Headers for a big block?

[dremu]

Background: I'm swapping out the motor in my tow rig as the old one seized up.

The motor going in has an Edelbrock Performer 2-O intake, and I was considering getting a new carb, prolly an Edelbrock 1411. The motor also has some kind of hot cam, the details of which I should be receiving soon.

The tow rig is a crewcab dually, so a hot rod it ain't ... I don't care about high RPM as it'll never break 65MPH. I *do* care about low-end grunt, and if I've got all this high-falutin' fancy stuff on the intake side, I was thinking I should prolly balance it with something on the output side.

Can you tell I've only done stock motors until now?

So I'm thinking about headers. I could spend a lot of money, which I'm not in a rush to do, but the sub-$100 Summit specials worry me a little with the stories about fitment.

So, any observations on what I should do? Is it worth a coupla hundred bucks on a medium-cheap set, or should I just stick with the stock exhaust manifolds and spend the $$ on the Blazer?

Other factoids:

The current exhaust is a mild abomination and was patched together by the PO, and is likely just a straight pipe from the Y-pipe back... I'll likely replace it, once I have the thing running, but I wanna get the motor in first.

The truck is pre-smog, so I don't care about CARB stickers or anything. I want it to idle decently, and have as much torque as I can weasel out of the thing for cheap.

-- A

 

[boz42]

headers that are good for torque = thorley's = $$$

i bought a set of cheapo dynomax ones for an older project, they were coated & only ran me about $200. they fit pretty good too.

 

[mosesburb]

I was considering getting a new carb, prolly an Edelbrock 1411.

If it has a Q-Jet, I'd keep it. If not, I'd get one. A properly set-up Q-jet will run circles around an Edelbrock AFB and be more reliable to boot.

so a hot rod it ain't ... I don't care about high RPM as it'll never break 65MPH. I *do* care about low-end grunt.

Low RPM, manifolds will suffice just fine. Also, the manifolds will not need gasket changes on a regular basis.

should I just stick with the stock exhaust manifolds and spend the $$ on the Blazer? .

Yes.

Other factoids:

The current exhaust is a mild abomination and was patched together by the PO, and is likely just a straight pipe from the Y-pipe back... I'll likely replace it, once I have the thing running, but I wanna get the motor in first.

I had a crate Gen V 454 with manifolds and a dual 2-1/2 into single 3-1/2 MANDREL BENT exhaust that ran VERY well and sounded very mean. I used an extremely large muffler that looked like something off of a medium-duty truck that flows big numbers.
A good exhaust system is critical to a good running setup.

The truck is pre-smog, so I don't care about CARB stickers or anything. I want it to idle decently, and have as much torque as I can weasel out of the thing for cheap.

You may want to investigate the torque properties of that cam real well before installing the motor. Very often big cams are better suited for winding out than grunting. This is not always the case as I have installed cams in motors on recommendations from a knowledgable source that have worked extremely well in vehicles that I would have put a much smaller cam into if I was choosing.
If you are bent on getting headers, the ONLY ones I would recommend are Doug Thorley Tri-Y's. They are very high quality and actually fit what they are designed to fit. They are bucks, but quality costs.
Just my $.02, take it for what it is worth.

 

[dremu]

If it has a Q-Jet, I'd keep it. If not, I'd get one. A properly set-up Q-jet will run circles around an Edelbrock AFB and be more reliable to boot.

Well, I have two Q-jets, one Rochester and one Edelbrock (1902), both of which will need some fiddling or love. Guess I'll play with those.

I had a crate Gen V 454 with manifolds and a dual 2-1/2 into single 3-1/2 MANDREL BENT exhaust that ran VERY well and sounded very mean. I used an extremely large muffler that looked like something off of a medium-duty truck that flows big numbers.
A good exhaust system is critical to a good running setup.


You may want to investigate the torque properties of that cam real well before installing the motor. Very often big cams are better suited for winding out than grunting. This is not always the case as I have installed cams in motors on recommendations from a knowledgable source that have worked extremely well in vehicles that I would have put a much smaller cam into if I was choosing.
If you are bent on getting headers, the ONLY ones I would recommend are Doug Thorley Tri-Y's. They are very high quality and actually fit what they are designed to fit. They are bucks, but quality costs.
Just my $.02, take it for what it is worth.

"Bent" on getting headers, good one

I'm not bent on anything, other than making this thing run well. Looks like blindly throwing money at it may not be the best thing ... I'll see what the cam is like, and yeah, a trip to the good local muffler guy is in order.

Sweet; appreciate the info!

-- A