are the two the same thing? are their any fitment issues involved in installing either? i.e. ground clearance, removal of part of compressor bracket?

 

Full length = long tubes....The primary tubes run farther before they get to the collector. For an extreme example, here's a C5 Z06 with long tubes.



Equal length = each primary tube is the same length. Can be any length of header as long as they're the same length.

 

^True. Go with the long tube more Torque.

 

You guys aren't answering the question.

No, they are not the same thing. Long tube (full length) headers are like the ones the guys mentioned above. Equal length headers can be shorty headers. It means that ALL of the tubes for EACH cylinder are the exact same length. This set is for a six-banger ... but you get the idea.



Notice how all the tubes are the same length and just bent to fit to the cylinder?

They say that equal-length headers will allow about 2-3 more horsepower than non-equal-length headers on a 305. But I hear it's a bear to get to the spark plugs.

 

Full length just talks about length, equal-length is, as has been mentioned, something that means each cylinder's primary is the same length. This is a big deal for race cars, but you wont see any for our cars, at least none that I'm aware of. The sbc firing order makes them a bit useless anyway actually. You'd have to get a goofy set that wrapped over one cylinder from each bank to the other side to see any real performance increase. These racing V8's are generally single-plane so all the pistons fire much more evenly.

Here's a set for a F1 V8.

 

In our case, because of the limited space to work in, Equal length headers are very uncommon and can usually only be accomplished by running small primary tubing, which looses you far more power than the equal lengths would win back.

TA

 

thanks for your time and knowledge.


eric