is running open headers(it will breathe better). One thing to remember is that you may have to rejet the carb a size or two bigger (If it is carbrated.) do to reduction of backpressure. And a set of good free flow mufflers (turbo or glass packs)will also help.

 

Headers are by far the Best Performance upgrade I could have done to My Engine. Mine are Hooker Super Comp.

 

I have Hookers on my 390 and prefer their "flangeless" design mentioned in other posts. The muffler shop can easily expand the exhaust tube to make it slip fit over the header. A muffler clamp and a tack weld hold it all together. Don't let them weld it all the way around.

When installing them, it really helps to put the front of the truck ion jacks and remove the front tires. On '73s thru '79s, you can get a really good shot at most of the header bolts thru the wheel wells.

The starter will be hard to replace, so it might be a good idea to put a new one in before installing the headers. In my F250 4x4, one of the pipes actually touched the starter. I squeezed the pipe just there just enough so it wouldn't touch.

To protect the starter from heat, wrap the starter NOT the headers with a starter heat shield wrap available at racing supply stores or through catalogs.

Lastly, there is usually a port mismatch between the header and the head, so if you use gaskets, go with the Doug Thorley gaskets. I had Mr. Gasket ones and they blew out after a year.

Good luck!

 

I've got headers on my '71 f-250 with the 390. As the previous respondent noted there was a port mismatch that no store bought gaskets were able to take care of so I just made myself a set using a sheet of Mr. Gasket material and a little patience. There is definitely a big improvement in the power. I'm using Turbo muffs so it's a little loud but nothing that disturbs the neighbors. Also, so far I haven't experienced any starter problems but it's only been 6 months so I appreciate the tips from the rest of you on prevention problems.

 

<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Jun-09-99 AT 04:32&nbsp;AM (EST)</font></center>

I found the box for my starter wrap heat shield. It's available from ThermoTec Racing Products in Greenwich, OH. P/N 14150

800-274-8437 www.thermotec.com

I was going to do the same thing you did and cut my own gaskets. I got lucky with the Doug Thorley gaskets. They're real thick and wide at all the right spots. The only bad thing is that they stink for a few weeks.

In case one couldn't find them locally, how did you cut your gasket material? It's pretty tough stuff no? I can see doing the bolt holes with a punch, but what about the ports?

Jim

 

Hey ya Like'em!

What's this? Use Ultra Copper gasket sealant on
exhaust header manifold connections at the head?
(instead of a gasket?)

Really? Wouldn't the gasket sealant "blow-out" over time? Have you tried it, and how long did it last? Sounds like a great idea, if it does work.

Also, I find FelPro exhaust manifold gaskets #MS9906, (a metal sandwich composite) really work well for the Ford FE big block with headers (better than Mr. Gasket #102), but they're hard to get unless you special order/mail order them
and they're expensive--like $10/pair but worth it---don't blow out.

CW

 

hey Brian....

lots of great posts here, but the only thing I'd like to add is that alot of header designs incorporate primary pipes (pipes directly from heads down to collectors) that are 1&1/2 inch diameter pipes with slip-joints before the collector (to accomodate the tight fit into the engine bay). I am not aware of any stainless band clamps--which are the only design that will fit with the tightly restricted access between the merge of tubing--which are intended for anything smaller than 2 inches---which means without sealing these slip joints somehow, you will have slight (not loud) backfiring upon decelerating, because of the oxygen drawn into the exhaust stream at the slip joint. This causes after ignition of unburned gases in the primary pipes on their way to exiting to the atmosphere.

Anybody devised a solution for this? (apart from cutting and rewelding the band clamp to fit!)

cw

 

<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Jun-10-99 AT 11:25&nbsp;PM (EST)</font></center>

I had to remove the headers 3 different times on my truck. The first time was to temperairly fix a bad valve & guide. I reassembled the headders using the supplied gastets in the Fel-Pro kit. About 5 of the header tubes leaked almost immediately. I figured that maybe the gaskets were designed for manifolds only, so I got rid of them and used the Ultra Copper.
It ran leak free for 5,000 miles then I replaced the old 390 with a 410. I used the Ultra Copper again for another 55,000 until my starter went out. This is when I put the headder wrap on, re-sealed them, and added an additional 20,000 miles; so far leak free.
I am now just waiting for the headder wrap to fry out the old headders. If the new ones come with gaskets, I might give them a try since they are easier to put on than messy silicone. But if they leak, you know what I am doing. As I stated in my previous post, make sure both surfaces are absolutely clean, and allow the RTV to cure overnight. You should at least get 55,000 miles out of it leak free.

I also used the ultra copper on my '76 Bronco 302 headders the old gaskets were leaking, but not anymore; about 15,000 miles later.

By the way, are you really a woman? Not chauvinist or anything, just wonderin'.

 

Mr. Like'em---

Well...errr....ummmm.....let's see.....uh--yup....sure looks like it....yep...no doubt....
yessireee---no doubt about it--I'm a gal awlright!
(you nut!)

CW