After the Colorado Crew's last trail run I found myself in the market for new headers. On the way home I picked up a significant exhaust noise, I figured it was the standard loose passenger pipe from the collector rubbing the shackle - typical problem with the Dynomax brand. Lo & Behold I had a little suprise in store. Anyone using or considering the use of header wrap is in for a little bad news. That crap kills your headers quick, they literally rot away. After pinpointing the exhaust sputter I found a pinkie finger size hole in the collector where the pipes come together, after unwrapping them here's the end result. These are 2 year old Dynomax steel headers.
So I began shopping around for a new set. I wanted good quality, good fit, no leaks, and an affordable price. I compared tube gage, primary size, head flange thickness, coated and non coated styles, and flanges. This is a short list of the sets I looked at and could afford for a 1977 K10. It is not meant as an "end all" compilation for every vehicle application. It is simply meant to give you a little comparison.
Header Types
1. Summit Standard / $89.95 / 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
2. Summit Ceramic / $178.95 / 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
3. Hooker Comp / $159.95 / 16 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
4. Hooker Comp Ceramic / $359.95 / 16 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
5. Hooker S-Comp / $409.95 / 18 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
6. Hooker S-Comp Ceramic / $659.95 / 18 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
7. Hedman Street / $145.95 / 16 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 1/4 Flange
8. Hedman Torque Step / $215.95 / 16 Gage - 1.5 to 1 5/8 P - 1/4 Flange
9. Hedman Elite Ceramic / $269.95 / 14 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 3/8 Flange
10. Dynomax Standard / $185.95 / 18 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
11. Dynomax Ceramic / $309.95 / 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
12. Flowtech / $109.95 / 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
13. Flowtech Ceramic / $245.95 - 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
14. Flowtech Afterburner / $179.95 / 18 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
15. Thorley Tri-Y / $369.95 / 14 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 3/8 Flange
16. Thorley TY Ceramic / $581.69 / 14 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 3/8 Flange
17. JBA Stainless / $749.95 / Shorty - 1 5/8 Primary - 3/8 Flange
I settled on the Hedman Elite series headers, part number 69830. I had heard both good and bad reviews about them here on the site, so I had mixed feelings. However they looked like the best bang for the buck. With 14 gage tube, 3/8 flange, and thermal coat, they are comparable to the well liked Thorley line. The Hedman's turned out to be a very well made product with no clearance issues and were a dream to install. They came wrapped in foam and plastic to prevent rub marks, although they did pick up a few during shipment. They included all hardware and gaskets. The first thing I did was lay them out next to the old Dynomax set, you can see the difference right away. The Dynomax are notorious for rubbing the front leaf rear shackle on the passenger side. I had turned my shackle bolt around and filed the head down and still had rubbing during flex that was bad enough to loosen the header up after a few trips. Here are pics of the side by side comparison & collector clearance issue on the Dynomax.
So on to the install, to be honest it was ridiculously simple. Every set of headers I've ever owned was a PITA to install, I was either fighting clearance or bolt alignment. The Hedman Elite's are designed well enough that you can install them with your spark plugs in place. The bolts threaded right in and were simple to tighten by finger. In other words the fit was excellent. The only thing I changed was the header gasket. I'm running a 1990 TBI engine and the narrow Hedman gaskets intruded into the exhaust path. I found that a set of stock 77 gaskets from Fel-Pro (part #1444) were the perfect match with plenty of material and no interference.
There isn't much else to tell you, the headers went on in a matter of minutes. They tuck up into the engine bay perfectly, no interference on either side. The Elite's are shorter and higher than the old long tubes giving you big gains in clearance. I used some short 2.5" pieces of pipe from Advance Auto to fill the gap long enough to get me to the Exhaust shop. The local exhaust man made a couple of nice short pieces and added the 02 bung in the short section just after the collector. So far I have thrown no codes and the truck runs much smoother.
The thermal coat keeps things cool under the hood, almost as good as the header wrap. I noticed improved torque down low over the previous Dynomax set and the 14 gauge tube keeps things very quiet. The Hedman's also feature a gasketless ball & socket collector. They look like a shoulder joint, and have the ability to move with severe flex. Hedman is way ahead of the game here in my opinion.
