[wildthing]

i have a stock ford 302 2 v the car needs exhaust so iam palnning on putting dual 2 1/2 " exhaust all the way to behind the rear wheels. not sure yet of the mufflers something aggressive . cherry bombs maybe " the questions is , i have a friend who offered to give me a set of shorty headers are they worth useing ? will they give much if any proformance increase ? plans are for changeing the intake to a 4 barrel with like a 600 holly on it.
should i just wait until budget allows and get long tubes ? also should i put in a x pipe ? or h pipe ?

[Stroke]

X or H makes no difference (between the two) IMO. Some shorty headers are better than others and will probably be better than what it is you are replacing. Long tube or specific (tuned) length may give you fitment trouble depending on who makes them and your past experiences with headers. There is more to this than just long vs short. I think you'll be fine with your shorties though. JMO

[75gmck25]

In the Mustang forums most folks feel that an X pipe will give you a few more horsepower, but its in a fairly high RPM range. In normal driving there is very little difference.

In most cases the X pipe also has a higher pitched tone than the H pipe. The H sounds more like a muscle car rumble, while the X sounds more like a highly tuned race engine (if that make sense). Many hotrodders prefer the more classic tone from an H pipe.

For a 302 2v you need headers with small diameter primary pipes to keep low end torque. The 2 1/2 inch exhaust is overkill for the 2 barrel (2 1/4 would be plenty), but it will still work fine. Once you get a good dual plane manifold and get the carb set up right the bigger exhaust should pay off.

You don't mention what vehicle this is in, but make sure your cam choice matches the vehicle weight and how you plan to use it. High lift cams usually work best in relatively light cars with low gears and a high stall torque converter. If you put a high lift cam in a heavy vehicle (pickup truck?) and try to use stock gears and converter, you won't be happy.

Bruce

[wildthing]

ok thanks guys , the car is heavy its a 68 cougar. but iam not looking for any race proformance . just a nice sound and little better power than what i have. its just a cruise in , car show car.

[ScoTFrenzel]

75gmck25 has some good advice.

Here's what I would do.
CompCams 260H, # 31-216-2
212* single pattern
.447 lift
110* LSA
should work with stock springs and heads
slight idle sound

Shorties are fine. Long tubes will hurt your ground clearance but give an increase at low/mid rpms.
H pipe is fine and simpler to install.
Any header is better than the factory logs.

Hedman makes a good inexpensive 1 1/2 inch 4 tube. Make the collector 24 inches long for more torque.

Resist the temptation to over cam it.

[Chevrolet4x4s]

I have an x-pipe on my 93 Silverado.....great racy sound

Shane