headers or manifolds for 4 door 318 valiant

[rigrunner]

73 valiant 4door auto, air and power steering with a 318 in it. just ordered a lunati bracket 2 cam wondering if i should keep the stock manifolds of get a set of headers for it. has true duals with old school cherry bombs now. ive also heard headers are a pain to make work thanks for any help. finaly figured out how to post and reply. love this site. my first mopar learning so much

 

[idrift]

You will find argument for both, but I love headers. Plenty will say keep the
manifolds and if you have a good set I would have to agree.

That said, noting beats a nice set of headers (mine took 2 weeks to complete)
and glass packs!

 

[340 8BBL]

we had a 73,4dr,318,valiant for years.was my wifes daily driver.it had a mild cam and 4bbl as well.we live in the stix an got alot of crappy roads so i kept the manifolds on it for ground clearance.the cheap headers are a pain to install,and the drivers side hangs low,it can get crushed very easy.our valiant ran well with manifolds and small duals.if its a daily driver,and the cam is pretty mild,id keep the manifolds.

 

[jasonmrenda]

having recently seen the header install problems for myself, well as long as you have time and patience you can get them done. cant say about performance as i am not knowledgeable enough. from an install point, it took an idiot like me 2 weekends to figure out to read the damn instructions first THEN try to install them. of course got everything buttoned up and the pow steering box had to come out - which meant undoing everything again. good news - i got both headers, pow steer box, mini starter and steering column installed in a little over 3 hours the second time. big difference with some experience and reading the darn manual. dont be intimidated by the install of the headers. i sort of felt like a rite of passage. and if i can do it anyone - literally - can.

 

[stroked 340]

Yes,cheap headers are a pain to install on most cars,if you buy a good quality one ie:tti's or dougs they're easier to install and last a lot longer..performance wise headers out flow manifolds everytime,any car i ever bought first thing i did was rip the stock manifolds out,and replaced them with headers...

 

[1wild&crazyguy]

Headers=flow=power=scavenge=rpm & even gas milage.

The thing that sux about the stock 318 manifolds besides the tiny outlet, is the open manifold part of it that has exh gas pressure pushing on the other ports while one exhausts.jmo

 

[2 Darts]

I had questions about install and durability on headers, too. I found a Dart Sport 360 where a guy taking the engine left the manifolds. The passages are a little larger than the 318s. I had to plug air injection ports on both manifolds to make them work in the Demon. This is a sort middle ground. The 340 exhaust manifolds are better still, but a bit pricey.