Right now, my engine is a stock LG4. I have however gutted the cat and put on a flowmaster 80 series muffler and have installed a K&N filter into the stock air cleaner. This summer, I plan to rebuild the top half of the motor. I am going with the Comp Cams XE256, and a set of rebuilt heads with 58cc combustion chambers and 1.94/1.50 valves. The carb, intake, and distributor will all be stock. I am not familiar at all with the shorty style headers. I was thinking about going with Edelbrocks, if I get any at all. I am wondering how much power these will actually get me. Is it really worth the $330.00. Also, I believe somebody said either Hooker or Hedman has shorty headers without the air tubes that are a little cheaper. I would rather not go this route, but if I were to remove all of my smog equipment and go with these headers, would the computer controlled Q-jet still run right, and would there be any other problems? There is no emissions testing at all where I live.

 

They help quite a bit, typically 10-20%. With the cam and head work you're doing, the benefits are even greater. But, you also want to do something about the cat (if you keep it) and intermediate pipe. 3" all the way to the muffler inlet is the best bet.

Hedman makes the least expensive shorties with a y-pipe that fits. Removing the A.I.R. won't bother the computer at all. You will need to do some tuning on the carb, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Other than the 1.94" intake valve, what else are you doing to the heads? A good bowl clean up, port matching, and port & chamber polishing really helps performance. You should also use better springs, follow Comps recommendations there. Screw-in rocker studs are a nice touch when you've got the heads apart anyway.

Have you done anything about the air cleaner? That stock single-snorkel is a real performance killer.

Where in Nebraska? I grew up in Arapahoe, went to UNL after a stint in the Army, graduated in '85. Have brothers in Omaha & Lincoln, mom lives in Holdrege. I ran a V6 Vega at Scribner while I was going to school, Kearney just once (Scribner much nicer back then, at least).

 

I am planning on putting 0.5" lift springs in the heads. I was trying to think of something to do with the air cleaner. I don't really want to make my own dual snorkel, because I'm not sure that it will look as nice as I'd like it to, and I can't find one anywhere in a junkyard. How well do open element ones work in our cars? I've heard that and open element air cleaner on a Q-jet is a bad idea, and that in our cars you just end up sucking in a lot of hot air anyway. If I do decide to go with the Hedman's without AIR, is it the mixture on the carb that needs tuning, or what? I'll still have the O2 sensor, so what is different? I'm not very good at tuning those Q-jets, but if it's just the case of turning the mixture screw, I think I can handle that. I know this isn't the carb board, but doesn't the computer control the mixture somewhat anyway? Also, what is the part # for the Hedman's, and do they come coated?

 

those are the headers i have and i like them. they are not coated though and the part number is 500-68470 for the shorties. they are good cheap headers and i would recomend them for someone on a budget.

P.S. they are only $100 for the headers and $100 for the y-pipe.

 

86maro305, how long have you had those headers? How well are they holding up? I will have the whole top half of the motor ripped apart, so I think they should go in reasonably well, but did you have to modify the A/C bracket, or did the headers come with a spacer and longer bolt? Did they install easily otherwise? Is there an O2 sensor fitting? Sorry for all of the questions--I just want to make an intelligent decision when I decide what to order.