Harold's F'ing me over - big time.

Glad to hear you finally got them!! by whatever means....too bad the market is so soft for our early A's. I guess I figured it this way. I spent 3k on finish bodywork and paint, I spent over 2k rebuilding the 340 ( using decent stuff) I spent 2300 on the 727 trans beefing it up nicely, another 1800 on the 8.75 rear end and 300 restoring and beefing up the original radiator....and about 2200 on the interior and guages. having the headers custom made with a manual dump system and the 3.5 in exhaust all the way out the back for 1200 actually seems kinda reasonable. I saw this guys work on another early A and it is skin tight. he uses 3/8 flanges and pretty thick "aluminized" pipe material. Thicker than most "commercial headers" I have seen. I am using a conventional Mopar starter and did not have to move brake lines or tranny lines or fuel lines. The exhaust is NOT visible from a side view of the car. And oil changes and starter changes do not require anything "special" to make them happen. NONE of my pipes have dimples or hammer modifications of anykind. I guess what I am getting to is...if you spend all kinds of money building everything else to a certain level, it seems kind of senseless to suddenly develop a "tightness" at the exhaust ports? people seem to think nothing of spending 2 - 3 - 400 just for powder coating or a wee bit more for ceramic. WHY does it seem so weird or maybe not weird but "UN-frugal" to have the benefit decent long lasting well made exhaust? When I started this project I didnt really have the money for ANY OF IT. I saved, I sold stuff, I bought & sold stuff, I worked a few odd jobs, I found ways to pay for pretty much everything ( still have a few things to get like wheels & tires)...blue lines ( blue Streaks ) are around $600....the cragars are also around $600....and right now I don't have it....but I will find it & when the times comes I will have it. ALL of this hobby is prohibitive when you try to do it all at once. Simple answer I cannot do it all at once....for each segment I have had to build up the funds, this is just not a place or time for ME to get "cost conscious" ( too close to the finish)
I guess I would rather wait and buy a really good something or other than buy it now for cheap and want/have to replace it in 2 years. ( not to mention dealing with reputable fabricators vs being required to order COD just to get the guys attention)
my 2 cents