Are headers worth it?

[Stroked]

I have a set of ram horn manifolds in my shed and I know at least one of them angles towards the back.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Checked mine, and both sets dump straight down. Must be two designs.

 

[HotRodPC]

Checked mine, and both sets dump straight down. Must be two designs.

Yep. I've seen both.

 

[bucket]

Yep. Ram Horns would be my preference too unless I had a motor that really needed the headers. Just depends on the vehicle for me. If I can't justify the headers, I'd rather not. Those Rams flow well, but not as well as a header. Good Luck finding a cheap set now days though. I"d imagine Bucket has the exhaust manifolds on his 454 Burb that I have on my 84 C20 454. Those are some good flowing manifolds too, especially for late 80's motor and certianly enough for Peanut Port heads. I also like the fact, they have an expansion provision in them to keep them from cracking. I like'em.

Yeah, I had said that 4 out of my 5 trucks have headers, but I really should have said all 5 since the Burb's stock manifolds are actually shorty headers.

ive had rams horn manifolds on an 81 RCSB i use to have with a 355 in it. Just so happenes i even know what vehichle they came from. a 68 impala with a 327 is where i got them from.

My '69 and '70 Impalas came with factory ram's horns too.

 

[Driver4r]

eventually when i lift my 76 i will put on my headers, But right now its stock height and im running 441 heads and have left them off cause im affraid that my axle is gonna come up and hit the header and snap my heads.(Ive seen it happen). Also true duals sound GREAT on my 76.

 

[stu64]

I use to run headers on everything I owned, but I am not sure it was helping that much. I am able to get the head flanges to always seal by retightening the bolts frequently during the initial run in, the gaskets compress and will burn thru if u don't. Sometimes u have to use two collector gaskets to take up the gaps in the flanges, the rings are too thin to compress the joint (just bends the metal).

I have also had mixture problems due to the pressure waves in the primary pipes and low restriction mufflers.

It may be worth 5-15 HP at some points in the RPM range on a mild motor, IF they don't screw up the jetting.

And ditto on ceramic coatings, 35 years and I have yet to find paint that won't start to rust through within 6 months. Hardware store Barbeque Black seems to be the best IMO, if you sandblast the old stuff off first.

 

[GOBR]

Long tubes make a difference. If you dont go to long tubes its a waste, just keep stock ones.