Would these headers be OK for my '57?

[OrrieG]

Except on race motors I have always ran rams horns. Less noise, never rust out, never warp and less heat transfer under the hood. If you are buying aftermarket look for the repop 57 Corvette ones with 2.5" diameter outlets and larger inside dimensions. They are reproduced for used in the NHRA stock classes which allow interchange of "stock" manifolds. At low rpms (below 6k) they seem to flow as well as headers.

[roger55]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Except on race motors I have always ran rams horns. Less noise, never rust out, never warp and less heat transfer under the hood. If you are buying aftermarket look for the repop 57 Corvette ones with 2.5" diameter outlets and larger inside dimensions. They are reproduced for used in the NHRA stock classes which allow interchange of "stock" manifolds. At low rpms (below 6k) they seem to flow as well as headers.

I was starting to think that the ram horns made more sense for this truck than those inexpensive stainless headers I bought and now after what you say, I'm thinking about getting the ram horns anyway. I wouldn't lose much money by selling the stainless ones back on ebay where I got them.
However, I still am going to play with moving the engine slightly forward and up and then make the decision. In any case I think the TPI will look a little better forward and up slightly. The distributor and the cover are pretty close to the firewall the way it sits.

I have been reading elsewhere also that the 2.5" ram horns do indeed perform darn close to headers on a lower rpm engine but the 2" inch ones do not. My engine will never see over 5K rpm and it's only a 305 too.

The repro 2.5" ram horns are made by Dorman but the Wysco are also 2.5" and already have the generator brackets taken off. The castings look smoother too. Since they are priced about the same, I think I would get the Wysco.