Hey my 74 Maverick Grabber is getting the correct head gaskets put on. The exhaust is a year old with flowmasters. I want to add headers while the heads are off. I see cheap ones I see expensive ones. The car is a summer driver and other than a 4 bbl carb is stock. Recommendations?
Hooker 6901 seems to be the best go to header as far as fitment and price some people have had issues with the pitman arm hitting them on extreme right turn. I have always used the ceramic coated one but they cost quite a bit more I keep an eye on ebay and have been lucky enough to get 2 sets of them for $200.00 each
I have a stock location exhaust because of well stock manifolds. So I would assume they are block hugger headers and shortys that you bought? This isn't a show car (yet) just my fun driver so chrome ones don't bother me even if they discolor. Do I need to loosen the motor mounts to get them in or are they drop in? I remember some headers you have to roll the engine around and aren't exactly drop in. Case in point Craig Selvy's red Maverick. Years ago I bought a hood off of him and drove to him to pick it up and he was fighting his engine trying to get the headers on and rolling the motor a bit (if my memory is correct, this was 15 years ago).
I have Hedman shorties, they went in w/o doing anything but swinging away the idler arm. I may have been able to get em in w/o moving the idler if not for the AC and heater hoses. May even been able to get em in from the top if not for the hoses. I do have issue w/ hitting pit arm on hard left turn, even using 2in. collector, they came w' 2.5in collector. Also, if you have PS you will need drop bracket w/ long tubes.
My car has A/C, PS, and front Disc manual brakes. If I do shortys, what problems will I have? My exhaust is the stock diameter (plain manifolds on car 2.5 at collector or 2.0 on mine stock?)
No matter what you buy you are going to have to have some exhaust work done because none will mate up to the stock exhaust. You will need the drop bracket for you steering as mojo stated. It sounds like for what you want a shorty header would be a better choice as long tube headers do create some ground clearance issues. If you are not going to bother with getting dual exhaust on the car then you would be better off just getting a better sounding muffler
The car already has dual exhaust and flowmasters. The exhaust from the manifolds to the tips is a little over a year old. So I will need a drop bracket for shorty headers? Okay, what about Pit arm clearance, is there a header that addresses that or just modify one I get to work? I'm still a bit confused. There seems to not be a clear drop in no problems header. So I get the drop bracket and then? or just call it a day with the stock manifolds.....
Here are pictures of my Hooker 6901 headers from below. I don't have P/S or A/C. The fit is tighter with the new aluminum headed 347 than it was with stock heads. The driver's side header contacts the pitman arm but it is generally not a problem. Bruce
Is that a problem with shorty tube headers with dual exhaust and stock manifold bolt up locations? I was just thinking about replacing my manifolds with shortys. I didn't realize this could get this involved just for headers.
I run Hooker 6901s and was fortunate enough to have minimal installation issues. Installation is from the bottom for both headers with the car well off the ground. I did not have to lift my engine off either mount to install these headers. My engine is modified and I race my Comet from time-to-time, that is why I chose long tube headers. With your application and intended use, my recommendation is to keep your stock manifolds or go with the shorty headers. Either way your stock engine's performance will remain the same. The only difference with the headers will be the look and possibly some additional exhaust noise.
Mostly sound but so it will breathe a bit better. I have thermactor exhaust manifolds with some sort of California compliance on the end. Its part of the manifold, never seen one quite like it. Grandfather found it in AZ but came from cali. First thing i did was rip the emissions off of it and replaced the heads years ago
In spite of what's been said, with headers and a clean exhaust system, a engine will usually pickup between 10-15 Hp. To net the full improvement, carb may require re-jetting. In theory with headers, if engine is now running lean it could loose a little HP. Also if there is a clearance issue, dent headers as necessary. As a test in episode four of Engine Masters, they progressively beat every tube on a set of Hooker pro comps till approx half closed, lost maybe a HP at 6000 rpms. This was on a 400 cu in, 560 hp small block Chevy. A dent or two on the headers of a stockish 302 is NOT going to be noticeable.
I would say 10 HP is very achievable on this car simply for the fact that emissions contraption won't be on there anymore. I can find stainless 304 shorty block hugger headers that aren't big name brand, just don't know if I should trust them.
I don't believe u will need drop bracket w/ shorty headers! Shorties fit closer to the underbody. Shorties are easier for a one person install and that's all you need on stock motor. I didn't have any issue w/ the long tube interference w/ pit arm. I prefer Hedmans as they don't require any gaskets -- this has been my experience.
