im putting a 283 in my 51 chevy.im trying to figure out what to whit exhaust.i have a set of hugger headers that came with the motor,but it looks like it going to be tight with motor mount and steering.would ram horns(the ones thst have a bend to them at outlet) or just stick with the hugger headers?the headers look to he the cheaper kind.thanks jason
Early ram horns are far more period and look great on a sbc ,they can be smoothed to a real nice effect...........Marq
Go the rams horns. I've got em on my 327 in my '52. They look a lot better and probably perform as good as you would want
this one is easy, the rams horns won't fit ,unless you subbed it or using MII, you need the REAR exit manifolds from a chevelle / PU or CUSTOM headers for this swap.peformance wise go w headers , for quite trouble free use -Manifolds
Headers don't really do much for you until about 3000 rpm or so. My opinion is that Rams Horns flow as good, if not better than most of the block-hugger headers I've seen. They are period correct and block-huggers are not. Block-huggers are a convenience device and always denote a fairly recent build. There were headers for very tight places back in the day, but the ones' I'm familiar with always had the collector situated horizontally so the primaries did their as-designed bit instead of being merely dumps into a collector a couple inches down the line. Like Marq says, clean em up, smooth em out, get some kind of finish on them and they look great. More than a few 283's in 55-56-57 Chevies ran over 100 mph with Rams Horns. 100 was the mark to shoot for back in the day and not too many street runners did it with regularity. The ones that did were usually running Rams Horns.
I have the center dump ram horns on my 283, still real tight. I'm not sure if you'd be interested but Sanderson has a cast header that might fit, they are expensive at 450 bucks a pop.
all you need is a MIG, a sawzaw, cut off wheels, and a grinder! i was tryin to figgure out what to do with headers on my car(65 falcon FE) even the manifolds didnt have no room, so i bought a set of swapmeet headers for 20 buks and went to work. as for performance?, they probally arnt the best, each tube being only 18" or less. i didnt care, i just wanted it loud! plus you will be alot happier with a set of headers you made than a 400 dollar set off the shelf (atleast i am)
Mike Landwehr this one is easy, the rams horns won't fit ,unless you subbed it or using MII, you need the REAR exit manifolds from a chevelle / PU or CUSTOM headers for this swap.peformance wise go w headers , for quite trouble free use -Manifolds the front is a MII.here is a pic of a set i was thinking about getting.do you think these would work good?
Jason - come over today and dig through my shed, I think Ihave some that might work and the price is right......Free.
Hate those little cheapy headers! All the usual header problems (Plug boot clearance, gasket issues, collector leaks etc) but none of the header advantages like you'd get from a proper set of full length ones. I'd run ANY style manifold before I'd put that junk on a car. I have an almost NEW set here (complete with previous owner hammer dents to clear the plugs!) that came on a parts vehicle, but my current project is running Rams and the coupe will be too.
Back in the 70's those truck or Chevy II angled p*** side manifolds were highly sought after to use on the drivers side of a SBC in a 36 up Ford. The forward facing dump let you curve the exhaust neatly around the steering box. The only other manifold that worked was the ugly 265 log.
One thing about SBC, they made a bunch of different styles. the ones posted that had a rearward tilt just below the collection point work really good on applications where you have a crossmember directly below the center ports. Don't give up without a fight, a search will turn up something that will work and you won't have to put up with header leaks, collector leaks and eventually cracked pipes if you drive a lot. Frank
Actually, the first Hedman Hedders for a SBC were very close to today's block huggers. The difference is that they were a 4 into 2 style, with a two hole flange that was about where the block hugger flange is, allowing the installer to adjust the 2 into 1 exhaust pipe to fit the body/frame. I had a lot of friends with '56/'57 Chevs that used them with success. Hedman used them in his ads - I'll look for one in some old HRM's. Here are a couple of examples I found with a quick glance. (The ad is from Newhouse, but Hedman's were similar) Mutt
this brings up the same issue I am looking at right now on my 57 Chevy, and its got me thinking, just how good are rams horns performance wise ? chevy used em on literally every level of sbc in the early years,we were always told by the magazine guys to dump em.I trying to decide as well on a fairly stout, but not purpose built 400 SBC ,you know the usual drill -480 lift cam ,roller rockers,true roller cam set,Performer RPM ,750 holley etc.. it has the 2.5 Outlet rams on it now , and was thinking the same as here- tight fits, but maybe a thru frame header set would be better? kinda the same ???,but not, maybe a little higher level of performance , you exaust guru's like to input??
