LTD headers?

[GalaxieJeff]

Considering the chassis layout is almost the exact same at the mid size, cars, try looking for headers that fit the '77-'79 T-bird Cougar or LTD II.

Shorties for a truck with a C/M just might work.
When looking for headers for my Galaxie with the small block nothing was available at the time. I found '90-'95 F150 shorties fit perfectly (the 5.0 HO 'stangs didn't even work, they hit the steering box).

When I had the 460 in there Hooker Super comps for '69-'70 Mustang/Torino's fit...sorta. Needed some help via a BFH, but those primary tubes were 2 1/8"!!!

[doug 351]

[quote=GalaxieJeff;58886]Considering the chassis layout is almost the exact same at the mid size, cars, try looking for headers that fit the '77-'79 T-bird Cougar or LTD II.

I found long tube headers for LTD II, as stated in an earlier post. They aren't cheap new though, and I don't know if I'd drop that kind of cash on a maybe. Of course, if you've got the cash and are willing to modify them if necessary, or take a loss on resale, that might be an option. Custom headers are $1200 and up, so I didn't even go there.

[GalaxieJeff]

I hear dat. I've bought parts that supposedly would work only to find they didn't.
Try checking out car shows and cruise nights for one of those '77-'79 mid size cars. See how closely it matches up to yours and make note of any possible points of interferance.

[77LTDMan]

I myself have not looked for any yet, I also have a 400 in my 77 Landau. I did put a true dual exhaust system on mine and removed the cats totally. For mufflers my "Muffler Man" suggested the old school Cherry Bombs and it sounds sooooo good!! It turns a lot of heads too! One day I will put headers on mine and will also then change the heads so the engine can really breathe well! Good luck and let me know if you find any and I will check around also.

[LTD1977]

true duals and cherry bombs..... I might just go that route, I love the sound of them

[skidmarks]

P.S. if your going to realy build some power or just looking for sound headers are pretty much pointless you might gain 1hp, unless you have to replace worped ones go for it but i wouldnt waste the time and $$$$$ i ran into my shop teacher at a car show and he was telling me that he put on some new headers spent his time and $800 on 1hp that was on a big block and he always gets his stuff dyno'd. P.S. also 351m's are junk. atleast the stock ones

[skidmarks]

Originally Posted by LTD1977

true duals and cherry bombs..... I might just go that route, I love the sound of them

thats your best bet for performance. forget about performance mufflers , buddy of mine put on performance muff's and lost power from his stock set up and replaced them with glaspacks and couldnt keep his truck on the road. unless you drop out in front of the tires glasspacs arent enough back pressure . tips help with sound too

[GalaxieJeff]

Originally Posted by skidmarks

P.S. if your going to realy build some power or just looking for sound headers are pretty much pointless you might gain 1hp, unless you have to replace worped ones go for it but i wouldnt waste the time and $$$$$ i ran into my shop teacher at a car show and he was telling me that he put on some new headers spent his time and $800 on 1hp that was on a big block and he always gets his stuff dyno'd. P.S. also 351m's are junk. atleast the stock ones

You couldn't be more wrong, and you'll excuse me if I call BS on the 1 hp story. Put many sets of headers on many cars and always had marked improvements.
Your also going to piss off a lot of 351M fans with that last line, which also BTW is not true.

[GalaxieJeff]

Originally Posted by skidmarks

thats your best bet for performance. forget about performance mufflers , buddy of mine put on performance muff's and lost power from his stock set up and replaced them with glaspacks and couldnt keep his truck on the road. unless you drop out in front of the tires glasspacs arent enough back pressure . tips help with sound too

Um, again I'm calling BS. It's been proven way too many times to count that most performance mufflers do indeed work quite well in some cases.
True some are very expensive <cough> Flowmasters for no better performance then $15 Summit house brand turbo mufflers. Thats another proven fact. Most turbo style mufflers also out flow glasspacks.
If you want that unique sound only glasspacks have go for it, you will see some improvement, if your looking for real power and best bang for the buck without being too LOUD, you can't beat Summit turbos.
Sorry your friends stock truck suddenly not being able to stay on the road with just the addition of glasspacks sounds like school yard bench racing. A sock motor would be lucky to see 10hp from a muffler swap, and lucky to see 20hp from a full performance exhaust (manifolds back) another 10-20 from headers. Those are just ball park figures, different engines will see a little more or a little less.
Example, a stock 289 2bbl going from factory single exhaust might see 15-20 total from headers and duals with hi-po mufflers. On the other hand my LT1 Caprice even though it already had factory duals picked up 20hp just from a better (2.5" mandrel bent and turbo mufflers) set of pipes. If that car originally had a single exhaust it would probably have been a 30 hp jump.

BTW you NEVER want back pressure, thats misinformation perpetuated for decades by people that just don't understand exhaust flow and pulses.
That said too big of a system (pipe diameter) will kill low end NOT because there is too little "back pressure" but (keeping this as simple as I can so I don't have to type up several pages) because it's too large to keep the exhaust flow moving fast enough for cylinder savaging.
Basically you want just the right size to cause a "vacuum" at the exhaust valve.

[doug 351]

Originally Posted by GalaxieJeff

You couldn't be more wrong, and you'll excuse me if I call BS on the 1 hp story. Put many sets of headers on many cars and always had marked improvements.
Your also going to piss off a lot of 351M fans with that last line, which also BTW is not true.

I agree, and I'll offer this: the bigger the motor, the bigger the change you need to make to see improvement. In other words-25cfm might not mean too much on a motor that has 500 cubes, but it is a dramatic difference on one that has 250. If that guy knew anything about building motors, he probably wounldn't be teaching shop.The rest of his build was probably so far out of whack that it couldn't breathe well enough to feed anything more than a stock exhaust. Spending $800 to get 1 HP is ridiculous and if true, shows how stupid he really is. In the future, I'd refrain from taking advice from dumbazzes.