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Years ago, 26 to be exact, I installed the T-5 behind the little 289. There is a lot more to the story but I ended up buying headers from the local speed shop to route the exhaust. They are Hooker Competition and I think they were designed to fit 260-351 engines, hence they hang really low. The fit is excellent other than the speed bump clearance.
I would like to replace them with something that won't scrape the speed bumps. I am not interested in shorties.
I have a T-5 with late model bell and a stock Z-bar clutch linkage. I removed the cable clutch mounting boss from the bell housing. The car also has power steering. Heads are Edelbrock 6025's (1996 vintage).
What have you guys found that fits well and hugs the floor without a lot of tube messaging to make them fit. Ceramic coated would be a plus.
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Unfortunately your options are long tube headers that hang low or shorties that don't. Honestly, I don't know why you are married to long tubes. I've found over the years that in most car applications the hassle of living with them isn't worth the perceived power gain. I've seen this born out in numerous dyno tests. Long tubes may have better peak power, but they actually make less torque in the mid range, which is where most street driving is done. I ran long tubes on one 5.0 back in the day and the 5.0s that I had shorties on seemed to have more power and had no fitment or clearance issues. I have shorties on my '67 and my '89 and am quite happy with them. Both are from JBA. Just my $0.02.
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Oh butt the sound!!!!!!!!!! Long tubes...Worth it all. Heddman has them I tink. Black jack?? Haven't looked lately butt unless everybody just quit making them ........several companys make 'real' headers for your car.
6sally6
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6sally6 wrote:
Oh butt the sound!!!!!!!!!! Long tubes...Worth it all. Heddman has them I tink. Black jack?? Haven't looked lately butt unless everybody just quit making them ........several companys make 'real' headers for your car.
6sally6
Sorry, Sally, my shorties sound much better than the long tubes I had for years, which were constantly scraping the ground. And when I removed them some of the pipes were reduced to small ovals that surprised me with how small the openings had become. I couldn't believe that the engine still ran.
And, yes I had messaged them a number of times to increase ground clearance.
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I think FPA has the best reputation for fit ... if ya gotta have long tubes. But you pay for it.
Last edited by 50vert (10/08/2019 10:54 PM)
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Yeah, I'll second that, headers are only part of the sound. I've had so many compliments on how my '67 sounds (JBA shorties, JBA X-pipe, Magnaflow 2-1/2" exhaust, modified GT tips). I used to get compliments all the time on my '89 as well (MAC shorties, MAC catted H-pipe, 2 chamber Flowmasters).
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Go short. Won’t regret it. Sound has more to do with compression ratio than header length.
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I was thinking of going the same route and running a Z bar. Is anyone running a Z bar with shorty headers?
I thought the Z bar wouldn't work with Shorty Headers?
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I wonder if Shelby style tri-y headers will work, they seemed to for good ole Carroll.
Lots of road clearance with the ones I have, I have an AOD and had to mod them for width though.
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For a set of headers that will meet all your needs, there is always FPA. They can build them for your specific application and tuck them up tight. However, there is a price to pay. For convenience and cost, shorties may work best. For a nice but expensive header setup, FPA would be once and done forever.
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I'm running MAC longtubes on my 66. I chose them mostly because they'll work with GT40P heads even though they weren't designed to. They also fit very well. A nice feature on the driver's side is #5 tube slips in after the main assembly is in. This greatly eases installation. My car is also 4 speed. They pretty much cleared everything. The only issue was with the Z bar shaft on one tube that I had to put a slight dimple. Otherwise absolutely no issues with the rest of the linkage. While my car is manual steering these headers will clear the PS ram WITHOUT a drop bracket. Oh ground clearance is great[img][/img]
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Those tuck up pretty nice. My bro-in-law sent me a link to a header dent test - a lot of people worry about minor clearance mods. Turns out you can get pretty aggressive and not lose any HP. Header bash
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My car is pretty slammed and no issues with the headers at all. I have a Zray TA style front cross member with a jacking pad. I actually have to pull the car up just to get a floor jack under the pad, that's how low it is.
Here's the dent in the tube. It looks worse in the photo then it really is. It's long and shallow
[img][/img]
Last edited by Huskinhano (10/09/2019 9:35 PM)
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I had to put a pretty serious dent in one tube on the LH side of my JBA shorties because of the larger size of the Borgeson steering box. I doubt it hurt performance, but I surely wasn't a fan of having to do that to a brand new set of coated headers. I used a large round bar (either an intermediate shaft out of a Dana 20 t-case or a countergear pin out of a Muncie, can't remember which, but over 1" in diameter) I had and hammered on that over a rag as opposed to directly hitting the headers with a hammer. It seems to have spared the coating by and large.
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Steve69 wrote:
I was thinking of going the same route and running a Z bar. Is anyone running a Z bar with shorty headers?
I thought the Z bar wouldn't work with Shorty Headers?
I have shorties (Heddman) in my 351w. And use a Z-bar. No fitment problems at all. However I did have to monkey a bit with my R&P shaft to clear the Z-bar.
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There was a video circulating a while ago where an engine on a dyno with headers that were continually bashed and beaten almost beyond recognition and no loss in performance.
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Try the link on my post about 5 up from here.
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What did ya come up with for a solution Gary?
Inquiring minds want to know.😁
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Nos681 wrote:
What did ya come up with for a solution Gary?
Inquiring minds want to know.😁
It seems that FPA does not make a set for the small block and Z-bar with stock/Eddie heads or I would go that way. The Hooker Competition currently installed clears everything with no dings, dents or prying. They just hang an inch lower than I would like. I've lived with them for the past 25 years, why not a few more.
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Just put a 351w and headers, won’t be low anymore.😁
Sounds like Mikey eh?😂
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Nos681 wrote:
Just put a 351w and headers, won’t be low anymore.😁
Sounds like Mikey eh?😂
Find me a first run 351W and I'll do it.
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RV6 wrote:
Find me a first run 351W and I'll do it.
Isn’t that like a bigfoot or ufo sighting?
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Just took mine to the weld shop to have a couple pin holes welded up. The guy is pretty much 'doing me biggy' because we were swapping welding stories about the Navy yard. 2030 bux.
These headers ARE realllllly old butt they fit so darn good and I have no idea who made them! Be hard to find a reasonably priced set that don't hang too low and fit around by T-5 and Z-bar.
6sal6
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6sally6 wrote:
Just took mine to the weld shop to have a couple pin holes welded up. The guy is pretty much 'doing me biggy' because we were swapping welding stories about the Navy yard. 2030 bux.
These headers ARE realllllly old butt they fit so darn good and I have no idea who made them! Be hard to find a reasonably priced set that don't hang too low and fit around by T-5 and Z-bar.
6sal6
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Nos681 wrote:
6sally6 wrote:
Just took mine to the weld shop to have a couple pin holes welded up. The guy is pretty much 'doing me biggy' because we were swapping welding stories about the Navy yard. 2030 bux.
These headers ARE realllllly old butt they fit so darn good and I have no idea who made them! Be hard to find a reasonably priced set that don't hang too low and fit around by T-5 and Z-bar.
6sal6
Hence the statement...'took to the weld shop'. They're still there.
Not sure IF I can get a pic from my phone to the board/!
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