well my old lady's 64 chevelle with the stock 283 has a cracked exhaust manifold and i was wondering if any of you guys have this same car and i wanted to know what kind of headers you guys are using since stock exhaust manifolds from opg are almost the same price as headers.thanx for any info-MATT
Unless you are racing, I personally think headers are not worth the money. Did you try to find a used one? They were used for many years. Check with any Chevelle clubs in your area. I bet there are 20 of them laying around wasting away within 20 miles of your place. You just have to find them.
I used Hookers on my 64 SS back in the '70s. They fit well. Headmon also makes a pretty good header but Tommy is right or pretty close to it. Set up properly an engine in theory will run cooler with headers because you don't have a pair of cast iron heat sinks hangin' off it. But for the most part headers are pretty hard on your starter so its a trade off.
you can mig weld an exhaust manifold. Vee it out a little and fill it in with weld. Regular mild steel wire. It's really easy. And it works. Frank
If you have access to an arc welder you can grab some nickel rod and fix the manifold if the crack isn't horrendous. Drill the ends of the crack, vee it out a little and weld it up. I've done it a bunch of times successfully. Otherwise headers will be fine IMHO, just buy decent name brand ones or else you'll have more work installing them than it would be to fix the manifold. You might have to have a little custom pipe work done underneath to connect then however. OR call Brzezinski (www.castheads.com) and get some cheater manifolds ;-) Al in CT
I deleted the same response from my original post because I was sure that the perfectionists would jump all over me for not pre-heating and using nickel alloy rod. Yes we welded many cast iron manifolds of many makes with a MIG in the muffler shop as long as it is still bolted to the engine. Al, this was not aimed at you. we both posted at the same time.
Yup, preheat with torch (even a propane one),a couple of sticks of high nickel rod, and a cheapee stick welder, and you're in business. Or take a little time to locate the correct replacement (it is a small block CHEV). Somebody will have one and you shouldn't even catch much flak from the wife for taking too long. I've even found them laying in the mud in the back yard.
You can't go wrong with Patriot Headers. Made in California (Rancho Dominquez) great quality good price. Check em out at Summit Racing or your local Speed Shop!
The style manifold you need was used on A and F bodies from '64 well into the '70s; it shouldn't be that difficult to find.
Tommy, It was early when I put that up, and I wasn't thinking I've even done ones that have been shattered, put the pieces back together like broken pottery. When MIG welding was new to body shops, I used to only do stick welding. Than a freind got a MIG, he told me to come over and use his machine. He said, try this and you'll throw the stick welder away. He was right, he threw his away, and I bought one and threw mine away. Frank
I have a few stock manifold s from the the 60s what side if your interested let me know but i dont no if its the right one. send me a pic if you want to go that way and if i can help i will
both exhaust manifolds are cracked pretty bad and it's gettin so loud she's gettin mad at me because i havn't fixed it yet,thats why i opted for headers. i was just wanted to check which ones people used that were the easyist fit without clearence issues with the frame or fenderwells. She wants brand new or good shape parts since it's her pride n joy. Her dad found some hedmen headers that were way cheaper than new stock manifolds.
If you can get a good price on Hedman's go for it. Headers are worth getting for the additional mileage and power. Hedman's are a good quality header. It's worth it to use a good quality header gasket the first time. Those paper one's aren't the best. When I had the small block in my 66 I used some Blackjacks and some Mr. Gaskets's. They both fit well. Hedmans should fit even better. Josh.
+1 on the Hedmans.....use the Fel Pro blue gaskets with them with a thin bead of red RTV around the ports on the gasket. You'll be set
If I were going with headers (and I usually do), I'd spend the extra bucks to get them with heavy wall tubes and thick exhaust flanges. The tick you hear with the cheaper headers gets kinda old on a daily driver and it SURE gets old tightening up header bolts every week and periodically replacing blown gaskets. Larry T
I agree with the thick tubing/flanges deal. Makes all the difference in the world in a street car. Tommy, no offense taken the other day. I worked in a muffler shop years ago and nickel rod was just an everyday thing to me, nothing exotic, so that is what I always reach for out of habit when messing with cast iron to this day. It's all in what we're used to and comfortable with; I had even arc welded quarter panels on back then, didn't own a MIG for years myself Al in CT
well i ran into the first problem with the header swap. i need to make a bracket to bolt on the alternator and powersteering pump. but before i make it. is there a company that all ready makes one?? 1964 chevelle/malibu thanx-Matt
I think Summit has some generic chrome brackets or an aluminum setup with a turnbuckle to solve that. I ended up making my own. Pm me if you don't get it figured out and I'll try to go shoot a couple pictures tonight.
are you using a short water pump? if so you can get a bracket that uses the first 2 holes on the left header. they work good.
Oriely's or Autozone should have that bracket on hand. They usually have em' by all the chrome engine doo-dads. http://www.rickscamaros.com/product.asp?pf_id=C-9254&dept_id=3141 You'll need this bracket and one of the second down on the right. The ones I've seen at the parts store aren't usually chrome. Should be around $20 for both. So did you go with the Hedman's? Have a good one man, Josh.
I highly recommend buying the "dougs headers brand". I've run these on my chevelle for 6 years now and have had great luck. My shovel also has air. The headers dont hang low and Ive been real impressed with their performance. Ive run the hooker super comps, and hedmans, but these are by far the best. I bracket race the car and drive the car on the road through october in the north east. I have these bolted on aluminum heads as well. Very pleased with the company and product and the price was reasonable. You can PM if intrested, when I get home, I'll send you the contact data or you can just google search it! - Pete
Just a thought, make sure there is some "swing" in your exhaust system where it meets the collector. Not sure why your manifolds were fucked, but if your system is solid mounted and that motor cranks over, you are going to either loosen/break the flange bolts, blow gaskets out, or crack the welds where the primary and flange meet. Just grab the pipes and make sure you can swing them a coupe inches side to side without too much effort. If not, time for some rubber hangers. Or have the wife crawl under there and help with the "pride and joy!"
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