headers or not to headers

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HP 340 Manifolds to a 2 1/2 exhaust sys. is the hot ticket.Have them Jet hot coated and never have the issues I have had.I have TTIs and and will never buy them again.They still dont fit on the rt steering tie rod and the drivers side frame rail.Also the manual steering is barely cleared.The 340 engine is on stock mounts and installed correctly. headers are not worth it........They now make aftermarket HP manifolds,but they are kinda spendy

Yes and DON'T bother spending big $$$$ on the HP 340 manifolds either. In that same Mopar Muscle Exhaust blow out article on a 300 HP crate 360 the "vaunted(loosely used term)" 340 HP manifolds outperformed 318 log manifolds by 4 HO and 6 torque and only outperformed 360 manifolds(which are WAYYYYYYYY cheaper than 340 hi-po's) by 1 hp and 2 torque...so unless you already have a set of the Hi PO's id just go with the cheaper ones...i mean HUNDERDS of extra dollars for 1-2 HP? Oh and on top of that they tested(in a different article) a extrude honed set which is about as good as it gets for porting them(manifolds) and gained another whopping 1-2 HP.....:(
 
IIRC, you can bolt in a set of rear dump cheapie Magnum manifolds from a Jeep Cherokee or Dakota I think. It was a while ago I read that article. They flow very well, much better than the 318 log styles, and will clear the sterring shaft with a minor grinding IIRC. I always liked the el cheapo Hedmans/DynoMax/whoever they are this week. You need to upgrade the hardware to 1/4" longer bolts to kep the coolant from leaking by, and I use a large flat file to make sure the flanges are flat. You do loose ground clearance, but even in CT, I really had to hit something large to flatten them more than 1/4" per tube.
 
Yes, the 92-93 magnum manifolds are a very good flowing stock manifold. They are supposedly to have slightly larger runners than the newer manifolds. I'll see if I can find an article on this.
 
so if I understand all of this well, I would be better keeping my stock manifold on my 318, then going through the install of cheap headers.
It's a stock 72 318, will be 4 bbl and dual 2.5" exhaust pipe ... and that is it.

Will the Durango/Dakota manifold fit and improve something, in a 72 a-body with p/s and p/b?
 
I havent swapped them, and that article is about the early As...I do think they will clear P/S on the "typical" '67-'76 As, and I'm sure they'll clear P/B, but you may need to remove the master/booster to get at the bolts easily.
MoparFan, I wouldnt change a thing with your combo at this point.
 
My Pop told me this one time, " Jeff, when anyone says anything about headers! Run as far as you can " As for me im putting a set of Hooker Super Comps on my 65 cuda! -jeff
 
I'm running the Hooker Super Comps on my 72 Duster. The fenderwell exit type to keep this 440 in the bay. I'm pulling the headers to get them Jet-hot coated. They're not really that difficult to pull in and out. The only difficulty I have with them is checking/changing the spark plugs. I also need to relocate my master cylinder as it sits a little close for comfort to the header.

Greg
 
If you want to go the fastest then use a good header. Sorry guys but I like performance and I would not waste my time running stock manifolds unless I had to. These are CPPA (same as TTI) headers on the 400 in my boys Dart. Been on the car since 1997 (9 years) with zero problems. We love them and they work great on his A-body. Ron

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Yep, there's no substitute for headers. That comparo test only shows the results for X, not Y and Z. Headers give you the "potential" to flow much bigger numbers when the heads are up to it.
 
Ace said:
Yep, there's no substitute for headers. That comparo test only shows the results for X, not Y and Z. Headers give you the "potential" to flow much bigger numbers when the heads are up to it.
Click to expand...
This is a very good point. If they would have done the test on one of their new 415 horse crate engines the results would have been MUCH greater.
 
I have read in the Mopar Performance speed secrets book that the best combo of exhaust manifolds is the passenger side 68-70 and the late model magnum drivers side. The magnum drivers side manifold flows better than the 68-70 one and the pass side 68-70 flows the best. Its a combo that Mopar Performance recommends.
 
Unless it is for all out racing,I would stay with stock manifolds.I have a 69 dart that has headers on it and when I pull the engine and trans to detail everything stock manifolds are going back on.
 
Pain in the arse to install, that I agree with, also if it is a daily or year round driver there are other concerns, uncoated headers rust out quickly, if your running an open element air cleaner with out a fresh air hood scoop or somthing of thats sorts your tune will be a pain because the engine will "breathe" hot engine compartment air once it is hot, there could be/may be heat soak issues with the starter, power steering, brake master cylinder. I have heddman headers on my 360 in my dart with power steering, and honestly haven't had any problems with sealing or leaks, plugs are slightly more difficult than manifolds and I don't have problems changing oil or starters and have not had any issues with them hanging low enough to hit the ground, but I also don't believe in having my car stance so low that I am dragging my a$$ cheeks on the ground. I like them, and for my summer only car they give me that little extra oomph that I like. Just my .02
 
