The 1 5/8" headers are a bit small for a 500 horsepower engine.They can work,but figure that if the engine would have made 500 hp with the correctly sized 1 3/4" headers you might be down about 20 or so hp with a set of 1 5/8" headers.I would go with the sanderson shorties.I know of a few guys who have gone in the 10's with the hooker 1 5/8" Hooker swap headers,but they knew they were throwing power out the window.Good luck.

 

would anyone else take the 1 3/4 shorties over the 1 5/8 long tubes?

 

I agree with Super Streeter the shorties have a 2 1/2" outlet flange. You need the flow to use the power in the motor that you built.

 

Not me, resonance in the small tube will be far more beneficial than the large tubes. If you did an area under the curve for your engine with both types I would imagine you will see that the long tubes low rpm advantage extends far enough into the intermediate-upper rpm range that you end up being farther ahead. Depending on the short tubes length you may never realize any resonance tuning at all until stratospheric rpm levels like 10 000 rpm!

Shorty headers are OK for flow but resonance tuning is why you install a header, actual flow numbers are only a small part of a headers function...also 1 5/8 is not that small...we are talking an 1/8 of an inch here folks?

Equal lengths ensure that any tuning that results occurs at the same point in the rpm range on all the cylinders, it is definetly a goal worth pursuing as it concentrates the resonance bump in the power curve instead of spreading the resonance "zone" across the rpm range....but...if the difference in length is a couple inches at best then I doubt you would see much difference.

I say go for the unequal length 1 5/8" and enjoy your truck and it's unimpedded turning circle.

This will be a street vehicle right?

 

thanks 4 jaw, thats exactly what i wanted to hear.
i am not a serious racer, but this will be primarily a strip truck. i am building it to take to the track and have fun with. if i win a few bracket races, great, if i dont, thats fine to. i will only drive it every now and then on the road. i wont be able to afford gas if i drive it everyday. it will be driven at least once or twice a week tho, and it will be driven to the track.

i need all the help i can get with the steering, because i installed a manual steering box for simplicity, so i think i will go with the hedmans.

 

Well said 4 Jaw.

Too many people become caught up in the peak HP number. Well, if everything up to that peak number is lower, then the car will be slower.

This is not only due to the scavenging of the longer tubes, but he gas velocity. Also, If the tubes are too large, low end will suffer. Yeah it will make a bit more power up top, but how much time does it spend there. On the track...probably less than 2 seconds. On the street...well it really never should. The majority of the work is done at below peak power. If power is higher in this range, performance will be better.

Chris

 

After reading what 4jaw stated it makes a lot of sense. I stand corrected. Hes da man.
Chris has a good point also.
1 5/8" headers.

 

It depends on what size exaust port it is