Headers help!

A bones said:
Bored&Stroked, Thanks, nice pics, good work. I will take your advice.:)
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No problem - I've learned to take the time, have patience and get the exhaust system setup correctly (you'll be glad you did). When I was young, I was always in such a hurry to start the damn motor, that I didn't even worry about it - until I was at the muffler shop and saw the ugly work or had to take the exhaust system back off.

Also - before you buy a set of headers, ask the supplier/manufacturer if they cut the exhaust openings to match the welded on down pipes for the center and rear ports (where the two pipes meet). The first set of headers I bought (from Drake), had ugly oxy-accet burned holes - a little bigger than a damn quarter (imagine the flow restriction). Cheap headers can "look good" on the outside - but be poorly fabricated on the inside.

This is the reason I worked with Dave Havlir to make a custom set - with good 'duck bill' transitions, TIG welded and with correct holes/openings on the down tubes. These headers were NOT cheap - and I put a lot of work into them once I received them . . . but they are worth it to me.
 
My Reds headers showed up today! Figured I’d install the passenger side first since it has a lot more room. Ran into an issue already and want to see if this was normal for you guys.

Header is hitting the starter.
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I know I can just smack it a few times with a hammer but it looks like it would need a lot so it doesn’t touch the starter itself.

Kind of crappy spending a few hundred dollars and have to smack it with a hammer to make it fit.

Is this normal?
 
If you have welding capability, cut a curved section in the header pipe and weld in a plate. Even on modern cars headers are a tight fit and often require minor modifications. I use the hammer method as well, but it can change the alignment of the flanges.
 
JSeery said:
If you have welding capability, cut a curved section in the header pipe and weld in a plate. Even on modern cars headers are a tight fit and often require minor modifications. I use the hammer method as well, but it can change the alignment of the flanges.
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Thank you! It won’t hurt anything air flow wise by doing that? Could I just use a torch and heat it up and push it in with a pipe going parallel with the starter?
 
Solo_909 said:
I thought that may be the reason! My car has been converted to a 12v so I take it that’s a 12v starter?
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That is a 12V mini starter. It sticks-up probably 3-4" higher than the stock Ford 6V starter, which by the way, can be run almost forever on 12V with no modifications, AND......no hammer mods to run those NICE headers! You can make it work! Good luck!! DD
 
V8COOPMAN said:
That is a 12V mini starter. It sticks-up probably 3-4" higher than the stock Ford 6V starter, which by the way, can be run almost forever on 12V with no modifications, AND......no hammer mods to run those NICE headers! You can make it work! Good luck!! DD
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Nice to hear!! I’ll have to look into maybe buying a stock starter.
 
I'd put a stock style starter in it - and you can buy them new in both 6 and 12 volt. I really don't like running stock 6V starters on 12V - can really slam the bendix drive into the flywheel and break bendix springs. Another method is to just take a stock 6V starter to a good starter shop (if you can find one) and have them convert it over to 12V - an easy job and they should know which field coils to put into it.

Don't beat on those nice new headers . . . put the right starter in it!

B&S
 
Headers on even a big cubic inch engine can be restricted over a short distance with no flow issues. On a flathead, it doesn't move enough air to be an issues at all. Some dyno data show very little to no improvement with headers over the stock exhaust manifolds.
 
Again just remember even with a stock starter motor they come very close to the starter motor lead bolt / attachment .
 
JSeery said:
Headers on even a big cubic inch engine can be restricted over a short distance with no flow issues. On a flathead, it doesn't move enough air to be an issues at all. Some dyno data show very little to no improvement with headers over the stock exhaust manifolds.
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Good to hear I was researching new starters and didn’t feel like spending a couple hundred more vs smacking the thing with a hammer.

I only bought headers because the manifold and exhaust was so old it was leaking and the cross exhaust bar was hitting the dropped axle. I just upgraded to solve the leaks and to have it sound better.
 
If you do use a hammer on it, I highly recommend heating the pipe until a dull cherry read and then use another larger diameter pipe as a mandrel to hit with a hammer. You'll get a much nicer indentation by NOT just hitting the pipe with a hammer. You can work the metal a bit in the above method - keeping things looking as smooth as possible.
 
Also a good idea to have the flanges bolted to something as they tend to move when you work on the tubing.
 
JSeery said:
Also a good idea to have the flanges bolted to something as they tend to move when you work on the tubing.
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That’s why you keep an old spare cracked block lying around! Makes an excellent tool for those kind of mods!
 
So I spoke with Reds today, they make the same header but with a bend in the one pipe for larger starters. He’s sending one out to me so I don’t have to beat on it with a hammer. Super cool guys over there!!
 
JSeery said:
Headers on even a big cubic inch engine can be restricted over a short distance with no flow issues. On a flathead, it doesn't move enough air to be an issues at all. Some dyno data show very little to no improvement with headers over the stock exhaust manifolds.
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I was not going to respond to this thread because it is generally futile to change a persons mind if he is set on having headers on his car.
The above quote proves what I have said for years, there is no value to headers on a vehicle that is driven on the street. As a general rule headers do not start to do their job until the RPM's get above 3,k...
 
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