1 3/4" headers

yellow rose said

If you have manual steering you can use the Hooker 5204. It will make more power. Unless you have spent a bunch of time doing the porting and getting the cam timing for the stepped header it won't make as much power as a straight header. I've seen it too many times.

We won't even get into merge collectors or collectors with the pinch in them.

Click to expand...

It depends. If everything is optimized for bigger tubes they always loose power.

A few years ago I have several phone calls of a hour or so each with Calvin Elston. It was worth it. He confirmed what I had been finding, even though we didn't always agree on how I got there.

Essentially, his philosophy is (and don't quote me...it's better to call him yourself so he can explain it to you) that the exhaust port is too big. So is the exhaust valve. On that we agree. We also agree that most primary tubes are way too long and most guys make up for that with bigger tubes. Where we disagree is that 85% of the guys out there can't afford to do a set of custom headers, plus all the R&D it takes to make a stepped header, or even more work to make a 4-2-1 header with merge collectors work.

To make that work, you have to start at the carb and work to the collector. That means an entirely different intake lobe on the cam, different exhaust lobe, corrected exhaust port. It's a bunch of money.