A hotroder friend of mine said to NOT get headers, "the engine compartment
gets too hot and they often leak".

Is he doing the "straight talk"???

Also how much hp/torque gain, is it really worth it?

 

Hmm...some hotrodder.

If you are worried about heat, have them ceramic coated. There are really only two reasons headers leak - out of flat mounting surface (warped flange) or poor gasket selection/installation.

I've only had a header leak once and that was because I didn't retighten the bolts after a few heat cycles. Stage 8 bolts can eliminate that problem.

HP gain is purely a factor of what you have currently. If the exhaust is the bottle neck for flow, you might see 10 to 15 HP in a mild 302 V8. You also might lose some torque making you think your engine lacks power.

 

There isn't a car on the road, outside of the $80k+ supercars, that wouldn't benefit from aftermarket headers - any car without headers will benefit significantly with them.

 

You get what you pay for with headers. A good set will have thick flanges, thick tubular walls, good gaskets, and ceramic coating, and a proper fit. If installed correctly, you should never have a gasket leak. The ceramic coating is great and keep the headers amazing clean. I've had several sets, and not once had an issue. The power gains are noticable, but not huge.

 

Oh oh!
Don't want to loose low end torque. This is a 351C with 4v heads, a combo noted for
alot of power at hi-revs but lacking in low-end torque.
It currently has the stock 2 1/4" duel exhaust with H-crossover and Flowmaster 40s. Engine was rebuilt to stock specs by prev owner (10.7:1 compression, stock cam, etc).

 

Whoa now, don't freak! My comment was not specifically addressed at you. It was a general comment because I didn't know the rest of your set up. The exhaust you have is perfect for a set of headers with that engine.

 

Headers=more fun & better exhaust sound IMO

 

mmmmm....headers.

Dont' go cheap though. Get the best set you can afford. Thick flanges that won't warp with thick tubes.

Cheap headers can be a big ol' pain in the rump and are often more trouble than they are worth.

 

This site is da groove!!
Thanks for the quick responses.

I guess it's kind of a mute point though, as usual 351"C" parts are harder to find.
A few of the Mustang dot.coms had cheepie headers for an automatic. Nothing ceramic coated for a 1971 (let alone a manual trans, a/c + power steering).

The local muffler shop said they could run 2 1/2" pipes out the back, maybe that alone would yield a similar power gain as headers.

 

Check out Doug's Headers. That's who I am going with:
http://www.pertronix.com/prod/ex/dougs/default.aspx