1952-59 Ford Thought I would stir it up,302 swaps

Many of us that have done the SBF swap in a '54-56 would like a Header that would fit so I fired off an email to the Tech people at Hedman, so I hope we will get a response from them.On the web site they post that in some cases if you are located in So-Cal and your car is used as a "guinea pig" to make the prototype you will get a free set of headers installed on your ride. Now I figure in order for them to think there is a demand for these send in your emails to the Hedman website and p*** it on, I am sure they would also fit '57-59 Fords,so start the floods of emails to Hedman

 

sonds good to me.

 

Good idea! Thats the swap that I have planned.

 

I have the same issue with my 351W. I'm in for doing this.

 

Come on guys and gals,"Get R Dun" hit them with those emails,I know there is more than just 3 of Ya! The sqeaky hinge,gets the oil!

 

Jeff that's a damn good idea ! I found out that the tri y headers do work the best for that engine swap but nothing fits just right .

Is there a special web site to email them about header information ?

Jim

 

Send your emails to:techsupport@hedman.com tell them about year and make of your car and the donor engine 289,302,5.0 what will fit? let's get the ball rolling.

 

this is what i sent them.


hello, ive got a 55 ford fairlane, with a 302/aod in it. im wanting to put a set of headers on it. which headers best fit my car. i know sanderson has some but there a little pricey for me.

thanks scott

 

Scott , none really do ! The try y headers work the best for long tube but you still have to cut and weld to get them the way you want . I have a set of them and that's what I am going with . Sanderson is nice but just too much money for headers . I have heard good and some bad about his headers but I have never bought or used his headers before . I would rather just make my own that pay the price . It's not that I am cheap , I just can't afford paying someone to do what I can do . My labor if free to me and I have lots of time . Sanderson's is just basically a log tube set up , right ? Haven't looked for a while on his site . I am building my car on a shoe string budget so I trade and barter for a lot of things I use on my car . I don't work and on disability so I have to make as much as I can myself instaed of paying for someone to do some of the work for me .
The hardest part I will have is painting the car . That I have never done , yet !

You can use Mustang exhaust manifold from the early ones . If toy can't find any used ones , they are being reproduced . I don't know your engine and what's been done to it so depending on the cam you have and the HP that will determine on what you can really use as for headers or manifolds .
If you do use manifolds , use or buy a Dremel tool and grind down all the ****py edges on the manifolds and you can make them really look decent and smooth . Then have them powder coated or heat painted and they will look very nice .

Just some ideas .

Jim

 

Scott , I was just on Sanderson's web site and I didn't see any headers that are going to fit a 55 Ford . The block hugger headers WILL NOT WORK ! Steering box is in the way ! Unless there was a special area that had some I didn't find them . That is the problem with the Fords . That stinking steering box is in the way of every header most of us have tried . That is why we have to make most of them for our 55 Fords . The Try Y are the best to go with depending on how you are going to run your exhaust .

Jim

 

i got the sanderson catalog. with them listed i will dig it out again. there spacial order not standard production. and its basicly a stock engine. has a rv cam now with no sound. was like that when i got it . im wanting to change to a thumpr cam . just want headerd to complete the sound. cast manifolds kill the sound some. thats all im going for is that hot race sound. all bark no bite. i am lucky to have made it through my past years of the all bite and im grown up a little now.

 

I looked on their web sit and went from there . their web isn't the best to get around on . Every time I tried a search I kept getting those damn orange engines mixed in with the 289 , 302 , 5.0 ! Go figure that one out . The best ones I saw were block headers so I guess there is someplace on the site that I missed .
Sorry for the mistake but I just went by what I found .

Jim

 

Surfing on the HAMB tonight I ran across an add by a member VANNpire of a '54 Ford for sale,check out the pics,IT HAS HEADERS.I sent him a pm to ask for info on them,but since all of his 9 HAMB posts are to sell cars I won't get my hopes up that He will contribute.

