Hot Rod Forum banner

Which headers look best?

5K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  AutoGear 
#1 ·
I am torn between two different style headers...

From the beginning I have been set on the headers that come out and
immediately upward at an angle. I love the look.

I have recently been thinking about the lake style headers as well.

Are there any beneficial differences between the two?

Would one be louder than the other?

It seems like the lake style would blow fumes right at your window area...

What does everyone like most and what are any differences?

Pics attached
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#2 ·
Is noise a concern?? Is power a concern?? Because option #1 is a big loser on both counts.

The lakes style can be outfitted with a slash (/) cut turnout on the end. The lakes style having a collector allows you to insert a collector muffler.

No real way to muffle those up-zoomies.
 
#3 ·
Is noise a concern?? Is power a concern?? Because option #1 is a big loser on both counts.

The lakes style can be outfitted with a slash (/) cut turnout on the end. The lakes style having a collector allows you to insert a collector muffler.

No real way to muffle those up-zoomies.
Good to know. I definitely want the best sound possible from the motor
and not to lose a lot of power.

I may look in to a good way to make some lakes style ones.
 
#4 ·
headers and pipes

Honestly? Neither! They are both losers in power and the noise and stench that is constantly in your face gets old real fast. I know that is not what you wanted to hear.
Go fenderwell style to an exhaust wrapped under the car, through the frame and out the back.........get all that noise and stench outta your face.
Kind of like that pic with this style header but attach pipe to the collector that wraps back under the lip of the body. Run it all back through the chassis and out the back. Pick whatever muffs get you the sound you want. My 2cents.
 

Attachments

#5 ·
Honestly? Neither! They are both losers in power and the noise and stench that is constantly in your face gets old real fast. I know that is not what you wanted to hear.
Go fenderwell style to an exhaust wrapped under the car, through the frame and out the back.........get all that noise and stench outta your face.
Kind of like that pic with this style header but attach pipe to the collector that wraps back under the lip of the body. Run it all back through the chassis and out the back. Pick whatever muffs get you the sound you want. My 2cents.
I would be concerned about the noise if I were going to drive it very
often. I do not plan on driving more than once a week.

I'm going for the all out rat rod look and do not want to run it underneath
the cab and out the back...that's too "normal" for what I'm wanting.

The only thing I would possibly consider is stacks right behind the cab...
but that's doubtful.
 
#6 ·
there are commercially available "zoomies" that have what they call a baffle (its not much more than a tin cup with a small hole in the bottom). They're more show than go. I say go sprint-car style and use a auger-type silencer (T bucket guys use these a lot - there is 1 style that more rounded than the traditional sprint car header). The lakes-type header you posted is a caricature of a header...its built for looks. there should be a turn out mounted to the flange. Understand that these were done for RACING (stench isnt a concern), and that they would be blocked off, with the exhaust routed through the downpipe and under the car on the street.

Here is a pic of a competition car called the Eliminator, built by Duffy Livingstone in the late 50s. Punched out 283 and 57 corvette T10. The headers were built by Mr Livingstone at a real muffler shop, the downpipe is a "torque tube" driveshaft. Brock Yates owns the car, and covered its restoration in his book "The Hot Rod: Resurrection of a Legend." Its a fantastic book, lots of pics and a great story to boot.
 
#8 ·
You'll lose a lot of low-end torque with the zoomies, and they may not be street legal in your state
If it were mine, I would run a set of fender-well headers and cap off the collectors. Then I would run a pipe off the inside of the collectors (where nobody is going to see it), and run a set of pipes inside the frame rails and exit behind the cab
 
#9 ·
make a set? take the ones pictured by steeny,but up swept towards the roof(aimed over) and put an old style flame thrower kit in the collector/mufflers.will cause a lot of "heat",,,

put a small lumpy cam in the engine and retard the cam 6º or more so that the mufflers have that fart can sounds,but with flames,,,
 
#16 ·
Neither the lake pipes or the zoomies are best for power. The weedburner setup I posted is probably as good or a little better than the lake pipes and better than the zoomies. The over the roof pipes are pretty deceptive in that they're a tuned pipe setup which pulls from each side of the engine. A lot of relatively exotic cars and race cars use this design; but they route under the car. The car in Steeny's pic (Joe Liberty's of Liberty Gear) was able to keep the bends a LOT smoother and keep the pipes reasonably equal in length. It probably worked very well, maybe even too much so as far as tunability was concerned.

I have a close friend with a 47 international pickup that had stacks. Ran great; BUT the little flappers on top of the pipes rattled like hell ALL the time. Hit a pothole? clang! He got annoyed and ran the pipes under the truck to dump in front of the rear tires with some nice "boxes" that were flush with the running boards. Sounds good, looks clean, stink free.

Whatever you do; make sure you have a plan 'B' for long trips or if you get tired of it
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top