Looking for header help for my 56 Corvette Gasser. I am mocking up the suspension / engine etc. I had some headers that I bought at a swap meet but they are too wide. They measure 66" from outside of collector to outside of collector. Needs to be 61" or slightly less for the Corvette. Patriot makes a SBC Tri 5 header #H8034. Anyone know what the width of those are? Also Dougs makes a #D329 header for a Chevy II. As near as I have been able to tell, I think they might be too narrow. I would like to have the collector just barely inside the fender. I guess the next option is to build some. Possibley Speedway kit #41865600 or? Anyone have some experience in this area? Thanks!
The ones I have on my Henry J are fairly narrow. They are from Advance Adaptors and are to put a SBC in a Toyota Land Cruiser.
I believe these are the Patriot ones you mention. Had them on my '46 Chevy. Don't recall the exact part number, but I found them listed as fat fender headers... on the web it shows dimensions(?) to be 39" L, 21" W, 11" H. ?
you need to build some, so they look right. Spend lots of time looking at old pictures of race cars, to see what they need to look like. Fortunately fenderwell headers are relatively easy to make, they are not as constricted as normal headers that have to tuck inside the frame. I think it took me two or three days to make the headers for my Chevy II, they turned out fine and make a big difference in how the car looks, compared to buying some that would be a compromise.
The Speedway headers should have a diagram with the measurements on it. I have some old Mr. Gasket fenderwells And those fat fender type, the left header isn't bolted in the back because of steering box interference
Not to hi-jack the thread, but what is the alternator on your Henry J meant for? I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Thankyou to all for your input and ideas. I googled the Hooker Super Comp # and Dougs # for a 56 Corvette but nothing came up. Maybe they are discontinued? Squirrel... When you built yours for your Chevy II, What kit did you use?
Couple more suggestions that you may of not thought about truck pull headers and oval track stock clip headers https://www.jegs.com/i/Schoenfeld/649/1346/10002/-1 https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Stock-Clip-Small-Block-Chevy-Headers-Raw-Finish,83658.html
Instead of buying a kit, just get a set of flanges, a pair of formed collectors and some u-bends or j-bends and build your own. My experience with the pre-bent kits is that I have to cut the tubes up to make them work, so I just start with u-bends. Here is a set that I just built for a '41 Willys. I was into this set for about $400 in materials.
Here is a link to Hooker headers for 56 Corvette 1956 Chevy Corvette Performance Headers | Short, Long Tube – CARiD.com
@SNS FAB, that's a beautiful set of headers. What did you coat them with? White paint or ceramic coating or?? Thanks! Sorry for hijacking the thread. Carry on as you were.
I got a dyno header kit from speedway, but the suggestion to get a pair of flanges, and a bunch of u bends, is a better one. The hard part about making headers that look right in an old drag car, is that it's hard to find bends with a large enough radius. They don't make things like they used to.
I have a couple suppliers that I get my u-bends from and most diameters are available in 2 1/2" to 6" radius. I usually use the 6" radius to do zoomies. The headers I posted pictures of are 3" and 4" radius bends.
Swade41... Where did you get the fat fender ones on your car? do you have a part number? do you have a measurement from outside of collector to outside of collector with them bolted on the engine? I'm guessing about 60". Those or the "Speedway Stock Clip" might work. That would be the cheap easy way out. Maybe I need to put my big boy pants on and build some. I've done that before but remember the long hours it took I talked to CARiD this morning about the Hooker Super Comps. I'm not getting the warm fuzzies about them. In the Pic above, looks like the Dougs #564626745 are BBC
I bought those fat fendered here locally used for $80 bucks but I think Ebay has some that are cheaper than Speedway. I used those stock clip headers on my Henry J, they were stepped from 1 5/8 - 1 3/4, I did redo the lead pipes right off the flange to get the collector where I wanted it on the other end. I don't have a total width measurement on any of them, I do know that those Mr.Gasket headers interfere with my tires turning radius on my 57 p/u. I think I have those bolted to an engine on a stand, if I think about it I'll measure those next time in the garage but I'm not interested in unbolting both sets of headers and swapping them around to measure then swapping them back lol Here's Speedway's fat fender measurements off the website, you only need to measure your engine to figure out the total width.
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