Guest zfan Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 Does anyone have full length headers on their ride? I have looked at magazines, catalogs and called around as well and nobody seems to know of any!!! This sucks, I guess im stuck with sanderson block huggers for now. Has anyone tried these build your own header kits? Any brite ideas or am I just screwed. Z/Fan...Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Bayley Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 MSA sells full length headers for a few bucks. The primarys are 1 and 3/4" which might be a touch big for mild street motors, but they work just fine on hotter motors. I run a set of these on a 358ci Chevy and they fit fine in a 74 260Z with the JTR kit. Check the archives, I wrote a nice article about it somewhere. Good Luck -Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fast Frog Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 Zfan: I've been doing the same investigation as you have on headers that fit close to the block and are larger than 1 5/8". To date, Sanderson is one of the very few outfits to have block huggers in 1 3/4" and 1 7/8". Their config and closeness to the block is better than Hedman and Hooker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 http://www.stahlheaders.com/index.html Probably the best headers you can buy. You can also buy header kits from Jere and build your own. ------------------ John Coffey johnc@betamotorsports.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 quote: Originally posted by zfan: This sucks, I guess im stuck with sanderson block huggers for now. Mike, what is it that you don't like about the Sanderson units? I was at a show last week and saw their stuff--looks like top quality IMO--pricey though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted February 15, 2001 Share Posted February 15, 2001 Daveyz, Do not care for block huggers. Prefer full length headers, as for quality, Sanderson headers are great. Mine are very short and are ceramic coated. Also clearance issues pop up. I use to have a old pair of eagle full length headers on it but they rotted out. The steering arm gets in the way of exhaust pipe coming down. thus pinching of pipe takes place. Oh well bitch, bitch, bitch. Ill get over it. Z/Fan...Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C Posted February 16, 2001 Share Posted February 16, 2001 I am running full lenth 1 5/8 Hookers,but I'd like to step up to 1 3/4. How well does your 1 3/4's fit Andrew? How far is your engine set back? John C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 16, 2001 Share Posted February 16, 2001 John, What model Hooker's are you running? Are they for another vehicle or did you have to get them custom made for the Z application? Are you using the JTR kit? Sorry for all of the questions.... Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C Posted February 18, 2001 Share Posted February 18, 2001 Chris, I have the super comp hookers from Summit designed for the 240.They were bought around 6 years ago,so I don't know if they are still available. The small Msd distributor I am using has around 3/4 of an inch clearance from the firewall. Hope this helps. John C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Bayley Posted February 19, 2001 Share Posted February 19, 2001 John, The 1 and 3/4"s fit fine in my Z with the typical JTR 4 inch set back. I never had any problems with steering shaft clearance. The closest the shaft gets to the header is something like 1 and 1/2". The headers themself came directly from Motorsport Auto. I tried to get the sale rep. to lay out the dirt on the the manufacturers part number before I bought them, but they wouldn't cave in. When I finally got the headers, they just came in an "S & S Headers" box with no part numbers . One of these days I am going to find a set of S & S headers for a 23 Ford coup with a SBC and see if they are the same (they gotta be). As for installation... remember these are "full length headers". It took me an entire Saturday to get these on the car. It was a major undertaking. My biggest recommendation is to replace these headers with the engine OUT of the vehicle. I put mine on without removing the engine and it was a major p.i.t.a. One other thing I had to do was hammer out the trans tunnel a little more to make room for a decent sized collector. The one I got with the headers was 2 and 1/4" which is just too small. Good Luck -Andy P.S. John, you're not allowed to go any faster until Scottie or myself finally brake into the tens!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rick Johnson Posted February 19, 2001 Share Posted February 19, 2001 I have S & S full length headers on my 73 240 Z. I just called them, told them what I had, and they shipped me a set of 1 3/4 full length(but relatively short). I believe they are for a 32 Ford with a Chevy engine. After mocking them up in my car, I decided I wanted the collector to angle down slightly. I think we chose a 5 degree down angle over what they would normally use. At the same time I told Loauren at S & S that I would use 2 1/2" pipe and never disconnenct the headers. He suggested that I switch to a 2 1/2" collector because it would give me more room and actually perform better if the exhaust pipes remain connected. I am very pleased with this set up and have no contact issues. It should also be noted that the right side seems to hang down a bit lower than the left. To maximise clearance I got rid of the spacer that JTR recommends between the frame and the engine cross member. This also helps correct the massive driveshaft angularity problem with this conversion (although not completely) [This message has been edited by Rick Johnson (edited February 19, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 23, 2001 Share Posted February 23, 2001 For those interested, the part# for the S&S full length headers for V8 Z cars is 5205H. As Rick stated, they are for a '32 Ford with a SBC. They advised that they will work with the JTR style mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C Posted February 23, 2001 Share Posted February 23, 2001 Andrew, Thanks for the info,but I have one more question. Does your header have a flange at the end of the collector to bolt your exhaust on? P.S. The first race around here is May 5th, which means you and Scottie have a little over 2 months to get into the 10's and then I'm shooting for high 9's.... I hope. John C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Bayley Posted February 23, 2001 Share Posted February 23, 2001 Doh!!! That only leaves me a little more than two months... Let's see now, where did I leave my saw-zall and that 8-71 blower I had laying around Headers: yeah, there is the standard flat flange at the end of the header. The collector opening is 3" and the reducers go down to (ugh...) 2 and a quater inch. I have no problems with the header flange, but the reducers supplied also have a fixed flange. Both flanges were pretty warped from the factory, so I've never been sucessful at sealing them. I even tried the old "double-up" gasket trick and that didn't seem to help any. When I pull the motor out and get the headers coated, I'm gonna try to run the collector flange across a mill once or twice. Also, I'm going to run a ruducer that has the "floating" ring that pinches the reducer up to the collecter. Much better design IMHO. Good luck in whatever you decided to do. I towed the Z(ee) to my new garage last night. Lot more work to do than I remembered. That's what Spring is for... I guess. -Andy P.S. John, when are we going to see pictures of this bad ride of yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rick Johnson Posted February 23, 2001 Share Posted February 23, 2001 One of the tricks to sealing header flanges is to use the thickest flanges you can buy. I deal directly with an exhaust supply outfit and found that flanges come in a variety of thicknesses. Additionally I use a hammer to bend the flange ears back slightly which helps distribute the clamping force inbetween the bolts. Lastly they need to be retorqued after the first 3 or 4 times out. - what a pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C Posted February 25, 2001 Share Posted February 25, 2001 Andrew, I had taken a few digital pics last fall and have them loaded in my computer,but I have no idea on how to post them.I also have videos of my car at the races. John C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Bayley Posted February 26, 2001 Share Posted February 26, 2001 Bend the ears back with a hammer... hmmm, that sounds like it might work. Thanks for the idea, Rick. John, The best place I've found to post various pictures and/or videos is Geocities. It's pretty simple to use. Once you get pictures loaded there, you can post or reference them on this board. Otherwise, I can load them up on my site if you wish. -Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drewz Posted February 26, 2001 Share Posted February 26, 2001 Bending the ears back is good but to go 1 better I have started welding the flage on the header solid so it will not bend back since it is more rigid. This leaves the collector on the exhaust freewheeling to align it all easily still. IMO ------------------ The only stupid question is one you wanted to ask but never did!!! http://ca.photos.yahoo.com/andrewzcars Drewz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C Posted February 28, 2001 Share Posted February 28, 2001 Andrew, Here's 4 pics of my heap at this adress. http://www.geocities.com/triplejanda1999/mellow240.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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