I just finished putting a set of TTIs on my son's 70 Dart 340. They were a huge pain to install. Pulling the steering and unbolting both motor mounts wasn't a big deal, but physically getting them into the car was a pain. My son's car does have power steering and brakes, this made it harder I'm sure. Spark plug and valve cover clearance is much improved over the 340 manifolds. I installed a remote oil filter, because it was a pain to remove in the first place. I wish I had put a mini starter in at the same time. We changed out the 340 manifolds because the were cracked and leaked bad. The TTIs are very good quality and do have more ground clearance than the cheaper headers. For a street car I would go with new stock manifolds. For a race car I think I would use fenderwells.
 
dgc333 said:
I have Hedman headers in my a-body 68 Barracuda. There are some compromises to be made; less ground clearance, more noise shorter life expectancy. But, though more involved than manifolds they were not hard to install. Dropping the center link is a non issue in my book, takes 5 minutes as is jacking the engine some for more clearance. Factoring in that I have had one starter failure in all most a million accumulated miles of driving over the past 25 years worrying about how hard it is to change a starter is not a consideration. The only spark plug wire issues are cylinders 5 and 7 and that is easily corrected with a couple of wires with 90 degree boots that are attached from below.

I probally wouldn't choose headers for a year round daily driver but for a weekend toy I wouldn't not have them.
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Well I had my second starter failure in 25 years! It was a full size starter and I was able to remove it by disconnecting the inner tie rod end from the center link and cranking the wheel all the way to the left to pull the center link out of the way. I did replace it with one of the small starters from a later model truck, which I believe you could do without disconnecting the tie rod end. All in all less than a hour total time. It was actually an easier job compared to the only other starter I have had to replace in the past 25 years and that was my 89 Dakota pickup which was a royal pain in the butt.

So what I am saying is you can R&R a full size starter from a small block A-body with Hedman headers without touching the headers.
 
A very fine and relevant thread in deed..

I have a Dart with PB and PS, and got some secondhand headers cheapo of e-bay. Don't know what brand they were, but probably some relatively inexpensive ones..

And the whole installation was a right nightmare!!

In terms of fit, it wasn't all bad. Had to wack in a couple of dents here ands there to make them clear, one dent to clear the PS and one to clear the right torsion bar.

The real pain was actually getting the darn things in place. Even with the engine jacked up as far as it would go, I still had to add some dents to squeeze past the PS, and that was only just..

Having said that, the gains in performance and the sound was worth it, but next time i install a set of headers, it wil, be with the engine out!

If I had gone through the trouble of removing the engine, fitting and adjusting the headers would probably have been a rather simple job.

Bu that's the way it is with every thing isn't it? If you prepare a job properly with no short cut's it allways works out easiest!

And from a combustion engine theory point of view, Headers make all the sense in the world. A log style mainfold is a right turkey if you have anything other than a stock cam with allmost zero overlap!
 
headers suck in an a-body. they suck in a 4x4 truck. they suck to put on, they leak, headers make tune ups tortuous. i've had headers in a-bodies, b-bodies and trucks. big blocks and small blocks. never again. i always got them to seal up and work, but never the first time out of the box.

i am going to run magnum exhaust manifolds on my 65 barracuda. this will be the 3rd engine i have built since swearing off headers, and each one has made the memory of past headers installs become more glaringly horrific in comparison. i'll never go back!

of course, i am running street cars, not race cars. i like to drive not scrape knuckle skin trying to shoehorn headers in there! and the price tag for an early A also keeps me away.

sb
 
Gettin ready to order a set of Mad Dog Headers....They are going on a 383 68 Dart..I spent a little time on the phone with Mark earlier and he said that approx. 30-40 minute install should be about right.
We shall see...

Rick and Rickey Jr.
 
69Dart said:
Gettin ready to order a set of Mad Dog Headers....They are going on a 383 68 Dart..I spent a little time on the phone with Mark earlier and he said that approx. 30-40 minute install should be about right.
We shall see...

Rick and Rickey Jr.
Click to expand...

I find it hard to believe that headers could be installed on ANYTHING in 30 to 40 minutes. Even on my Harley.
 
[QUOTE='64 Cuda]I find it hard to believe that headers could be installed on ANYTHING in 30 to 40 minutes. Even on my Harley.[/QUOTE]


i think dose maddog headers are multi piece headers and they may actualy be possible to install just that quick if you just put the pipes in in the right order since they may slip in without losening the motor;)
 
I have seen headers as well as manifolds leak/burn gaskets. On my friend's 71 challenger 440, which I babysit, the original magnum manifolds make it difficult to access spark plugs and they constantly burn pipe and flange gaskets. I am begging him to pop for the tti headers for his application. On my 66 Dart with a 360, Doug's headers have been great with minor problems fitting them and so far no leaks. You can have problems with both and on some cars like early a bodies, manifolds are hard to find.
 
Well I am going to give my 2 cents!

In three years I went through 3 sets of "cheapy" headers because they hung too low! I mean you never know in unfamillier cities where there is a dip or unknown curb at night (Vegas Freemont street) that wasn't there a year ago!
Since then I put on TTI's and the install wasn't that bad! removing center link, mini starter, torsion bar and jacking up the engine is not really a big deal to me. but once I got all those removed out of the way the left side just slipped in! I was thinking there was someting that was going to hold them up there while I got the bolts like on all the "other" type of headers but next thing I know the damn things fell out! I have yet to have any problems with my TTI's as far as driveability goes. So all in all I would spend the money for the TTI's and never have to hassle with them again!!
 
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