your opinions on spitfire headers

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V8-valiant

V8-valiant

FABO Gold Member
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ok well i have harolds number and am really close to just giving in and ordering some, but ive heard good and bad. tell me your story, did you like the build of them? do they perform? what clearance issues with a 4 speed? and just your general opinion on them. you guys will either convince me to call or keep looking. thanks

valiant 001.jpg
 
I am having the same struggle. I would like a shorty header simply for the space savings and hopefully the lack of issues to install the damn things. haven't heard of any others to go into a bodies. would love to hear some opinions. have headers now that are beat flat on the bottom. need something better. A little help would be greatly appreciated by all wondering the same thing.
 
Never used his but there have been issues with him,contact,ordering,receiving..for my money tti's are the only way to go,expensive but worth every cent!!
 
I have heard good things about them once you get your hands on them.
 
One of the main reasons why I stopped using them as an option was that the set I have seems to dump right into my z-bar and I'm sure if any exhaust guy could route tubbing tight enough for things to fit.

Now on the other hand, I have seen other cars where it seems like the main collector isn't dumping right into the z-bar and it wasn't a problem. I know Harold had not kept things exactly the same and also my z-bar was modified to fit a 10.5 inch clutch . So as with so many things with the early a-bodies - who knows until you try it out yourself.

Did you have a 10.5 inch or 10inch clutch?
 
I have a '72 Valiant, 360 Magnum/904 car that I play with. I try to keep current by reading a lot of (Mopar) car magazines, and I recently (maybe 2-or 3 months ago) read an extensive article about installing TTI headers on an early ('63-'66) A-Body car. The article went into great detail abourt what was nevessary to get them into the car, and it wasn't easy. TTI had JUST released these new headers. Before that, it was Doug' or nothing...

Way back in '72 I had a set of Hedman fenderwell headers on my '64 Valiant 340-powered V-200 sedan, but they stoped making them ages ago.

I do have a set of TTI headers on my '72 Valiant, and installing them was no "breeze," but not too bad, considering the results. I cannot tell you how impressed I am with the fit of these headers! It's almost like the designer sold his soul to the Devil, the clever way these things snake around all the obstacles, and with the scant room he had to work with, how they still don't have any sharp bends, or places where they had to compromise flow.... they are just fantastic!!! AND, they don't drop down below the steering rods at any point.

Uh... I digress...

Back to the early A-Body TTI's.

I said it was a difficult installation, and it is, in that there's just no wiggle room to put anything anywhere... You MUST remove the steering box, battery, and battery box, idler arm, oil filter, and possibly, re-contour the bottom of the transmission crossmember to get header/collector clearance on the "dual-side."

HOWEVER, once everything is back in place, everything clears, there are no steering issues, and you can rest easy, knowing that you have the best POSSIBLE header system, in place, working, on YOUR CAR!!!

The magazine article couldn't say enough nice things about the way these headers fit, and they look great, but boy howdy, is TTI proud of them!!!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
I don't remember exactly what the price was, but they are not cheap!!!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I am certain of one thing, though: IF I had an "early" A-Body/L-A or Magnum engine (small block) car, and I was going to keep it for any length of time, I would get a second job, or rob a liquor store to get the money for a set of these things, knowing what I know about mine.

It's the best money I ever spent on a car!

I have never heard much good about Spitfire headers, and have only seen one set. The best thing I could say about them was they're cheap. They didn't look to me like they'd out-flow early 340 manifolds, but my opinion is worthless on issues like that. It's just MY OPINION... nothing more.

If I sound like a snob, or like I have money to burn, trust me; nothing could be further from the truth. I am on a "fixed income", and they didn't "fix" it worth a s***!!! I have to watch every penny I spend on my A-Body, but I'm telling you, these TTI's are awesome.. I'd wash dishes to get the money to buy a set before I'd "settle" for a lesser set of tubes... I'm serious.

That is alll I have to say... thanks for listening.
 
On the spitfires - the drivers side was a pain to get fitted on my 66, the headers outlet on mine pointed directly at the torsion bar with little room to spare. We ended up piecing together some pie cut tubing and got the outlet turned away towards the gap between the tranny and the torsion bar. My car is a floor shifted automatic so I dont have alot of the stuff in the way that a manual or column shifted car might. If it was not designed to avoid a z bar or the column linkage then I am not sure why the outlet was aimed that way, they would have fit easier just having specified using the late model mini starter, and then redirecting the outlet in a different manner. Oh well. I have yet to install the passenger side, but I have to believe it will be better. Not so much crap in the way on that side. BTW you do need to yank the column to install the drivers side.

