Missmy5.0

Now that my plan is coming together- cast Cobra U/L w/FRPP 65mm TB, Twisted Wedge heads (the "new" 170, unless someone has a reason to choose otherwise)- I'm trying to put together the more mundane parts of the system.

I have not decided on cam, but may use one designed for 1.7 ratio-that is not set in stone. This is probably a stupid question, but can I use the stock valve covers with the TW heads? It's not cheapness (well, maybe a little) but I'd like to keep it a little more "stock" looking. If stock don't fit, are there any plain alternatives (e.g. those from another Ford V8) that could be painted to match. In fact, I wouldn't mind making the TW heads look OEM with a spritz of the rattle can.

As far as the headers go, I plan on shorties that are an "easy" bolt on. Are there any you all would recommend, or more importantly, any to stay away from? Ceramic or SS?

I know these questions may seem painfully fundamental to those who have been there and done that, but take pity on an old fart finding joy in turning wrenches again. I have not had a valve cover off, let alone a head since Reagan's first term, if that gives you any idea!

j-town_edge

For your headers, what state do you live in? -are you in the rust/snow belt and is this a DD or not. If you answered yes to either of those, go with SS.

Duncan_GT

I opted to get my longtubes ceramic coated, although my car is highly performance oriented. With your car, I would probably go with stainless steel.

As for the valve covers, you'll want something thats short. TW heads have a 0.350 raised valve cover I believe, I'm too lazy to get my spec sheet. So you may run into clearance issues pending your valve cover choice. I think the stock valve covers might work, but you will have clearance issues with the baffle plate & rocker arm (especially with 1.7's). Trickflow offers short valve covers that are designed to fit around their rockers without fitment issues.

reldla1996

I ran the factory valve covers with my TF TW heads and the pedestal mount 1.7 rockers. In fact, I still run the factory valve covers with my AFR heads and stud mount 1.7 rockers with poly locks. For both, the oil splash back had to be removed inside the valve cover, but it all fits. I like long tube headers much better, but if you're going shorty, I'd stay unequal length, and ceramic coated makes a big difference, both in heat reduction under hood, looks, and longevity. Stainless is preferred of course, but the ceramic coated will last quite a while, even in the "rust belt" which is where I live.

trouble63

I use the stock valve covers on mine also, just cut the baffle plates out.
as far as headers go I put on the bbk ss shortys the bbk x-pipe bolts up with no problem if you choose to go that way

dawson1112

I always went with shorty headers on all my other cars for ease of installation, I decided to go with long tubes on this car , mainly because I have read a lot of good things about them. I don't think I will ever buy a set of shortys again. I love the sound the long tubes produce , and they do add some power due to aiding the scavenging and simply that the exhaust pulse has further to travel before it is interfered with from the other cylinders. They were a lot more work to install , but the pay off was worth it to me. That said I choose ss simply because they were a bit less costly and I too am in the dreaded rust belt and regular steel exhaust parts only last for so long here.

Missmy5.0

I was obviously confused as I thought ceramics were the "premium" product based on prices I saw. I do live in the Land Of Salt White Roads, where they throw NaCl down like it's a magic charm against evil. Luckily my convertible is a fair weather only car, garaged and only driven in rain when necessary. (I looked for a convertible because I figured it was my best chance of finding a rust free car in Chicagoland. My 87 was a daily driver, and had hatch rust through by 91).

I see chrome finish BBKs, and ceramic, but not SS-am I missing something? When I was thinking GT40x heads I was going to FRPP headers, figuring durability/compatibility would be great ( I want this to be a one time job), but the BBKs seem to be the people's choice.

I already settled on shorties since I don't want the extra stress of long tube installation (my girls have already learned too much creative swearing). Now the question is, "Equal or unequal shorties". I am guessing access is a little tougher with the convoluted equal shorties, though I'll probably be dead before I change plugs at the rate I rack up miles. Are there any clearance issues or other problems?

Lastly, any install tips for gaskets, fasteners etc? They were cheapies, but I remember struggling to get rid of the recurring "tick-tick-tick" from the headers in my buddies SBC. Once it's installed, I want to have fun driving, not tweaking.

Thanks again to all for the helpful replies!

reldla1996

I had long tube ceramic coated BBK's, and got about 10 years out of them driving the car year around in Ohio. They still looked new except down where the 4 tubes come together where they rusted apart. Stainless headers are harder to find, and pricier. Before I went long tubes, I had MAC equal length shorties for a few years, and they were a pain to install and remove. From all the reports/articles I've seen, the equal length make 1-2 extra horsepower versus unequal length, and at that are not worth the extra hassle to install and work around. I've not had any issues with header leaks in my 5.0 Mustangs (with ordinary gaskets and bolts) or any need to re-tighten bolts- now my big block 67 Cougar is a completely different story - they always leak!

dawson1112

Yea ceramic will last a long time as long as they don't get chipped all up, I have heard that sometimes in the coating process they miss where the collectors are welded and they tend to rust there.

I got a set of SS OBX headers with off road H for right around 400 bucks. Put em on last winter, and they first went a little gold color but are now dark blue from heat. Im fairly sure the OBX are Chinese knockoffs of the bbk long tubes. And I did have a bit of fitment issues where the drivers side runs along side the trans. I had to heat up the #3 primary I think and flatten it out a bit to get it to fasten to the engine and seal up.
Also had to open the flange holes up a bit because the bolts wouldn't line up . Appearantly the Chinese don't know what a jig is for.

tinman

If it were mine I'd use either Hooker Super Comp or BBK ceramic coated long tubes in order to get the power that I spent money for with the TFS heads.......
Shorty headers are for people who don't really want to work.