My 68 'stang came with Heddmann headers with supposedly have a lifetime warranty as per the warranty papers that the previous owner gave me ; Recently , I found out that one of my headers is cracked and i called the manufacturer and they said that (conveniently) that the warranty only covers the ORIGINAL OWNER WITH the ORIGINAL RECEIPT OF PURCHASE , which obviously is nowhere to be found after several years ,so i am left holding the bag because i am not the original buyer and i only have the warranty papers but not the purchase receipt so i would have to buy new headers.My car is a "looker" but not a show queen because is mainly a daily driver for the moment ; I have a 289 ,automatic,C-4 , with P.S. ,A/C (from OLD AIR),P.B. and the like ,I need advice for the best (and cheapest) headers i can get out there, Thanks Brothers!!!

 

Is the 289 stock or near stock? If so, I would say go with HiPo manifolds. They will last a very long time. Well at least they should.

Are you set on a certain style of header? I would recomment stainless and/of ceramic coated.

I have JBA mid length on my 65, and am very happy with them so far.

I don't think I would ever buy Hedman again. I had issues with a pair that I was going to put on my truck. They were defective and had pin holes in the welds. My friend had the exact same issue with the exact same part number. Another friend of mine has their headers on his 70 Mustang. They are 10 years old, but his car is stored in the garage and has not had very many miles put on it since it was restored. Those headers are shot, and are basically falling apart.

 

Pretty much any warranty ends when ownership changes. That's nothing new.

You may consider a set of tri-y's. They'll flow well and won't sacrifice low-end torque. Keep in mind, any set of headers different from what you have will likely require the existing exhaust to be modified to fit.

 

You mentioned "cheapest" so it seems money is an issue. Cheap headers are... Cheap. You get what you pay for. Where is it cracked, could it be welded, on or off the car?

 

Yup.. cheap is cheap. Plan on buying cheap and then replacing them with a good set later (ie spending more money) or just "pony up" and buy a decent set now.

+1 to the JBA Mid-Length headers. Have them on our 67. The fit & quality is great. Ceramic coated runs you a bit more but is well worth it in the long run! When I ordered our complete setup last year I was told by a JBA rep that THIS ebay seller was their largest sales volume distributor so his prices were usually a bit better. Looks like they have increased some since last year but your getting a great set is headers. I'd suggest Google and give them a call for a slightly better price

 

When i said cheap i meant under $500 because i have seem some out there over $1,000.I have my eye on a few already but i am concerned about power steering clearance , since i have the long ones , Also , anyone has tried those ceramic/nickel plated ones? i saw a pair somewhere under $500 and they look nice.Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.!!

 

i have long tubes and just bought a nice set of stainless steel Hookers for just under 500. what are you looking into? Tri-Y or long ?

 

I bought a set of used MAC longtube headers, they're supposed to fit '67-68 cars w/PS w/o using a drop bracket. I haven't installed them in the car yet so I can't verify yet. Hopefully they'll fit as stated, I need to clear the AOD also so it'll be a double test when I get that far. I am avoiding any that require a drop bracket for the PS as I have read numerous posts about the drop brackets breaking or causing the bolts to tear out of the frame. The drop bracket greatly increases the stress as it hangs lower away from the mounting point.
Jon

 

I don't understand all the issues with heddmans. I've been running them on my DD for at least 10 years and haven't had a problem. ( I drive like 50 miles a day) Why not just weld the crack?

 

I've had the same set of Hooker Comps on my car for about 10 years now. Besides turning an ugly rust color (since I got the cheap ones) which don't come with any protective coating on them, they've been great. No problems. The next set I buy will be ceramic coated.