Having said all that - the TTI's sure are pretty, but also expensive and terribly complex to install, you have to rip apart half the front suspension from what I saw. If you have the motor out and wanted to install them then I would say why not !

In my case I already had the shorties when TTI released theirs and my front end was already together. The nice thing about the shorties is you dont have to rip the car apart to get them out if need be. Just the column which isnot so bad to do.
 
We invented some new curse words when installing my Spitfires. Actually, the drivers side went on easier than the passenger side did. The passenger side bolt holes didn't line up.
The dumps pointed right at the torsion bars, and initially, my friend put together a dual exhaust system for the headers, but I had to go get that fixed somewhere else. I ended up with no flanges to disconnect. The headers are welded directly to the exhaust pipes because of the lack of room, and the way the dumps ended up.
If I had to do it all over again, I'd just take the heads and the factory manifolds and have them professionally port matched, polished, coated, or whatever.
If I ever have to pull the engine, I'll have to cut the pipes, and then I probably WON'T put the headers back on.
The basic problem is if you have a 66 or earlier A body there just ain't no damned room for headers. Don't blame the headers. . . for all of the problems.
I might reconsider and go for a set of TTI's when my rich Uncle gets out of the poorhouse.
I don't know anything about the performance increase because I did an engine swap and the Spitfires all at the same time. GOOD LUCK!

Don't remember who said it, but: "If Mopars were easy, everybody would have one."
 
I just pulled out my sawzall and cut the inner fenders and put in my 5ft long Hooker Supercomps. Tight fit, hang low, rub the tires at full turn, but what the hell in my opinion.
 
Hedman still makes fender well headers for early a-bodies. They actually make 4 different versions of this header, 2 with standard LA heads and 2 with W-2. I have a set of the 2" W-2 headers on my '65.


Chuck
 
I have column shift and under the earlt a body section here I have 2 threads stickied ... one was spitfires, which I run and one was hooker semi fenderwells...

i like my spitfires... the passenger side was a breeze and the drivers side needed column shitf mods, but cleared the column shift bar, and thats close to the z bar location by 3 inches... YES it had to make a turn but I had the exhaust shop make it so it became a cutout, for drag racing.

night and day difference to the exhuast manifolfds.. i never ran it at the track but it would have been in the half second range IMO.

you can tti this and that all you want... what the mopar muscle article did was install themin a NON RUNNING CAR.... they didnt deal with all the issues that someone would IF they actually had to run the car... the starter dont fit and you need to buy a specific starter ( 280 bux ) and what happens when that takes a ****? your SOL!
 
I don't understand all of the installation problems people are stated regarding Spitfire headers. I have a 1964 Valiant 4spd, and I installed Spitfires without any problems. In fact, I've installed and removed them a couple of times, and I'm pulling them again in the next couple of days for heat paint. On my car, they drop right into place and bolt up, without disconnecting or cutting anything. The only thing I do agree with is, the outlets point towards the torsion bars. I bought a box of various 2 1/4" pipe bend pieces off ebay and intend to route exhaust around torsion bars, after flanging ends of headers, so all exhaust pieces are removable and reinstallable in the future, if necessary.
I also find it very, very hard to beleive that any stock exhaust manifold could flow as well as these headers. Although I don't have any test results, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the improvements these headers offer over stocktype exhaust manifolds.
By the way, I removed fenderwell headers from my car, and installed the Spitfire headers. I just didn't like the exhaust running through the front tire area.
Last, but not least, it took a considerable amount of time to receive these headers from Harold. It seems that delivery dates kept coming and going, without me receiving them. They finally arived, a few months after original delivery date.
All in all, in my opinion, I would recommend these headers to anyone on a budget trying to attain an increase in performance over stock type exhaust manifolds, but be advised, you will need to do some pipe fabrication to get them connected to your exhaust system. If you have the money though, and are looking for the best available at this time, it would be hard to beat the TTIs for fit and most likely, performance. Mike
 
I didn't have any trouble getting my Spitfires. Harold shipped them right out.

IF I HAD MY OWN SHOP, it would have made life easier when installing the headers, and the exhaust connections.

RallyeWheelsandengine001.jpg
 
Glow Worm, that's a gorgeous engine compartment. I remember when mine looked that good. That was a long time ago!

Anyway, I don't have any personal experience with Spitfires, but I think I may go with a set. I've gone back and forth between wanting Spitfires, Doug's and TTI's. After hearing of the troubles some guys are having with TTI's, plus the fact that you have to disassemble the front suspension, I think I'll pass. I may buy their 2.5" Xpipe exhaust, though. I'm still debating between Doug's and Spitfires, but leaning toward the Spitfires since they're cheaper, plus I have a friend who has a fabrication shop, so any custom exhaust work is doable.
 
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