What headers work, and what don't?

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streetdak said:
Well I bought these for my 73 Dart,

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HED-78050/

And I bought them knowing I don't want to spend 500 plus on a set of headers. On top of that I needed to repaint my motor and engine bay and put in my shiftkit and converter so me and My buddy pulled the motor and trans in only 3 hours, so its not too big of a deal to me to set the headers in place and the drop the motor back in, which seems like it will be the easiest way.

Now ive used alot of cheaper headers on my dakota and other hot rod products and have always had good luck, so this time I am hoping the same.

I will be stripping the protective paint and then VHT'ing the headers which I definitley will reccomend to a non coated header, and I've always had good luck with VHT stuff.

My car has power steering so once I get them in and snug I will take pictures to let you know how it fits.

I think basically you need to always buy according to budget. If you can't afford the expensive stuff, you can damn near always make the less expensive stuff work. If I had an extra 700 i might consider buying TTi's but i don't so I will do my best with headmans and let you know how they fit!
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That's cool, please let me know. I was gonna buy those headers because the website says they work with power steering.
 
Crackedback -- I beg to differ... if the 73 is the same as the 67 and 68 and 70 and 72 THEN my statement that the 73 is the widest A body MADE is exactly true....what can be included is the entire range....67 thru 74 they are indeed the widest A body's made....73 just happens to be INCLUDED in that range. SO how exactly is that "flat wrong?" Would you prefer that I might have said 73 is among the widest? yet is it not in fact the widest group? as is the 70 and the 72 and the 67?..... picky picky
 
66cuda said:
DIfference is 5/16 flange vs 3/8 flange, Material & thickness of tubes / collectors...73 is the widest A body made so headers are not as BIG of an issue as on the 67 - 69 or even worse on the 64 -66......
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I was answering the other posters question about your statement asking if the 67 and 73 differed and you were wrong.

That's your own quote above and it is wrong or misleading. You defined and limited the year, calling it the widest. You also make a distinction that 67-69 differ from a 73, they don't from a rail, basic inner apron standpoint.

I agree that it's in the year range of widest for the A's up to 76.

Like you, I should have worded my response more clearly.

Back at you counselor.

Have a good one and I don't care to carry this on further as it detracts from the OP's purpose.
 
streetdak said:
I think basically you need to always buy according to budget. If you can't afford the expensive stuff, you can damn near always make the less expensive stuff work. If I had an extra 700 i might consider buying TTi's but i don't so I will do my best with headmans and let you know how they fit!
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Unfortunately to some degree that's true, I just hate to take a hammer to brand new parts to make them fit, lol. I have no idea what the previous owners were doing because the clutch linkage rides on the driver's side exhaust pipe and the steering arm is trying its hardest to rub a hole in the passenger side pipe. It's even stock manifolds and what I assume to be a full "custom" system since there aren't any exhaust hangers at all in the car, just a set of bailing wire holding the tips up, lol. I don't know how you could screw it up like that if you're bending the pipe yourself, but whatever, it'll get changed soon enough =P.
 
Map63Vette said:
Hmm, looks like I might be in the market for a stock V8 K frame then. I'd love to go AlterK, but there's no way I have the money for it. I'm not even convinced the power steering is right anymore. It bolts in fine, but I'm not sure if the brackets are original. It seems like it would just be a nasty fit the way mine sits.
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cant realy tell if the brackets are right on your car,but just want to point out that it looks like you are missing one bolt where the enginemounts mount to the ears on the block, it may not be a big deal but just alitle detail :)
if i where you i would try to measure if the engine is in the right location :)

some badly built and hung up exhaust doesnt surprise me to much some mufflershops dont seem to care and some "homeinstalers" dont know better either.. i have seen alot of exhaust stuff some of it real dangerous and some just stupid.
 
Ah, I see what you mean on the bolt, I'll try to check it out. I tried my best to get a rough estimate on the engine position and it doesn't look too bad, but don't quite think it's stock. it looks maybe 1/2" low and maybe 1/2-1" to the passenger side. Need to see if I can find a better way to measure. I guess I could put a socket on the crank bolt to extend it out for a better reference point than just eyeballing it.
 
To me $500 is huge. I think my annual budget on my buildup is about that. If I held out for a TTi headers and their dual 2 1/2" H-pipe exhaust with mufflers I'd be waiting to drive my Barracuda till after we had a new president! LOL! Instead, $350 later, I'm a happy rumbling driver with my Jegs headers, mufflers, exhaust, and H-pipe, and a couple of weekends work. To me it sounds just like I wanted, not to loud not to quite, I'm very satisfied overall.
 
Although I'd love to put tti's in the Duster, the budget won't allow it, so looking for less expensive alternatives. If I can get them to last for 2 years, I'll be happy and hopefully can then put in tti's and maybe have the 440 ready to go in by then.

Anyone use the Hedman short style, http://www.jegs.com/i/Hedman/500/78500/10002/-1? Not real thrilled with the small tube size, but thinking it might be easier to work around power brakes and power steering on a 318 in a Duster with a /6 K member and Schumacker conversion mounts.

