Best fitting headers

[RustyRatRod]

that 4x4 look is higher then stock it seems..

had headman on my yellow dart many years ago.. its was stock height and those damn thing hit everything.. i still cringe at some dips in the road where they used to hit even though this car has manifolds..lol maybe if i had 1" + bars it would have been better... i was running the 340 bars in it at the time.

What tires did you have on it?

 

[abodyjoe]

What tires did you have on it?

don't remember.. hair taller taller then stock 14"
even in the second pick where it obviously sits high it used to smash the hellout of the headmans on it at the time..

 

[RustyRatRod]

don't remember.. hair taller taller then stock 14"
even in the second pick where it obviously sits high it used to smash the hellout of the headmans on it at the time..


View attachment 1716479877
View attachment 1716479876

You musta drove like a drunk Mario Andretti.

 

[dannydart360]

D453's on my '76 360 Duster spool mounts. no ding needed, fit like a glove. I have a Dakota starter, changed it once without removing the header. 20 minute job

Hi, what year Dakota starter?

 

[abodyjoe]

You musta drove like a drunk Mario Andretti.

lol. i don't think so. pretty normal. 99.99999% of small block mopars with that style header in this area were smashed.

 

[stroked340]

I ended up purchasing Dougs D455 for the 74 360 dart sport. Will have starter fit problems? Just trying to be prepared..

If you use a mini-starter you'll have no issues at all...

 

[318willrun]

Hi, what year Dakota starter?

Like a 1994..... for a 5.2

 

[crackedback]

Hi, what year Dakota starter?

When the headers show up, could you take the drivers side out and snap a picture of them?

Might be a pain taping/stapling the box up again. Totally understand a hard no here.

Would like to see the difference in tube placement for stock and Alter-K set ups.

 

[72bluNblu]

I know it's higher than factory. I like that. You like um lower than factory. That's cool too. One's not better than the other. Just different. There's more to this hobby than canyon carvin. I like that stuff too, but I like to just cruise more.

From a "looks" standpoint sure, one is not better than the other, it's just an opinion.

But, from a suspension geometry standpoint, raising the ride height with the factory suspension will absolutely ruin your caster, camber gain, and bump steer numbers. Even factory height is objectively worse for suspension geometry compared to lowered if you're using radial tires (which is why my car is lowered!)

To run that Dart at that height and NOT have terrible suspension geometry would take as much work as I've done to run mine lowered- adjustable UCA's, modified bump stops, etc. and that would still not fix some of the issues. You'd legitimately be better off running it on a truck frame.

When the headers show up, could you take the drivers side out and snap a picture of them?

Might be a pain taping/stapling the box up again. Totally understand a hard no here.

Would like to see the difference in tube placement for stock and Alter-K set ups.

I would bet that it will be hard to tell without them mounted in the car. I would guess that they just run into the space where the torsion bars go, so they can run a little further out from the engine, starter etc and have some less aggressive bends.

 

[RustyRatRod]

From a "looks" standpoint sure, one is not better than the other, it's just an opinion.

But, from a suspension geometry standpoint, raising the ride height with the factory suspension will absolutely ruin your caster, camber gain, and bump steer numbers. Even factory height is objectively worse for suspension geometry compared to lowered if you're using radial tires (which is why my car is lowered!)

To run that Dart at that height and NOT have terrible suspension geometry would take as much work as I've done to run mine lowered- adjustable UCA's, modified bump stops, etc. and that would still not fix some of the issues. You'd legitimately be better off running it on a truck frame.

View attachment 1716479955


I would bet that it will be hard to tell without them mounted in the car. I would guess that they just run into the space where the torsion bars go, so they can run a little further out from the engine, starter etc and have some less aggressive bends.

There are some who like building cars that go in a straight line fast. Your picture up there is just sheer exaggeration. Your way isn't the only way and you will never admit that. What's perfect for you might be the exact opposite for someone else. Me? I'm somewhere in between that Dart I posted and stock. ...and maybe YOU can't align a car like that to drive well, but I can. No, it won't ever auto cross, but it will drive nicely for more than 90% of the people who like their cars sitting that way.

 

[dannydart360]

You do you... not my time or money with the shop.

I've had discussions with management 15+ years ago before petronix bought them out. They never fixed it. Sent the rep pictures of a dozen 73-76 cars with D453's on them. Same wrong fitment on the site/catalog to this day.

Thank you, D455 going back and have D453 on their way. Is a mini starter needed for the install and if so what have you used? Thanks again.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Don't forget, "best fitting headers" is also dependent on how good a wrench you are. If you caint work on a car worth a snot, chances are, it's gonna be a hard install no matter what headers you use.

 

[dannydart360]

Have had many mopars over the years. One of my Demons back in the day.