Headers?

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Stucker152

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I have a stock 75 dart swinger with a 318 and I'm at a cross roads wether or not to get short tube or long tube headers? Is there any fitting issues with long tube? I know they offer more power. But do they hang too low and drag? Thanks for your help.
 
my cheap *** long tube hooker headers :
dont scrape
dont leak
dont burn wires
went on in 3 hours

2 years and the paint is almost as good as the day i put them on
 
My Hooker Comps dragged on every dime in the road. They didn't allow access to the back to spark plugs. I called them my aftermarket skid plates. My new TTi long tubes sit above the centerlink and allow access to all spark plugs. I have driven every day for a week and a half now and have not scraped anything. Long tube is better, but the kind you buy matters a lot.

If you want some used beat up headers, I have a set of Hooker Competition and a set of Super Competitions. They are both intact but scraped in the usual spots.
 
73AbodEE said:
my cheap *** long tube hooker headers :
dont scrape
dont leak
dont burn wires
went on in 3 hours

2 years and the paint is almost as good as the day i put them on
Click to expand...

Well you got me beat on the installation, it took me about 5 hours. And my coating is gone. But my headers were the cheap Summit headers and they don't scrape or leak or burn wires, and I can get to all plugs.
 
And I've been told to run 2" pipe, but everybody I read about on here is running 2.5" pipe. Should i run bigger pipe? I'm planning on side exit exhaust before the tire. And I decided on the patriot tight tube over the Hedman. And I plan on running an x pipe.
 
I had 2.25" behind my 318 with long-tube Hedman headers. And for the record, those headers were absolute garbage. I think anything larger than 2.25" is overkill for a stock 318.
 
If you might go with a more powerful motor later go bigger. no sense having to buy the exhaust twice! My vote would be go with 2.5" plenty big for a larger motor but, won't really cost you much hp over a smaller pipe.


And for the record my long tubes don't scrape, my wires don't melt and the sparkplugs are not hard to change. They did take me a while to get on because the manifold bolts had 39 years of rust on them.
 
Well Im gonna keep the 318 for awhile. Just started the restoration and I don't have the money to swap a motor also. Gonna keep the 2" pipe. So I've decided on headers and x pipe but unsure of what mufflers I'm gonna get. I don't want anything too expensive. Nothing over $75 a muffler. But something with a deep tone and plenty loud is what I'm looking for. Ideas?
 
Stucker152 said:
Well Im gonna keep the 318 for awhile. Just started the restoration and I don't have the money to swap a motor also. Gonna keep the 2" pipe. So I've decided on headers and x pipe but unsure of what mufflers I'm gonna get. I don't want anything too expensive. Nothing over $75 a muffler. But something with a deep tone and plenty loud is what I'm looking for. Ideas?
Click to expand...

I had glasspacks on my 318 but took them off when I went to the 408. Now I am running Flowmasters. I love the Flowmaster sound.
 
If you want loud and obnoxious, go with the 40 series flowmaster. They're even louder if you dump the pipes right behind the mufflers (no tailpipes). There are plenty of other loud and obnoxious muffler's out there, but I've only had experience with flowmaster and magnaflow. Both can be very loud, but the flowmaster sounds better to me.
 
You might want to do a little research on those Patriot Tight Tuck headers. They are meant for street rods & probably won't fit and A-body.
I'd check it out before you order!
 
longtube headers makes more torque at a lower rpm.
longtubeheaders makes it alot easier to build any type of exhaust.
bigger exhaust AFTER the headers wont cost any power at all. fourstroke engines dont need backpreasure in fact they suffer when backpreasure is added unless totaly backwards built.
bigger exhaust usualy gives you a bigger sound,not nesesary louder but bigger,deeper. depending on mufflers and enginespec,this is up to 2½"tubing,3" usualy means that it gets louder and harder to get quiet.
dual 2½" exhaust is plenty up to about 450hp up to that point 3" bassicly only adds noise.
 
I've got the cheapo Jegs long tube headers. They were tough to get in, the paint is chipping off, and they hit on speed bumps, mostly because I need to turn the torsion bars. I've got 2.5 inch exhaust going through flowmaster 40s dumping out in front of the tires. Love the sound and people tell me how good it sounds every time I'm out. I'd recomend better long tubes, but I'm happy with mine. Mines a 360, though
 
I agree but I have only ran OPEN fenderwells for about 3years now and only a speeding ticket and not a exhaust ticket , I guess I'm just lucky .
 
Did anyone have to modify the header to fit around the steering box? The thing seems to be right in the way. I sent the patriot headers back because of it. summit guy told me they would fit. haha not a chance. switching to long tubes now. Also I have a 75 swinger 318. So do I have to get the expensive Doug's or tti? I plan on painting them myself anyway.
 
Dougs or tti will fit good and tti sells the whole exshaust if you want it.
 
If your staying small block in the future I would buy good quality headers and exhaust now. Costs more to do it twice in the long run.
 
The patriot headers fit with any factory A steering box. They are a royal pain to put in, just like most any SB A body header, hooker, flowtech, headman...
 
Summit Turbo Mufflers are loud and sound great.
Dont have a vid of mine runnin them but here is another one the vids arent the best and the mufflers sound much betterIf it was me I would go with at least a 2 1/4 inch exhaust if not a 2 1/2 inch. How much power is a stock worn out 318 really puttin out anyway. Just build your exhaust for future upgrades
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDjcvOQudbg&feature=related"]1972 Duster 340 idle with its new Summit 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust - YouTube[/ame]
 
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