Good headers that fit...

[nau81blazer]

Hey all,

I know I could probably do some digging and find the answer, but maybe one of you guys could tell me real quick. What are a good set of headers for an 81' K5 with a 383? I already took all the smog stuff off, so that's not an issue. I'm not looking to spend a fortune, but still something that will seal up pretty good.

And.....

Does everyone like the 40 series flowmasters? I want something louder, but deep and rumb-ly-ish. Thanks for the input guys!

--Adam

 

[nau81blazer]

please..........

 

[ryoken]

Thorley Tri-Y's or some Dougs headers are nice... Hookers are quality too.. With headers, you get what you pay for... Thick wall, thick flanges are a sign of quality....

 

[blazinzuk]

One more vote for you get what you pay for. Look for thick flanges, personally I would get painted ones and have them coated with jet hot or something but thats just an opinion

 

[ryoken]

Jet Hot's carrying a fair amount of headers these days (including Hookers), but alas no Thorley's, new or old school..

 

[blazinzuk]

Jet Hot's carrying a fair amount of headers these days (including Hookers), but alas no Thorley's, new or old school..

I may not be right about this but isn't that because thorleys come chrome plated and you can't coat the chrome. BTW Thorleys are nice I have had a couple of sets on different vehicles never had a problem with them

 

[ryoken]

right, I would guess its because you can get chrome, ceramic.. plain steel isn't available..

obviously you could still strip a set in a blast cabinet I guess and send em to em..

 

[dyeager535]

Hedman Elites are pretty nice, might need to tweak them a bit, but they do hang down lower than some types.

They are quite cheap at Summit (or were) comparatively. If looking at coated headers, I'd see how much it cost to internally coat them as well.

 

[ryoken]

Jet Hot does everything, inside and out as part of their standard package...

 

[dyeager535]

Just not sure if the "good" headers can be coated that way. For instance, the Hedman Elites have thicker tubes, flanges, and use the superior ball/socket exhaust joint. But since they are already coated externally, I wonder if jet hot will just do the inside. I suspect they will, but from the one set of headers I compared coated, to what summit was selling, the price was only $10 more from jet-hot!

I've seen what internal coatings do first hand, I'm sold. Besides the tests you can read about that say the same thing.

Edit, here's the car craft article I recall: http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/80038/index.html look at the before/after surface temps!

 

[ryoken]

I'm not sure they would coat just the inside.... I seriously doubt it tho.. I would think it would be difficult to prep and apply to just the inside without damaging the outside coating... Pretty sure they beadblast that stuff...

I would think it would cost just as much probably as to do the whole header.. And personally, I'd bet the Jet Hot Sterling is superior to the HTC coating Hedman uses anyway..

I would think you'd be in the same boat as having them do some thorleys, paying 300 to 400 for a quality header with decent coating, but kinda wasting that extra cost of a decent coating by having them recoat em for whatever they would charge, say 150..

I mean the headers would be improved and certainly bada$$, but the overall cost would probably be in the 600 range... Thats why I'm strongly considering some steel off their list, coated, like some Hookers..

edit.... Tho I just read that link and they mention just coating parts of exhaust manifolds, so maybe I'm wrong and they could do just the inside...