Hot Rods Let's see your headers. Custom built only

Oh yeah, this is my first and second set of headers from nearly 60 years ago.

 

Loving the brick and plywood bracing !!!
6sally6

 

Here is what I made for my Mercury Speedster

andy

 

Small block Ford in a model A

 

Pictures of pictures so the picture quality and clarity are not great. These were my first headers made for a 37' Dodge pickup with 340. What a blast to fabricate but the best part for me was having Russ Meeks (very kindly) tell me they were the best fabricated headers he had ever seen from a someone not tied to the business.
First 2 pictures are during fabrication. The last are of completed headers and one with coating.
Thanks for your help Russ!

 

any of those snakes bite you?

 

Your album is still there trust me. You just put it somewhere you were sure you could find it!

 

I would love to hear that thing run!!

 

The wedge I used about 50 years ago. I just drove it into 18 gauge tubing with a B F H. I did not use a wedge on the 16 gauge tubing I am using on the 365 Cadillac engine. I just hammered the ends square. I did not want to enlarge the end.

 

Marty, I would say your skill level has improved by leaps and bounds. My first set was similar but stick welded and looked so bad I couldn't bear to take a photo; however, they did do the job. They were on a 57 Caddy motor set in a 57 Ford truck. That was back in 1960. I was just cutting my teeth and well on my way to trouble.

 

Left side in our D/BGRMR Bonneville car. 350 sbc bored .020 over and destroked to 304 (to be under 305.9 D class)

 

I can't take credit but my friend Scott built these on my Vette.

 

That's a great looking header!

 

Those are a work of art!

 

Mike that first set was built out of old tailpipes I found out behind a gas station !

 

I built this first set for a buddy Jimmy's 32 sedan, 392" Windsor. Then I built a set of outside ones for a Model A with a Hemi. Well, Jimmy just had to have a set like that, so I built these.

 

Long ago I cut up a set of late model headers and reassembled them to fit a '33 I had; not totally home built; but almost so.

Picked up some flanges and bends at Headers by Ed's shop along with 4" truck stack parts and built some pipes for a T bucket I built a while back. Later my son acquired them from a later owner and used them on his T bucket with different mufflers.


I made a set of headers for my '47 using more parts from Ed.

Made a set of lake style headers using flanges and cones from Speedway for another T-bucket I had.

 

I almost forgot to add the headers I built for the 396 in my friend's '29 cabriolet; lon long ago. More Headers by Ed's parts.

 

Rich, is Ed still in business ? I bought a set of FE flanges and starter tubes nearly 20 years ago from him.

 

@RatPwrd built these for my buddy’s 56 Sedan, BBC with raised exhaust port heads. 2-1/8” stepped to 2-1/4” primaries. Steering box was angle milled for more clearance but #5 had to be massaged to fit and #7 & #8 had to snake over the outside of the frame rails to fit under the inner fenders. Everything ended up under the car and above the bottom of the frame. He said they were one of the hardest set of headers he ever built. Absolute works of metal art!

Now they’re getting coated, almost a shame to cover up all those beautiful welds!

 

Very nice !

 

Found some pictures of the first set of headers I ever made. 55 big block Chevy. I had no clue what I was doing!

 

Some really nice looking headers here. I've built quite a few custom headers in my day. None built time and material. Customer always wanted a price. Thinking I'm superman I quoted too cheap a price. Bet I lost my ass on every set. This set is pretty simple. I used Speedways combo pipes. Only one joint at the bottom. Can't believe how long it took. Can't be old age. I'm only 89.

 

My first set of headers. 1963. E W R A rules. No engines later than 1952. Don't remember how I got 4 pipes on 3 port 52 Olds heads. .

 

They look chrome plated !

 

Nothing fancy compared to some of these beauties, but 2" primaries on my 552".

 

1963. Living in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Don't believe there was a chrome plating shop., but it looks like I had the headers chrome plated. 1965. Moved to Milwaukee. Everyone ran zoomies. I got away from that. Saved the drivers hearing a little bit.

 

Not entirely from scratch. Some Ebay stainless headers for a 455, going in my 56 Olds. Cut them apart, so the farthest from each other, firing cylinders were paired up. 2 into 1 collectors. So 4 pipes. Cut apart 4 Brockman Mellowtones, so the tubes were closer together, welded in separator plates, with flanges to make installation easier. 2 pipes into 2 mufflers, on each side. Then 4 tailpipes. It was an experiment that took a long time to do, but it does sound amazing!

 

Maybe you did something like I did on my Siamese center port Pontiac motor.