headers
Well, last week I purchased the Hedman full length headers and installed them on my 81 on Saturday.
I spent about 3-4 hours removing the stock manifolds, pipes, starter, oil dipstick and tube, spark plugs and sensors.
The Hedman headers installed nicely in about an hour with one exception; one of my transmission cooler lines was in contact with the header collector and I had to re-route the line by gently bending it up and over the lower portion of the header. I then installed the true dual 2-1/2" exhaust I purchased last winter (no cats) but I also had to run to the muffler shop to have two 16" - 18" pipes that line up where the cats used to be bent about an 1-1/2" to 2" inches off center thus allowing the rear exhaust pipes to properly line up. Once the alignment was correct I installed the rear pipes and mufflers/tailpipes (Dynomax turbos). The system fit perfectly and I was pysched to start her up. When I hopped into the driver's seat I thought I would shift the car through the gears (automatic) to make sure I did not have a clearence problem with the trans linkage and sure enough it was binding once I hit reverse. I had to break the connection at the header/exhaust pipe joint and cut the excess linkage arm off to provide the proper clearence.
Once i started the car and took it for a ride it was fantastic. The sound, the feel, the way people looked at the car when they heard it, it made it worth the effort. I highly recommend headers and true duals.
Dave L., I think you should throw away that modified set of original manifolds and install full length headers.
Regards,
Vette333