Welp, Bud.......if you're still using the original 51 steering you may be able to use the "twisted" ramshorns if you positioned the engine as far forward as it will go. I did a 50 chevy with a 406 sbc. I used the twisted "horns" but I shouda put the engine about 1-2 inches further forward. I had to grind on my pitman arm, grind on my manifold flanges, regrind again and when I was done, it steered ok...[be sure to use a 53-54 steering gearbox] but on sharp left corners, the manifold and pitman arm would still touch a little....no big deal. If Id' used a short water pump and correct pulleys, I could have gone a little further forward with the engine and still had fan clearance.....live and learn, eh?
It depends on what type of headers you want to use, but unlees they are really cool headrs i would go with the ram horns.
What are you going to use the car for? Strip? Street & strip? Then you'd probably want headers. A lot of the headers that were home-built and commercially available were over the frame and through the fender wells. Very trad and they work well although I'd spring for the style header shown above that Mutt listed. Headers I've had on my cars were all home-built cept for one. (63 Chevy half ton w'327.) They've never really given any trouble. I build an ok header, but it's probably not any better than the manufacturers supply - except for the cheap ****py ones. It's not about flange thickness either. I use 1/4" cold rolled for the flanges and don't have problems with either one solid flange or separate flanges for each port. Two reasons why headers work for me: I use stock gaskets instead of hot rod aftermarket one-piece gaskets. (The one-piece gaskets were an answer toward making header/gasket installation easier and they did, but individual gaskets aren't that much more difficult.) Both the embossed (early Olds style) shim stock gaskets and the later looks like asbestos in an aluminum sandwich (late Buick) gaskets work great. In the early days I checked the torque on the header bolts fairly often and after 3-4 times you could leave em alone. Nowadays I use ARP's stainless header bolts (special stainless that is stronger than Grade 8's) along with red RTV high temp silicone as a bolt-locker. (As recommended by the speed shop in Central California where I used to live.) The red silicone works well. Once the header bolts are installed you can leave them alone. They release ok when required. Before I bought any commercial header I'd try very hard to look at an installed model like you're looking at and see just how the plugs, wires et al fit. Regardless of what car the SBC is in, there's lots of room available and it beats me why manufacturers should knock out headers that compromise plug removal and plug wire installation. Like I said above, headers don't do a whole lot for you below 3000 rpm so if the car is going to be a streeter, I'd spring for the Rams Horns. Cynic that I am, I note that a great many of the old manifold vs. header dyno tests were run comparing single exhaust manifold setup against a dual setup with free flowing muffs with headers. If you can find it, I think Hot Rod did an extensive dyno test starting with a stock restrictive single exhaust and going through the stages from free flowing muff, duals etc. until the headers with duals and free flowing muffs were installed and finally with the headers uncorked. A very educational article it was....
somehow I don't believe this is what you meant to say. for some in depth reading on headers you can visit Headers by Ed's site. he also had a pretty good selection of parts last time I looked Paul
Right you are. Corrected to read "below" 3000 rpm. Had to run my daughter to the hospital - she works there - and didn't have time to proofread like I usually do...
I'm wondering the same thing for my truck. I've got some rusty old headers on there now. They are full size but..I don't know...they just don't doo anything for me. I was thinking about ram horns too.
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