Hey guys, Im building a 55 chevy with a three duece powered 327 and a 4 speed, suede black with steel wheels....you get the picture. My goal with this car is to pay homage to my grandfather (whom bought the car for me in 05' and suddenly p***ed away 3 months later). He built a 55 in 1967 using a wrecked out 64 corvette (thus the 327). Sadly, his partner in crime and brother-in-law just recently p***ed away too (he had a 37 ford w/ a flattie, the two of them could get together for hours and tell old crazy stories about the late 40's and early 50's. Always seemed that their cars, the cops, and alcohol were routinely involved, i loved it!). Now that all my potential info on reproducing this car is gone, i need to know if my grandfather would have most likely ran manifolds or headers? I could give two hoots and a hollar about performace, im going for authenticity. My father thinks he remembers ram horn type manifolds but isnt sure. So, given the time frame and the fact that my grandfather, to use his favorite phrase, "couldnt rub two dimes together," would he really have ran headers? Also, you dont have to read this but.... My Grandfather had a 38? Graham convertible that was painted pink and white with a tan interior and top and a supercharged stright six. He always laughed when he said "that damned thing still out ran my hot rod 55!" It was his favorite car. Now, just if i could get my hands on one of them!
Manifolds get my vote. A few friends ran Chevy, one built 56 1/2 ton Pickup about 6 months old ran manifolds, three 2 bbls etc. The other, a hard running 57 bought new, he ran manifolds as well, but somewhere in the early 60's he went to fenderwell headers. The Rams Horn would be a good approximation of what most guys ran. It was popular for good reason.
Corvette ram horns (2.5" outlet I think?) where the thing to have until the mid '60's when m***-produced tubular headers (often painted white) became popular. I'm sure a few one-offs were being fabricated earlier than that though. Given his budget, your Grandfather's memory of ram horns is probably accurate. There was a hoodless red & white steel-wheeled '56 Chevy sedan on a recent R&C cover that sounds alot like your '57. How 'bout posting some pics for all of us to drool on?!
humm, didnt see that 56 on R&C. Right now both of my cars are in "barn condition." Havent quite finished them up. How did you know i have a 57 also?
When I was a kid in the late '60s/early '70s, the majority of hopped up small blocks I saw were still running ram's horn manifolds, usually with the heat riser valve wired open or removed all together. Tubing headers were the sign of a serious street racer, and if you look at what they cost in a '66-'69 Hot Rod magazine, you'll see that, adjusting for inflation, they were more expensive then than they are now.
The first Rams horn manifolds were on the 225 h.p. 56 Chevrolet full size cars as well as the Vettes.They were standard on the 57s. Hedman had a 4 into 1 set of street headers in 1960 I know. They also had a set of "compe***ion" headers that were about like todays shorty street rod headers.The fender well pipes came along with the Max Wedge early 60s Mopars as well as the 55-57 jr. stocker Chevrolets.
I come from a small town in the Midwest... in 1967 there were several hot cars but three stick in my mind as THE cars. A 57 Chev, 56 Chev and a 64 Chevelle, all had 327's with 4 speeds and all had fenderwell headers on the street. I know this for sure because I bought the engine/trans combo from the 57 in 1968 when I was 16 (ya, mowed allot of lawns for that engine!!). These were essentially g***ers on the street... the other cars that stick in my mind were a 63 Chev 409 and a pair of 66 novas all with ram horn manifolds and were mild street machines e.g.; small cams and 4 barrels. I think it depends on how the car was intended to be used and probably how much $ they had.
Please don't use "block hugger" headers It just my personal hang up but block huggers are modern inventions. Cheap and easy but definately not traditional. I remember Headman headers as being the first m*** produced headers that hot rodders used. Each side was made up of 2 sections that bolted together in the middle. They had other styles too. The only header co. listed in my 1963 Big Eds speed shop catalog is headman. They did carry a big selection of do-it-yourself kits. Headers were expensive back then. Manifolds were more popular for hot rods that weren't part time racers. The big time racers were having them custom built by guys like Stahl and others. Fender well headers were hot for the tri-5 Chevys but I remember them being available a little later.
It is most likely that your grandpa had ram's horns, and really wanted headers, but couldn't justify the bucks. I think headers similar to the old Heddman's are currently available if you are willing to look hard enough (Headers by Doug, maybe?). In either case, your '57 will still be authentic, as what he had, or what he would have had if he were better financed.
1968, senior year of high school, had a 56' Chevrolet 210 2 dr. sedan with a 283 bored to 292, "3/4 race" cam, and like TOMMY said, I had the Headman Hedders that were two piece and bolted together right at the level of the frame. A real PITA to get everything tight and they always leaked. My current 56' Chevrolet Sedan Delivery has a 327 with rams horns exhaust manifolds and I never have to worry about exhaust leaks. Use the rams horns and maybe add some side dumps to it as that is what most guys did. BUTCH.
