Help need schooling on ram horn manifolds

Was wondering if i could use early chevy ram horn exhaust manifolds on my new GM 350 crate motor, I hate the look of block hugger headers.Any help would be appreciated before i go junk yard diving Thanks

 

At some point in the '80s, Chevrolet changed the location of one of the boltholes. Check your heads and see if they've got two boltholes close together at one end to cover both early and late patterns.

 

The late 70s-80s manifolds that had one the one hole moved back won't work on the earlier heads that don't have the extra bolt hole.

But that will not affect you...you should be able to use the older style manifolds on any of the small blocks.

 

Both 2" and 2.5" on outlet size. And acessory mount on drivers side or ground off .... decisions, decisions.

I havent heard of much luck with longevity on the Chinese knock-offs.

 

have people been having issues with them?

 

Never remember or heard much good news. I have heard of bad castings and lousy mating surfaces (milling) which also leads to cracks. And also pricey when junkyard old stock is so cheap.

 

Hard to find around here. Got some in the stash hole.
B.B.

 

are you talking about the dorman one's? I got a set i'm getting ready to use, they are flat on the mating surfaces, i did check that. Pricey???? they were 55-60 each, vette 2.5's are way more than double....I guess we'll see, and i'll have a set of originals soon so guess there the backup

 

PBR , I dont want to hy-jack this thread over a ideologogical question of the quality of a Chinese knockoff ... but ask yourself has China ever duplicated anything made in American out of metal and produced an equal or better product?

2" sets can be found at the swapmeets and wrecking yards all day for $25 with alittle haggleing. ... Chinese knockoffs for $65 is not a trade-off in my mind.

Anyhow, OT if you find some 2.5" in your junkyard search for a decent price ($75 or less?) then snatch them up for no other reason than to flip. ... Hope this helps.