Thanks,
Scott
 
Since I'm lookin for exhaust options, I figured I'd give my 2 cents here. I'm so SICK to death of not being able to get a quality fitting header for a Mopar for a reasonable cost. It's 2010. You'd think by now everything would be available for Mopars that's available for everything else. Hedman makes some great shorty Dakota headers that come SO close to fitting a small block A body, but don't. Wouldn't be much trouble for them to make some that worked. Why should we have to shell out 500 bucks and more for headers that fit and work right when the Phord and Chebby guys can get a great fitting pair for a hundred bucks? It's total BS if you ask me. I'm sorry, but I know TTI and Schumacher make a great product, but SOB, it looks like they could at least TRY to be competitive with their pricing. I don't give a rat's butt what Larry shepard says in the Mopar books, Mopars are just flat out more expensive to build. yeah, they're better when they're done, but crap, I'm gittin tired as hell of being robbed.
 
Colohusker said:
Although I'd love to put tti's in the Duster, the budget won't allow it, so looking for less expensive alternatives. If I can get them to last for 2 years, I'll be happy and hopefully can then put in tti's and maybe have the 440 ready to go in by then.

Anyone use the Hedman short style, http://www.jegs.com/i/Hedman/500/78500/10002/-1? Not real thrilled with the small tube size, but thinking it might be easier to work around power brakes and power steering on a 318 in a Duster with a /6 K member and Schumacker conversion mounts.

Thanks,
Scott
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Those headman's don't work. they dump slap on top of the steering linkage and it's impossible to connect exhaust to them.
 
Map63Vette said:
What headers have people found to work with power steering? I was pretty sure TTI said they would work, but my problem is the wonderful previous owners swapped a 318 for the /6 and made their own mounts to put it in. They're spool mounts at least, but they're attached to a piece of angle iron on one side and square tube on the other welded to the K frame. Don't know if the engine sits in the stock location of not (doubtful). From reading the TTI footnotes on install it seems like they only guarantee fitment with the engine in EXACTLY the right spot. Is this really true or is there really a fair deal of fudge room? I hate to drop that much money on something that may not fit...
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Then mount the engine in right. If it's in the wrong spot it needs to be done anyway.
 
streetdak said:
I think basically you need to always buy according to budget. If you can't afford the expensive stuff, you can damn near always make the less expensive stuff work. If I had an extra 700 i might consider buying TTi's but i don't so I will do my best with headmans and let you know how they fit!
Click to expand...

I kinda disagree. If a product is ADVERTISED to fit, it should FIT. Regardless of price. Anything short is just false advertising. A hundred dollar set of headers to some people are just as expensive as an 800 dollar pair to others. Sometimes you can catch Blackjack headers for the old camaros and Novas on sale for well under 100 bucks and they fit GREAT. Mopars should be no different.
 
StrokerScamp said:
Then mount the engine in right. If it's in the wrong spot it needs to be done anyway.
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I found it's really not actually that bad, maybe a half inch off of so to the side and maybe the same half inch low, but I managed to find a new K member anyway. I was more concerned about the steering box mount since I had no idea what was modified on it. I'll have to pull it out of the car and get a good look, I'm ready for a good chuckle, lol. To continue fitment discussions, what does anyone have to say about what headers work with 4 speed cars and the clutch linkage? I've heard the TTI issue of having to modify the Z bar and that they are now making their own, but do any of the "cheap" brand headers have issues with it?
 
The title of this thread is What Headers Work but the responses have been focused on what headers fit. I would be curious if anyone has any performance info they can post. For me the TTIs were not the greatest on the dyno.

Kory
 
Map63Vette said:
I found it's really not actually that bad, maybe a half inch off of so to the side and maybe the same half inch low, but I managed to find a new K member anyway. I was more concerned about the steering box mount since I had no idea what was modified on it. I'll have to pull it out of the car and get a good look, I'm ready for a good chuckle, lol. To continue fitment discussions, what does anyone have to say about what headers work with 4 speed cars and the clutch linkage? I've heard the TTI issue of having to modify the Z bar and that they are now making their own, but do any of the "cheap" brand headers have issues with it?
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You do realize that unless the engine is sitting in the correct position the entire driveline is probably at incorrect angles, right? I mean, there's more to it than just header fitment or the engine sitting straight. That's what I was gettin at.
 
Ah, I see what you mean. Honestly speaking the whole driveline is a mess anyway since I'm still trying to figure out where it all came from. It's a mid 70's 318 with a 73 4 speed and some year F body 8.25 rear end complete with the F body leaf springs and isolator boxes. The spring perches are too wide and weren't moved in, so the springs sit bowed out and squeak horribly, but slowly I'm getting things straightened out. The car actually drives pretty well for the Frankenstein it is, lol. I plan to put in headers when I put the new K frame in since I should have plenty of room to work with, but I'm not sold on what brand yet since I need to see what fits well with the stock Z bar setup.
 
Is the car we're talkin about your avatar? It's cool. You'll get it squared away.
 
Yup, my new baby, lol. Should have a new set of shoes in the coming weeks. Exhaust is next on the list, but it may have to wait a little longer.
 
If I were you, the engine position would come first. I know...I'm harpin on it, but it affects everything. You run exhaust on that engine sittin sideways and THEN fix the engine you'll probably end up with a leak at the manifold pipe flange.
 
I plan to fix the engine when I do the exhaust swap. I have a stock K frame ready to swap in, just no headers yet. I figure it would be a lot easier to snake headers in with no K frame in the way, just need to figure out what headers I want to run. I was probably going to go with the Summit ceramic ones. $300 for a set of ceramic coated headers is a win in my book (even if they sit low), unless they have major fitment issues with the clutch linkage.
 
Thats the big question "if they fit" . I to im looking for a set of headers to fit a 1974 360 duster with power steering and a 4 speed. im less concerned with price and more concerned with will they work. so if any one knows what will work with this combo, id be glad to hear from you.
 
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