Headers were more of a muscle car thing..........If this 55 was built in the early 60s, most likely it would have had the Vette Ram Horns.......especially, if he was poor.
the 327 powered 55 that I built in 67 had rams horn manifolds and a WCFB four barrel and Corvette finned valve covers on a yellow block, that was the way the engine came when my father bought it. I told him about the hoodlums that had the engine and it was undoubtably hot, I think he paid 250.00..I wanted headers but couldn't afford them..as soon as I s****ed up some money I put a Hurst three speed shifter on the floor and put in a Duntov 30/30 cam..for some reason the look back then was slightly lowered and slightly higher in the back, accomplished by jacking the car up and putting pieces of angle iron through the spring hangers..hey, I was 17 yrs. old
i had a 66 mustang in 66 & i bought headers that i had to weld together!!!!.about that time is when they where becoming popular.They seemed to start with the mopars with the wedge engines. People didn't give much thought to headers for a long time, "cut outs " where very popular. JimV
I remember a fellow co-worker bolting on a set of Jardine Headers to his 57 Chevy 2 door post and that was the early winter of 1965. That would put it into the correct time frame for you.
If the car was built in 67, it would have been a 50/50 toss for headers or rams horns. It was around 65 when headers became the item to have for easy horsepower and a great sound. The most common headers for the sbc, were the Headman headers. I built my Olds powered 34 1/2 ton rod in 1959, and bought a header kit from Vic Hubbard. It consisted of the 2 flanges and the tubing plus hours of fitting and welding to get the pipes equal length. We had a car club with 50 members, with lots of serious dual purpose sbcs,348s and 406s, and the first set of headers was purchased in 62. Later, in 1965, I was stationed in a little prairie town, (RCAF station Moose Jaw), and in the group I knew about 10 of the 20 or so cars had headers ( except me, I was driving a 300 horse Vette and it was not what I would call a performer). Hope that adds to the knowledge base. Bob
I didn't see many cars running them here before about 66 or so. The first set I remember was on a serious local street racer. A 350 horse 327 66 Nova.
Headers became popular on the street in the late 60's. Not to say they weren't around tho. Earlier headers were very expensive and usually in a kit form. Hedman, Jardine and Doug Thorley come to mind. I put Thorley headers on my L-88 and they were the first I saw on the street. I would say that he used Corvette manifolds as I would have back then. Corvette dual point dizzy would be nice. Keep reading the Hamb and you will find all you need to know to bring her back to period correct, Good luck on it.
I believe that Don Gist ran the first set of Stahl headers on his new 62 Corvette. My 57 vette with a 62 327/340 built in 64 ran the big rams horns because the eary headers would blow the gaskets out every week. Which is how Mr Gasket got rich
In the summer of 62 I remember watching a fellow high schooler while he and couple of buddies welded up a set of headers with coat hangers stolen from his mothers closet because he couldn't afford proper welding rod and the coat hangers seemed to work quite well. In 63-4-5-6 headers weren't all that uncommon around the high schools in my area.
Several of my buddies had '55s in 1967 and every one of them had fenderwell exit headers, and a couple of 'em had straight axles. Most everybody used either a 283 or 327 with a 4 speed and headers, and if you had the know how or could afford to have it done, the straight axle came next. (These were all street cars.) As I remember it in '66-'69, headers and wheels were at the top of the list. Nobody wanted the ram's horns, or any kind of stock exhaust manifold back then. We threw lots of that stuff away. I do still have a set of the cast Corvette valve covers, though. Even though they weren't "cool" at the time, I hung on to them.
We started, or my dad started producing headers in '58. This was his first shop. I'll have to ask him what the first part numbers were. I believe he was the first to sell a header ina box. Every one else were custom building them on the car. He was talking the other day how he and a buddy working for him could weld up 20 sets each a day. That was all oxy acetalene back then. Jerod.
Interesting topic seeing as i am just planning to complete the headers on my 46 coupe w SBF. One thing we ( in NZ and Aussie and Poms) have h***les with is the starter motor / steering shaft clearance with ****** all space for manifolds, at least with SB Fords. I had a hell of a job getting a right side manifold that had the outlet clearing the steering shaft. I only had them on for a month and hooked the muffler while reversing and demolished the ****** right hand manifold. So I had to make headers for the car- could not find another one to fit. Cheers.
In late 50's early 60's most Chev. V8's used the ramhorn or aka Duntov Header if you will. Nothing wrong with them either. Headers were mostly in kit form or expensive already made so that excluded most of us. 283 the common engine, 327 was a step up. Corvette valve covers. Had to have a Duntov cam though in the early days.
I lived in the San Gabriel Valley area of So Cal and by '67 everyone I knew was running headers on a stout street car or there were considered a poser. Doug's started in 58 and are still made. Jardine started about the same time. ****** came along in 64. Belond (sp?), Ermie Imerso, Cyclone, Casler, Hedman there were tons of brands available by '67.
I believe that Hedman is the oldest hedder mfg still in business...I know that we sold Hedman back as early as the mid fifties.......as a side note did you guys know that Bob Vandergriff,top fuel racer.has a big Hedman Decal on the UPS dragster.....no wonder...his dad owns Hedman,,,,,,
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