NO, just looked at the site, don't buy those. If you're going for looks ok, but they aren't shortys or full ones. They aren't performance headers - you would be better off buying stock ones and heat painting them. You also might spend more money having them welded or your pipes lengthened/etc. You might even have clearance issues with those, they look pretty thick. Spend the extra hundred bucks and get some good ones.
ebay headers-any good??? coated or stainless
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as far as being mid lemgth headers, my shop said there would be no difference in cost. as far as spending the money on more expensive ones, i have been hearing many complaints online about higher end headers, cracks and coating issues, especially on headmans for some reason. cost is a big issue, big gain in performance not a huge must but they are 1 5/8", have to be doing some good, and looks, defenatly going for looks, i already have painted shorties headers and they look horible. whats to say that the name brand ones are any better then these ones? these sya they are made in their shop in america if i remember reading it right, where are the others made? in my experiances small shops usually produce the best stuff...... :?
I'm sure they're good quality, but that doesn't cut it when you buy headers to increase performance by more efficient exhaust flow and pull heat away from the engine. They aren't increasing performance, see the side pic where the tubes are not even close to the same length? (they also have an abrupt wider diameter from the exit which isn't good for vacuum) This increases backpressure in the engine. You'll be robbed of all low end torque, they'll pick up at higher RPMs sure. The stainless ones aren't going to cool off the engine...but they look cool yes.
Edit: Remember headers don't increase the power output of the engine, they free up existing horsepower. If the header is inefficient, it not only shows little power increase but could very well hurt your engine instead of helping.
Edit: Remember headers don't increase the power output of the engine, they free up existing horsepower. If the header is inefficient, it not only shows little power increase but could very well hurt your engine instead of helping.
my flowtech headers i have right now which are a shorty style header does not have equal length tubes. how would i loose anything? i guess the headers to me are a way to have a good looking exhaust, i am not a speed freak, well not entirely. i guess i dont see how a header with larger primarys are going to hurt my performance??
look at it this way; take a large tube and blow through it, feel how fast the air comes out. now try it with a small tube. the faster flow of the small tube also creates a suction effect in the same tube and in the others. this helps evacuate the exhaust from the other cylinders. obviously on a full race engine at 9000rpm there is no time for scavenging to take effect, so they use very large tubes and a short exhaust.
i forget all the differences between the styles of exhaust, but i believe that equal length headers work fully at a relatively narrow rpm band, while unequal length headers work over a broader range. tri-y's are supposed to be the best at scavenging at multiple ranges.
even though you're not a speed freak you will enjoy the benefits of properly sized primaries and collectors, whatever exhaust you choose.
if those headers fit good , go for them!
either stainless or ceramic coat : your choice.
at that price , with those flanges , id buy them if i dint have any....
all that crap about equal length etc...is for full performance engines .unless you are looking for total power get these...
you will still gain power & looks with these ....
take my word for it: if they fit right , go! you wont regret it!
I have race olds cars for 30 years ..had some VERY expensive headers that gave me 7 hp more then cheap ones ......not worth it!
Dan
either stainless or ceramic coat : your choice.
at that price , with those flanges , id buy them if i dint have any....
all that crap about equal length etc...is for full performance engines .unless you are looking for total power get these...
you will still gain power & looks with these ....
take my word for it: if they fit right , go! you wont regret it!
I have race olds cars for 30 years ..had some VERY expensive headers that gave me 7 hp more then cheap ones ......not worth it!
Dan
megaladon6 said:
ok so you are saying that the 1 5/8" primary and 3" collector is bad?!?! i do not agree with that at all, that is pretty much what most people run except some with 1 1/2" right?? equal length makes little sense to me for the average person building a mild motor, look at a stock manifold, they all flow into a common chambor and then are restricted through a 2" opening..... as far as stainless being no good, i can not believe that from the research i have done, it seems that the cost is what keeps people away from them. most of the top end companies producing headers for top end cars are all using stainless....
here is another option, i replace my existing flowtech shorties with these, still not equal length headers, 1 1/2" primaries, 2 1/2" collectors so i am decreasing flow as far as size goes. not to mention thowing down close to a extra 100 bucks after shipping.
these here are damn near exactly what is on ebay but not coated or in stainless...
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
tag on more then 150 bucks and get these, they are similar design
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
560 bucks and similar design
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
what ever way i go i am not thinking i will end up with full length headers anyways. i really liked the routing of the shorty headers and i like the idea behind mid length headers. as long as i am not loosing any power i am not going to be unhappy. like the last posting said, for the money to maybe get 7 horse, its not worth it to me. i would rather take the extra 150+ and put it into my efi setup. my only worry on these headers are quality, i dont want them to fall apart or something and looking at just the flanges i am thinking that there is a good chance that they are of a decent quality. i have seen people with cracks and pinholes in several sets of top end headers so i guess it can happen to any of them. i hope that i have not gotten anyone mad in this debate, that is not my intentions, i am just a guy trying to build a car on a budget but that also means i dont want a product that is going to fail me in the future.
it depends on the engine. if it's a stock 305, then yeah! that won't flow enough, therefore exhaust velocity goes down and scavenging goes down. that leaves exhaust in the chambers, decreasing power. like with cams, carbs, and so many other things, bigger is not always better. my engine could easily run 1 3/4 primaries, but since i'm not going for top end power i decided (based on some recomendations and research) that 1 5/8 semi tri-y's would work best. (flowtech afterburners--but i did get them ceramic coated)
the car mags (hot rod, CHP, car craft)have done a few stories on header and exhaust sizing. they're worth looking up.
i'd say that if you already have headers, stick with them. there's no point in spending more money.
i should have mentioned my engine. its a 350 with a gm performance crank, stock forged rods, hypereutectic pistons, vortec heads, holley stealth ram efi ran off of a tpi computer and harness(MAF), i have not gotten my cam yet but i am going to go as big as i can without touching the heads and then a bunch of other performance parts.... i think the 1 5/8" primaries and 3" collectors should be alright? i think i may give these a try, too bad i cant try them untill the car is back together which could be some time..... keep the input coming!
http://images.superchevy.com/technical/engines_drivetrain/exhaust/0505phr_exh_04_z.jpg
exhaust port flow on a vortec, limited to a stock spring lift of .400, would put you at only 1 3/8 primaries. of course with a longer duration cam and higher compressio that might change. of course i wouldn't recommend that small a primary anyway. but a 1 1/2-1 5/8 would work quite well for a street car. i'd probably go with the 1 1/2 and a 2 1/2 collector then a 2 1/4 exhaust.
the full article: http://www.superchevy.com/technical/engines_drivetrain/exhaust/0505phr_exh/index.html
exhaust port flow on a vortec, limited to a stock spring lift of .400, would put you at only 1 3/8 primaries. of course with a longer duration cam and higher compressio that might change. of course i wouldn't recommend that small a primary anyway. but a 1 1/2-1 5/8 would work quite well for a street car. i'd probably go with the 1 1/2 and a 2 1/2 collector then a 2 1/4 exhaust.
the full article: http://www.superchevy.com/technical/engines_drivetrain/exhaust/0505phr_exh/index.html
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