 

OLM: Just remember that "all bark and no bite" gets sand kicked in your face.

Just sayin'...

 

Just sent an email as well. Finally got the 302 and a C4 and just about ready to go back in with them.

 

yea i know. but im dun with racing and every time i went out playing it cost me money with my local government agency. sooo. i think ill setle for the sound and let them wonder. it dont run bad now . so it would have to run better. i still have to find that catalog for the heders. the problem is like you know . there not real descriptive. but it dose say 302 in a 55/56.

 

I just looked at the header on the p***enger side that he used and it's a tri y or cheap Ford header . Look close and the front 2 tubes go to the collector and the back 2 got to the other side of the header .
Then the 3rd tube looks like it was smashed in down to fit past the upper are . They really look like Tri Y or Ford headers that have been cut down to fit . Then used that cheap ****py flex pipe .
Sanderson was making a Log style that would work but not much flow if you look at them and think about the way the exhaust did flow . They were made for a Y block . I had a pair and sold them but same principle .
Jim

 

Yeah I had emailed them about a year ago asking the same thing. They told me to use a certain one, cant recall now, but its a shorty header supposedly that will fit the 302 in a 56. I tried shorties from hedman, they didnt come close.

Would be nice to find some, but would have been nicer before I spent months begging others to help cut and weld and bend my current headers

If nothing else maybe we all chip in and buy a "lego" kit and someone make a prototype for them to build. Dont know if they would do that though, not having done it themselves and unsure if its "perfect"

 

Ya know, I'm not seeing a big problem with the header pictured above. The modification looks like it might have been done previously for another application. It doesn't look necessary on this one.

The outgoing pipe does twist a bit, but ripple pipe flows like mandrel-bent tubing so the flow isn't restricted. Might be a tad warm on the toe board, though...

 

That one looks easiest enough to make but to would like to see the drivers side too .
They are similar to the ****py ones that come on the Ford Mustangs on the 5.0 . Those headers have to be the worst thing Ford every has made ! I really don't see how they get any decent flow from then at all . I had a pair but after looking at them i wouldn't use them for anything ! Pure junk that is beat up something fierce .
The headers in the picture look easy enough to make from a set of long tube and probably be made better than those .

Jim

 

is there a over the counter motor mount for a late model 302 for a 54???

 

Check "Your Notifications" pm sent.

 

On a side note does anyone know what alternator bracket that is? what water pumps does it work with....Thanks it's pretty beefy mine is hokey

 

That looks like one of the adjustable heim joint setups like I have. Summit and others make them, and also march performance.

This is mine, the pic above shows the bracket flipped so the alternator will mount lower, which I plan to do on mine. I am running a reverse rotation pump and serpentine setup so mine would be different than yours.

 

Todd,did you get yours from Skip White in Kingsport,TN? I saw His on www.ebay.com item 330515160205, nice price!

 

ran across there brakets the other day. killer price on them . and i can go pick it up if i want to.

 

I think I got mine from a different place, but that's the same exact kit and about what I paid. I habve bought stuff from skip white and been real pleased.

 

with reguards to the motormount question, I've heard mid 80"s lincoln mkVii mounts work. and 64-65 galexy mounts can be used with a 1" spacer. I may be confused about the year and make of the lincoln ones, but I'm preaty sure that was it. can anyone confirm this??

 

Actually the part # ANCHOR 2725 & 2726 fit 1984 MK VII and '84 to 91 Mustangs they are taller than the Galaxy & F-150 mounts and no spacers will be needed.Genuine Suspension poly mount # 4-1104G has 3 threaded holes allowing almost any Ford trans on a stock crossmember.Energy Suspension also has the motor mounts in polyurethane.

 

This is the response I got back from them

Thank You for your interest in Hedman Hedders. I'm sorry we don't have a hedder for your application. That looks like custom hedder application.
Thanks,

Tech Support