Shorty hedders on 1970 GTX? Pro's, Con's?????

I've seen almost all the hedders that you can squeeze in a B Body 440. Has anyone had success installing shorty hedders in a B Body with high torque starter? Please help.

Not an answer to your question but I wanted to throw this in. I haven't installed any shorty's. Just went through a process of picking headers for my 400 stroker build. The one thing I kept finding with shorty headers was they were all rated for lower hp. Nowhere near the hp I would have. (300-450 ranges +-)

Not knowing what you have for hp, just be aware. But on the other side, installing shorty's on higher hp motor, does it make that much of a difference? Some said yes and others said no. So....??

Thanks for the info. Just looking for an exhaust that I don't have to remove to change the starter. I've seen mixed feedback on the Headman shorty's on Summit's page. Would hate to have to ding a new set of ceramic coated tubes to make them fit.

How often do you plan to change the starter ?

TTI long tubes . Never had a problem with starters.

TTI also makes shorties

The header designs before the 90s all seemed to cook the starter, shortening the life of it. There have been great improvements made since then. All starters seem to have better clearance due to better routing of the header pipes. The smaller mini starters are even more reliable than the originals and have more clearance around them. The need to change them is greatly reduced. Even so, I need only unbolt the left header and swing it away from the block a little to get my mini starter out. The header never comes out.

TTI makes 1 3/4 shorty headers that will fit without modification. If you go long tube, you will probably need to go to a mini-starter. I went with the 2 inch long headers, makes it very tight everywhere, but fits. Does require using a RobbMc starter which is probably the smallest mini-starter available. TTI tech support seems to know all the answers to these questions.

Hopefully never Robby.

So you want to sacrifice performance for the slim chance of having to change a starter?? Makes no sense at all to me.

I've been keeping an eye on this thread and if your gonna have any hp, don't use a shorty header. Get yourself some headman long tubes, non coated, and mock them up, then if you need to "tweak" a tube or 2 you didn't ruin the coating. Then send you can send them out for coating. Just a thought!

Come on guys....we all know that Murphy's law CLEARLY dictates that one day after installing headers, the starter ALWAYS fails, even if brand new.

I did have a set of shorty Hedman Hedders #78070 painted like $179 from Summit IIRC
on a stock 383 in a 68 RR, BUT they helped the performance some, how much I'm not 100% sure,
I'm sure more HP/TQ than the stock HP manifolds, far less reversion,
better flow if nothing else would bump it maybe 10% on a stock type combo "free flowing"
BUT so did the 770cfm Street Avenger, RPM Intake,
K&N Filter & 1.6 ratio Crane Ductile Iron adj. rockers,
hotter ignition & coil, low ohm resistance wires etc.
The Hedman Shorty hedders I had, they have 1-3/4" short tubes like 20" long & 2.5" collectors
But;
I had a 3" Flowmasters American thunder Series 50 exhaust system,
I made my own head pipes out of scrap 3" mandrel bent tubing, the 2.5 collector rings {barely big enough}
I encapsulated a fastener on each side the pipe was too really big on the 2.5" openings,
I had to have one bolt from the top, welded captured nuts on the other 2 to have easy access,
from underneath, I could access my starter & the wires pretty well {IIRC}...
It won't work with a Unisteer Rack & pinion thou, that's long story, low car no room for long tubes,
I made a different custom set of hedders, 1-3/4" stepped to 1-7/8"
with Flowmasters scavenger 1-7/8" merge 4-2-1 to 3" collectors,
when I went to a stroker combo latter, that car went 8.58 @ 156 on a 300 shot N20
9.77 @ 135 N/A thru the mufflers @ 3520#'s on old drag radials
that custom hedder went up & to the back to the fire wall, than down with the collectors,
tried to make them equal length tuned pipes, what a bitch that was...
kind of like the S/S Iron manifold from 63-64, was my pattern sort-of...
it had pretty goo starter clearance then...

sorry got off track a little...LOL

Anyway they/Hedman shorty headers fit really well IIRC
no dinging anything on the 383 in the RR IIRC, it's been like 10 years ago now,
I had new style Dakota mini starter too, always a bitch in most any Mopar BB...
It was a low deck B-block too, the hedders don't hug the block quite as tight as the RB blocks do...
Sorry never had any shorty's on a RB block...
IIRC the only issue was the drag link or pitman arm {I can't remember which}
was close, I had to do a little minor quarter shape flat spot ding for clearances,
in the 3" head pipes I custom made... Doooh

they even fit the angle plug Eddy RPM heads,
just for shits & giggles I checked...

Sorry no photos of the custom swept back style hedders either...

good luck

I agree w Bud in that I can't exactly tell you what the performance loss is with shorty vs full length headers, but I am running Schumacher headers (manufactured for him by TTI and of very high quality) with the ceramic coating and they look and fit beautifully. I was new at the header thing and didn't want to fight them in and out of the car when installing the engine. I also was concerned about ground clearance given that I already wanted the car low (road racing) but needed enough clearance to get into my difficult (break over angle) driveway. I am using a mini starter as well - also purchased from Schumacher, for convenience and the "I know it fits" factor. I have been really happy with the look and fit but I'll admit I've sometime wondered what I am giving up by being 6 inches shorter than other guys. My headers I mean. My HEADERS are six inches shorter than other guys. Other stuff I have is similar length. I mean, I guess... :eusa_shifty:

There are various pics in my thread "80 Grit"

Lol!!

Good information guy's, keep it coming. This is my first Mopar and it's a bit of a learning curve for these particular things. I'm not looking for a 500HP 440 car. I just want a good driver. The issue with ground clearance is a big thing for me that's why I'll probably go with the shorty's. Thanks 5.7 Hemi for the answer. I'll probably mock up and do the break in with the painted tubes and then get them coated. The mini started I installed works fine now and hope never to change it. But as YY1 said you never know. As for PP1RT's comment, I don't sacrifice performance, that is what I have my Cobra for. Of course it's Chevy powered!
Keep the comments coming.