small block ford lakes headers , who makes good ones ?

finally got the small block ford set into my roadster pickup ! looking for some advice on who makes a good set of lakes headers for the small block ford ! i was looking at speedways but am a little leary of them being cheaply made ? also looking at patriots ! any input will be greatly apreciated ! probably going to be getting them in plain steel as the passenger side rear tube may have to be moddified slightly to clear the edge of the cowl since the firewall is recessed ? then sending them off to have them ceramic coated ! it will be close and i was thinking of ordering speedways in plain steel and if they clear then sending them back and getting the ceramics as i couldn't touch getting them coated for what their price difference is ! thanks for any help , hoping to get some input from someone who actually has these ans can comment on the quality

 

I'm running the you weld up kit from speedway. The flanges are fairly thick and the tubes are also fairly beefy. I bought a pair of the speedway bolt on's for a sbc for a customer that had the ceramic coating. They fit well but they also tilt down, witch I didn't care for. The bolt on's seemed to be the same as the you welds as far as thicknesses.

 

do the tubes sweep back into the cones or do they just go straight in ?

 

http://www.lakeheaders.com/ - saltflatmatt here on the HAMB. I've got a set of his headers on the roadster and the Tudor that Titus is building. He will be making another set of headers for me soon too.

 

And I forgot, the ceramic coating on the sbc set I bought, was even and looked like it was coated well from all directions. They have been con the clients car for a while and they haven't started to blue, peel or do anything else funny, that would elude to poor quality.

 

thanks bull , i was looking at his also , do they come with dump tubes on the bottom for running full exhaust ?

 

The tubes sweep back a little in to the larger cone but not a huge amount. That's why I built mine so they would look better.That way I could mount them level, not running down hill.

 

They don't, but I'm sure Matt could add them for you.

 

Personally I hate when the flange for the dump tubes is right off the bottom of the cone. I like them to be out of sight underneath the car. That's what we're doing with the headers on my Tudor. I had Matt make me a set of lake headers but Titus will be welding the dump tube right to the bottom of the cone. The flange will be at the end of the tube underneath the car for a cleaner look.

 

i assume you run the baffles in yours ? i thought of going that route and not running full exhaust but am worried i'll get sick of the noise and fumes after while ! how are yours noise wise ?

 

i agree ! if i could have a decent set of baffles and some turnouts i would rather go this route and not have full exhaust

 

I ran the baffles in mine. It was still loud, the fumes were strong-ish - but I got used to that and it made black marks on the doors of the car, but I didn't have turn-outs. Worst of all though, the baffles rattled like mad. It pissed me off so I pulled them out -- and then it got crazy loud. The baffles probably could have been secured better to eliminate the rattles, but it was still loud -- even with the stock junkyard 350 that was in the car -- even louder with the stronger mill I put in the car.

If it were my decision, I'd do a lake headers with full exhaust like on FalconMan's old RPU -- only I'd move the flange under the frame, tuck up the exhaust under the frame and add turnouts to the end of the lake header cones:




OR

I'd go with something like this -- which is exactly what Matt will be building for my roadster:

 

I run a set from lakes headers .com from the alliance, 2 years on the road and holding up great, and i use the baffles from car chemistry he recomended

 

bump

 

Mine are from patriot and they sweep into the collector. They also came fully welded.

Having trouble with the uplaod of the pictures though..

 

Mine are Patriot's

 

thanks guys ! well after doing some more looking i dont have alot of room to run full exhaust under the truck and keep it hidden , so im thinking a set w built in baffles and turnouts but idk ? im gonna study it a little more and see what i can make work !

 

Hard to judge from a video, but here is my roadster at full song with baffles. This is with the old low compression junkyard mill.
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I never found ones I liked, so I used the Speedway kit and made my own, then shipped them off to jet-hot to be coated.

Even saved a few dollars over premade ones, and have the set I like. I too did not like the flange coming off the bottom, so I ran the pipes under the car and connected them with a band clamp. Almost seamless.

Sorry no photos to post (writing this on my phone) but check my albums.

 

I also used the Speedway kit, but used Hooker stub flanges

Pat

 

Matt is the man .....................I bought the speedway you build it headers and for the time and price Matt is cheaper and if you want swept back centers ,He can do it ,But its extra.

 

Heddman is supposed to be bringing out a set of weld it yourself lakes headers this fall. Not sure when, their ad showing them has appeared for a few months in Rod and Custom.

Looks like they will be a nice kit.

I like the looks of them also the Patriots are nice.

I like the way the pipes to an under car exhaust system were run through the frame from the lakes headers of this 32 built by Hollywood hot rods.

 

I second that on Matt,very good guy to deal with.He took measuments that i gave him over the phone and built them for me and fit perfect..http://www.lakeheaders.com/Home.html

 

DRuss32 if you don't mind I'm going to steal your idea on your baffels on my next pair of lakes headers i build. Nice work! I like!

 

The Speedway kit allows you to put them at the angle etc. you like. They are nice quality, here are Rob Lee's on his Lincoln Y-block, they were ceramic coated and after around 10k miles they look great.

 

most of the kits i have seen don't seem to take into acount that fords heads are offset and both headers are the same length so one side ends up farther back on the passenger side than the drivers ! anyone notice this ?

 

ALL V-8 engines are offset from side to side, not just Fords. The cones in the kits come as equal length, and you just slide them onto the first tube to get the equal lengths that you are looking for.

 

yes the do it yourself kits i realize you can do this , but all the assembled kits seem to be equal length !

 

Go to lakesheaders.com. They ain't cheap but have everything ya need.

 

The only thing I would change on mine is add turn downs.