Header Advice

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by PbFut

This was at a local car show last month FWIW.
I used a basic summit header and wrapped it. Cost is ok but by the time you include wrap and DEI silicone paint, it does add up some. Many will poo poo wrap but I find under hood temp are much lower and you can bump the header with your hand and not get burned in very short time after shut down. Saved my hands many times in the pits.

I will admit Wrap was neat. It did keep my 350's underhood temps down in a '71 GMC Jimmy K/1500. Another factor was the noise reduction. It sounded like a Cadillac. In underground garages you could hardly hear it, unless you're a dog. And I thought I would get some longevity because I airbrushed on some Eastman ceramic coating on my Heddman Hedders and baked them for a few hours at 450*F in my Mom's old Hotpoint electric stove.
Add in the year round aridity of Southern Arizona and I thought they would last fovever. Not to mention how cool the Mummy Wrap looked.
So I was shocked when my Hedders burned out after only 7 years. Even more shocked when I found Heddmans had a lifetime warranty but mummy wrapping voided it.
I had Heddman p/n:69069 [I think]. I ordered the same p/n -- for a '71 [K/5] K/1500 w/Clutch and SBC. The new ones were not the same 3-bolt collectors. The replacements [under the same p/n] were a new type with a Ball-type collector -- held on by 3 long bolt sets.I was p!ssed I had to cut off my Muffler-side collector ends, and run open-pipes seven miles down to the muffler shop and pay for more welding.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

I had Heddman p/n:69069 [I think]. I ordered the same p/n -- for a '71 [K/5] K/1500 w/Clutch and SBC. The new ones were not the same 3-bolt collectors. The replacements [under the same p/n] were a new type with a Ball-type collector -- held on by 3 long bolt sets. I was p!ssed I had to cut off my Muffler-side collector ends, and run open-pipes seven miles down to the muffler shop and pay for more welding.

Those ball & socket collectors are really cool. You can move the reducer around and there are no gaskets to mess with. Of course, I wasn't replacing old headers.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Those ball & socket collectors are really cool. You can move the reducer around and there are no gaskets to mess with. Of course, I wasn't replacing old headers.

Well as a brand new system, it would've been OK. I will admit I haven't had to tighten up the collectors, and it's been years.
But to have the same P/N as the old series was bad business practice, IMO... I got them mail order from Jeg's, I think.
And to rub it in, one of the parts guys at my local Hot Rod Shop, said, ''Oh Man, If you'd asked us, we could have gotten you the old 3 bolt style.''
The trick to using the old style was to splurge for the solid copper header/collector gaskets. Once tightened up, they didn't leak til they burned out.
I will have to pull the headers off this summer to replace a a bad header gasket. I also intend to spraypaint them with the cheapest white stove paint I could find. [$6 bucks a can.]

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

...to have the same P/N as the old series was bad business practice.

Yes, Hedman should have assigned a new P/N, even if it was just the addition of a letter, such as "B" for ball and socket, or "-1".

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

The trick to using the old style was to splurge for the solid copper header/collector gaskets. Once tightened up, they didn't leak til they burned out.

I used inexpensive Summit-brand aluminum collector gaskets on headers for another vehicle. I probably re-used them 2-3 times when I had to remove the headers for various projects. I can't see any way they would blow out or fall apart.