I am more than happy with my investment, 269.95 for the headers from Summit, 24.00 for Fel-Pro gaskets, 90.00 for exhaust work equals a total of 383.95 all said and done. I have no problem recommending the Hedman Elite Series to anyone else and have no complaints.
So I began shopping around for a new set. I wanted good quality, good fit, no leaks, and an affordable price. I compared tube gage, primary size, head flange thickness, coated and non coated styles, and flanges. This is a short list of the sets I looked at and could afford for a 1977 K10. It is not meant as an "end all" compilation for every vehicle application. It is simply meant to give you a little comparison.
Header Types
1. Summit Standard / $89.95 / 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
2. Summit Ceramic / $178.95 / 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
3. Hooker Comp / $159.95 / 16 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
4. Hooker Comp Ceramic / $359.95 / 16 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
5. Hooker S-Comp / $409.95 / 18 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
6. Hooker S-Comp Ceramic / $659.95 / 18 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
7. Hedman Street / $145.95 / 16 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 1/4 Flange
8. Hedman Torque Step / $215.95 / 16 Gage - 1.5 to 1 5/8 P - 1/4 Flange
9. Hedman Elite Ceramic / $269.95 / 14 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 3/8 Flange
10. Dynomax Standard / $185.95 / 18 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
11. Dynomax Ceramic / $309.95 / 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
12. Flowtech / $109.95 / 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
13. Flowtech Ceramic / $245.95 - 18 Gage - 1 1/2 Primary - 5/16 Flange
14. Flowtech Afterburner / $179.95 / 18 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 5/16 Flange
15. Thorley Tri-Y / $369.95 / 14 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 3/8 Flange
16. Thorley TY Ceramic / $581.69 / 14 Gage - 1 5/8 Primary - 3/8 Flange
17. JBA Stainless / $749.95 / Shorty - 1 5/8 Primary - 3/8 Flange
I settled on the Hedman Elite series headers, part number 69830. I had heard both good and bad reviews about them here on the site, so I had mixed feelings. However they looked like the best bang for the buck. With 14 gage tube, 3/8 flange, and thermal coat, they are comparable to the well liked Thorley line. The Hedman's turned out to be a very well made product with no clearance issues and were a dream to install. They came wrapped in foam and plastic to prevent rub marks, although they did pick up a few during shipment. They included all hardware and gaskets. The first thing I did was lay them out next to the old Dynomax set, you can see the difference right away. The Dynomax are notorious for rubbing the front leaf rear shackle on the passenger side. I had turned my shackle bolt around and filed the head down and still had rubbing during flex that was bad enough to loosen the header up after a few trips. Here are pics of the side by side comparison & collector clearance issue on the Dynomax.
So on to the install, to be honest it was ridiculously simple. Every set of headers I've ever owned was a PITA to install, I was either fighting clearance or bolt alignment. The Hedman Elite's are designed well enough that you can install them with your spark plugs in place. The bolts threaded right in and were simple to tighten by finger. In other words the fit was excellent. The only thing I changed was the header gasket. I'm running a 1990 TBI engine and the narrow Hedman gaskets intruded into the exhaust path. I found that a set of stock 77 gaskets from Fel-Pro (part #1444) were the perfect match with plenty of material and no interference.
There isn't much else to tell you, the headers went on in a matter of minutes. They tuck up into the engine bay perfectly, no interference on either side. The Elite's are shorter and higher than the old long tubes giving you big gains in clearance. I used some short 2.5" pieces of pipe from Advance Auto to fill the gap long enough to get me to the Exhaust shop. The local exhaust man made a couple of nice short pieces and added the 02 bung in the short section just after the collector. So far I have thrown no codes and the truck runs much smoother.
The thermal coat keeps things cool under the hood, almost as good as the header wrap. I noticed improved torque down low over the previous Dynomax set and the 14 gauge tube keeps things very quiet. The Hedman's also feature a gasketless ball & socket collector. They look like a shoulder joint, and have the ability to move with severe flex. Hedman is way ahead of the game here in my opinion.
I am more than happy with my investment, 269.95 for the headers from Summit, 24.00 for Fel-Pro gaskets, 90.00 for exhaust work equals a total of 383.95 all said and done. I have no problem recommending the Hedman Elite Series to anyone else and have no complaints.
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I hope these headers last ya for a long time.
! I am definately going to pick a set of these up soon. And I have heard nothing but great things about stage 8 bolts so I think I will get those too. Thanks!
