I'm trying to convince my dad that I need headers. Could you guys give him some testimony of your success or failure with them. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

 

With our cars there is only pros on replacing the stock manifolds with headers. Better gas mileage, more horsepower, and better sound are just some of the pros of headers. Anything is better than the manifolds on the car.

 

trans87 is right. there is nothing that a stock manifold can do that a header cant do, and do better to boot. more power, fuel economy improves, lighter weight, usually stainless -no rust. only POSSIBLE downside depends on how much work you like to do some people have trouble putting headers on, others dont. i havent done it myself yet though.
good luck!

 

how come i always see headers that are rusted then?

 

Not all headers are stainless steel. I think slp is the only company that has them. There is a gp going on threw thunder racing atm if you can get the money together u can jump in on it b4 friday.

 

really? i usually see stainless (stainless can turn an amber color from the heat, but its not rust) or coated headers. i see rusty manifolds all the time.
i just assumed most were stainless, aluminized or some other something to prevent rust.

 

If you don't get stainless steel and you're worried about rusting, just get them coated.

 

hey mark will you pay to have my hookers coated? pretty please?

 

cons: probability of burning your spark plug wires, header bolts 'sometimes' come lose which leads to header leaks. this can be corrected with header locking bolts. louder car which sometimes can be annoying to some people and installation.

pros: faster car, better gas milage, appearance, sound

 

Everybody knows the pros of headers.

Amoung the cons:

Reduced spark plug access.

In some cases, the need for special "shorty" plugs.

Increased tendancy to burn spark plug wires.

Increased tendancy to leak.

Expense of replacing manifolds with headers (takes a lot of increased gas mileage miles to break even - like that ever really happens after we discover "power" is directly related to right-foot displacement now).

Reduced life vs. manifolds.

Of course, none of these stop us...

 

Headers dont make the car louder, least they didnt on my car, they just made the tone more precise

 

yes although spark plug clearence is great on my car.

 

Easier to replace the starter. Seriously, that damn thing is HEAVY! So, my dad wedged the tire iron between the starter and the header, which held it in place while I unbolted it, and then the same when I bolted on the new one. The only real drawback for me is the leaks. It was leaking around the block and around the collectors, but after I tightened the headers up, the under-hood leaks mostly stopped. For the collectors, I got a set of aluminum gaskets, which stopped all the leaks in the collectors except for a small on on the drivers side, but that is because the flanges are bent, I think, and don't make a good seal. I'll probably just get another paper gasket from the parts store and add it to the aluminum one.

 

Pros: more power, nicer tone, getting rid of those ugly manifolds, cleaning up the engine bay, you can run bigger exhaust pipe(s) and actually benefit from them, and the list goes on....
If you do them right you won't have any problems with leaks. I used Percy's aluminum header gaskets, Stage 8 locking header bolts, and aluminum collector gaskets. No leaks and I've had them for almost a year. Aluminum gaskets and locking bolts are a necessity to do them right IMO. Burned plug wires can be solved by using wire looms and 90* plugs. One word of warning though, if you get Hooker headers don't get them coated from hooker, buy them through Jet Hot. I made that mistake and they're rusting by the collectors already. One more thing, open headers sound awesome, especially with a big cam!