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the first time you beat a set of headers onto a car

I bet there were more thrills found because of Strawberry Hill than Blueberry Hill! I could have used a few bottles when I was putting those headers in!
 
I bet there were more thrills found because of Strawberry Hill than Blueberry Hill! I could have used a few bottles when I was putting those headers in!

my old man would just throw a quart of Iron City at the situation...... maybe 2

the headers, not the girl :drinks:
 
Spent the whole day wrestling a cheap set of headers into a 71 duster with a 318. They fought me to the bitter end.

Started the engine only to find a bunch of flange leaks. I immediately got the air hose and an air chisel and had them SOB’s out in about 10 minutes. It was therapeutic to say the least. Half an hour later the manifolds were back in.

That was the last set of headers I ran….until my 67 Belvedere with a 512 and Doug’s. Only one issue with a torsion bar on the passenger side which was easily remedied. Have yet to fire it…I still have that air chisel from 40 years ago
 
My first set of headers were a set of Blackjacks. They were used on my 72 Challenger Rally. It was originally a 340 / 4 speed car B5 Blue with a black vinyl top.

When I got the car I was fresh out of basic training. It had a two barrel 400 B engine and a 727 automatic in it at the time of purchase. I used to beat on the car but not the headers.

Going from memory they fit decent and the only thing that I had to do was to massage one of the tubes for more plug wire clearance.

This is what it looked like before I drove it back to the base, and then shortly thereafter. I removed the vinyl top because it was peeling off and was ratty enough.

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1979- Cyclones on my '70 6 brl Road Runner because I thought it would be fun to jump the railroad track crossing and ripped the flange off the ones that were on it along with mashing the oil pan. The stupid **** we did when we were young and our cars were cheap!
 
1979- Cyclones on my '70 6 brl Road Runner because I thought it would be fun to jump the railroad track crossing and ripped the flange off the ones that were on it along with mashing the oil pan. The stupid **** we did when we were young and our cars were cheap!
The first car I put headers on was my 68 Roadrunner 383. I don’t remember them giving me too much trouble, but 1981 was a lot of brain cells ago.

I did jump those railroad tracks though! We really thought we were something.
 
1976, I bought a 74 GMC 3/4 ton with a 250 6, 3 on the tree. Yanked the 6 and put in a 350 about 2 months after I bought it. They were blackjack with just straight thrush mufflers with dumps just behind the cab. Took the 3 off the tree and put a hurst floor in it. Pretty easy actually. The hardest were my buds 73 Dart sport, 4 speed. Of course had to dismantle the center link and went to Mr. Norms to get the oil filter 90 adapter, 2 days later, it was done. I put quite a few on different rides, my own and friends. Always had to test drive with them open, for kicks and to tick off Mrs. Cunnington. She was the Mrs. Cravats of the neighborhood, of course my mom would get a call, she’d just smile and say she called.
 
1979- Cyclones on my '70 6 brl Road Runner because I thought it would be fun to jump the railroad track crossing and ripped the flange off the ones that were on it along with mashing the oil pan. The stupid **** we did when we were young and our cars were cheap!
I blame the Dukes of Hazzard for making young men want to make B body Mopars go airbourne! Only we didn't get a new car after every jump,just a bunch of broken parts to replace!
 
I blame the Dukes of Hazzard for making young men want to make B body Mopars go airbourne! Only we didn't get a new car after every jump,just a bunch of broken parts to replace!
I had a guy who worked for me 30 some years ago, who jumped a 73 Newport off some tracks and nailed a tree, 5’ off the ground. Luckily he wasn’t killed or even hurt really. Nailed it dead center.
 
Spent the whole day wrestling a cheap set of headers into a 71 duster with a 318. They fought me to the bitter end.

Started the engine only to find a bunch of flange leaks. I immediately got the air hose and an air chisel and had them SOB’s out in about 10 minutes. It was therapeutic to say the least. Half an hour later the manifolds were back in.

That was the last set of headers I ran….until my 67 Belvedere with a 512 and Doug’s. Only one issue with a torsion bar on the passenger side which was easily remedied. Have yet to fire it…I still have that air chisel from 40 years ago
Figured I was going to have a hard time installing headers on my 66 Mustang since the engine bay in those are pretty small too....probably smaller than an 'A' body but they slipped right in. On the other hand, I knew they would fit since they came off of another car.
1979- Cyclones on my '70 6 brl Road Runner because I thought it would be fun to jump the railroad track crossing and ripped the flange off the ones that were on it along with mashing the oil pan. The stupid **** we did when we were young and our cars were cheap!
Oh man...my Belvedere back then saw air too but my sister's 65 coupe saw a LOT more lol
I blame the Dukes of Hazzard for making young men want to make B body Mopars go airbourne! Only we didn't get a new car after every jump,just a bunch of broken parts to replace!
Dukes of Hazzard got the 'getting air idea from me!! LOL Oh man, probably a good thing we didn't have cell phones back then!! Think I still hold the record for consecutive 360's on West Beach south of Galveston too since there is no more West Beach.
 
I've never had to beat on a set of
headers. I've also not bought a set
from any manufacturer preferring
instead to design my own.
I've got a custom set on a '79 CJ-7
360 with the pipes running inside the
the frame to the rear, and a custom
set on a '40 Plymouth pickup 440.
It's helped to have thousands of hours
with CAD and a friend that builds
headers for a living.
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I swore I'd never install another set of headers after the first set on my GTX back in '97....but there I was again in 2013 putting in a set of TTI's after all the great feedback from members here. Ughhhh...the pain...still had to massage them a bit on the passenger side.

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Typical story, late 70's, Chevy small block and Blackjacks - only cheaper header in those days were
the JC Whitney ones, I reckon - but everyone knew you had to beat a set of Blackjacks on whatever
engine/car you were fooling with, didn't matter what brand.
My first headers may have been BlackJacks....I had a 76 Camaro with a 350 and automatic. Later I swapped in shorty headers and a 4 speed. The header swaps in that car were pretty easy.
Mopars though?

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The damn steering linkage, shifter linkage, starter and torsion bars make header installation in our cars really difficult.
My first swap was in my red car....'70 Charger with a 440.
The headers were Hooker 5903. On jackstands, it took me NINE hours to get them in from start to finish. The left side rubbed the torsion bar so I had to attach a thin strip of rubber to the torsion bar to keep the header from rattling against it.
Years later, I changed to a set of Hooker 5209 2" headers that were 3 & 1....they had a slip fit pipe separate from the other 3 on each side. Those were easier to install and fit without dents or anything.
TTIs though.....In 2006 or 2007, I changed to the TTIs that I still have. They were close to the steering box but since I swapped in a Borgeson unit, the dents I put in the middle tubes are just ugly and unnecessary.

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Cranium just didn't want to get his hands dirty

Not so, and you know that. ….And I still stand by my previous comment. However, “The Roach” IS getting a set of TTI headers. Being the smart person that I am, I have them on the 392 because the tubular K-frame, no torsion bars and forward mounted steering linkage make the installation a breeze and give plenty of working room underneath.

Perhaps one of these days you’ll be as smart as me.


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