Hedman #68460 Camaro Headers Installed on 77 C10

[TrailerTrash]

I have done alot of searching for headers for my 77 C10 with a 350/350. i had a set of no name long tubes on it for a few years now but they hang down way too low and with a single hump crossmember they just dont work at all if you want to keep the exhaust tucked up above the bottom of the frame. i have no idea what brand they are or what they are from. so i started looking around and found several people saying that Camaro headers will fit or Nova headers or 67-72 headers ect. then i found a few posts from a guy(i cant find the thread) and he posted a few pics of OBX stainless headers for an 82-92 camaro installed on his truck. they are pretty expensive so i looked for alternatives and found these

http://www.jegs.com/i/Hedman/500/68460/10002/-1

not a bad price at all so i wanted to give them a try. worst case i just return them. Hedman makes a set that are made for Chevy pickups i think 67-87 that look similar to the Camaro ones but they are $100 more.

here are the headers i had on my truck. they fit the truck perfectly but hung down too low and i had to run both pipes under the crossmember which gave me about inches of ground clearance at stock ride height


the Hedmans have the ball and socket collectors. i wasnt too sure about it because ive read bad reviews but i was willing to try it. they came with the collector reducers, bolts for them, header to block bolts, and gaskets. i reused my all but new Felpro gaskets but the ones Hedman supplied do seem like good quality. not at all like what is in the picture on Jegs website


old vs new. hard to see much of a difference


here is the real difference



both went in just fine from the bottom. i only had to take out 2 spark plugs on the passenger side and they slid right into place.
only issues were where they were too close to the frame on the passenger side and the lower control arm on the driver side. my engine mounts are several years old so im not sure if new mounts would raise the engine up enough to clear these spots or not
this wasnt hitting but it was too close for comfort


this was hitting but just barely


easily fixed with a few smacks with a hammer



here you can see where the old headers were and how much better the new ones sit




The driver side was extremely simple. the header pointed straight back and a straight section of exhaust pipe cleared the crossmember with space on all sides.

the passenger side just needed a slight upward angle then a downward angle to get it back level with the frame. i actually used the angled pipe that used to go under the crossmember i just cut it down a little and flipped it over. worked perfectly




all in all i am very happy with the purchase. one issue i ran into was i had no idea how tight to make the bolts on the ball and socket collectors. they didnt come with lock washers just bolts and nuts. i searched around online and found nothing but people complaining about them loosing nuts and bolts and not staying tight. so i tightened them untill i have 5 exposed threads on all the ends of the bolts. i wasnt super tight but i didnt want to go too tight. them i double nutted them and after alot of driving today and several heat cycles they are still nice and tight and the collectors do not leak whatsoever

I hope this helps some of you guys looking for a decent long tube header that sits above the frame.