I am looking to put headers on my 85 Z 28. I have a 74 350 in the car. My concern is this. When I put the stock 85 exhaust manifolds in the car I had to use an adapter on the passenger side head because the bolt holes in the manifold and the bolts holes in the head did not line up. I want headers but I do not want to use the adapter because it never sat right and always leaked a bit. My question is do any of you guys have older motors in your thirdgens. My other question I want the headers to fit into the stock location with the Y pipe. So what headers do you guys recomend for this application that also have decent plug access. I do not want to get ones that have air injection tubes in them. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Matt

 

hmm well as for havin an older block in ur thirdgen does not make any difference. The only difference is that the dipstick is on the drivers side. thats it. They all share the same bolt pattern.

Well you have a couple options here.

1) Hooker 2055's They are by far the best bang for the buck! For aound $350 you get 1 5/8" primary tubes that go into a 2 1/2" collector and included is the y-pipe which is 2 1/2" into a 3" outlet. Only draw back is the AIR tubes are on the header. But cuttin them off and welding them shut is very easy.

2) SLP 1 3/4" headers and y-pipe. they are a very nice header that doesnt have the AIR tubes on em. Drawbacks would be that the header size might be to big for ur application. But i dunno how much power ur puttin out. Also u may have to bang in one or 2 of ur drivers side primary tubes to clear the steering shaft.

keep in mind that there are no prduction headers that bolt up to ur stock y-pipe. There are some manufactures that make shortie headers to bolt right in that include a y-pipe. Long tube headers will require a custom built y-pipe and ground clearance is sacrficed. So it all depends on the power ur motor is makin, do u want a y-pipe, custom make a y-pipe etc.

let me know if u have any other questions

BTW I have a '74 356 chevy in my IROC right now and I had no prblems whatso ever with my hooker 2055's and I cut and welded the AIR tubes shut. All bolted in perfect!!


Jason

 

My hedman LT's were $130 shipped brand new from summit. 1 5/8" primaries and 3.5" collectors.

Excellent quality pieces too. Welds are all great, flanges are flat, primaries don't stick thru the flange to far. In other words, they aren't my old flowtech shorties

No air tubes, but I did spring an extra $6 to get an o2 bung. Took all of 5 min to weld that in. If you're carbed, you dont even have to wory about that.

 

Thanks for the info. I looked at the summit site for the hooker 2055s and they said that they were for 86-90 camaros with 305/350. Will they fit in my 85 with the old motor. Also how is the plug access on these headers. Now the headman LT headers what is the situation with the Y pipe. Do they come with one or does one have to be custom made?

Thanks,

Matt

 

FYI

The SLP headers extend farther away from the heads than other shortie headers. This is why some people have issues with the primary contacting the steering column. This same fact makes the plugs painfully simple to change. I don't have AIR tubes either, which of course makes it easier to change plugs.

I got 5 plugs with a standard plug socket and ratchet. 1 plug with the plug socket and a crescent wrench, and the other 2 with a modified regular socket and a crescent wrench. Got 'em all from the top too.

 

No LT headers come with a Y pipe.

 

the reason they say they are for those years is because those years plus the 85,91 &92 had the TPI option which is what those headers are built for. in other words the headers have the O2 bung already welded in with the AIR on the primaries. These headers will fit any 55-98? SBC head. So bolting issuses are not a problem with urs. You will have no issuses with these headers unless u dont want the AIR tubes, or have no need for the O2 bung.

 

Yeah, you'd have to make one, or fab up duals.

And like abubaca said, plug changes are very easy. They're now a 5 minute deal instead of 45 minutes. I can get 6 of them with a regular 5/8 box-end, and the rear two with a sparkplug socket and a 3/4 box-end.

 

I have a set of Hooker competition in my 92 and it now has a 77 350. They fit just like they did on the 305 that was in the engine compartment prior. I had a new Y pipe made at the local exhaust shop for cheap. They did a good job with no leaks. The Hooker comps do not have the air tubes, and had an O2 bung already welded on, you just have to drill thru the collector wall if you choose to use an O2 sensor.

Either that or you get a set of unwelded headers and take the whole thing down to an exhaust shop.

This is just from my experience, best of luck to you.

 

What are the headmen LT headers called on the summit website? I did not see any headmen headers called LTs.

Matt

 

Here's summit's PN for them: HED-68460

The LT is just an acronym for Long Tube

 

I feel like a jackass lol. Thanks for the heads up.

Matt