Hi Gang,
I want to share my experience with the ZZ4 Headman Hedders that Ecklers sells in page 133 of its catalog for $199.99 dollars.
As far as hardware, Heddman delivers as advertised, and I did not have to modify any of it to fit the 1981 Vette application. Especially noteworthy were the bolts for the hedders at the heads. A 7/16 X 1/4 drive socket allowed me to tighten most of the bolts with ease. The bolts inside the bend of the lead pipes required an open wrench, but they were easy to get. :s
On the negative side, they come painted with a very thin black base coat of paint (maybe even primer, but I have never seen black primer before). The paint accepted my Hi Temp paint (1,200 degrees) with ease, but even a small bang with another metal surface would chip or flake the paint coat easily.
The warranty disclaims any modification to the hedder to include wrapping of heat insolating material or even ceramic coating. I have seeing other hedders that are ceramic coated, but alot of these are made with 16-gauge sheet metal. I believe that this would be thinner than the 14 gauge sheet metal claimed by Headman (The othe brands' ceramic coated hedders do look nice though). Nevertheless, I felt that with these hedders painted black would match nicely to my chosen color combination of the engine compartment in Chevy blue and black.
The instructions are accurate, and I could not believe how I could not deviate what so ever to install these hedders. It looked like I had plenty of room to install them with spark plugs still in place on the left side of the engine; however, this proved to be foolish, and I had to take them out as instructed in the installation directions. On the right side, it was the same case with the starter -the instructions require removal of the starter. Once the RH hedders were in place, it tested my mechanical abilities
to install the starter back into place. Just enough room is available to slide the starter (factory) into place, and before it is seated all the way I had to slide one of the starter bolts (outboard) into the hole and rotate the assy at the same time. 
The inboard bolt went in without problems.
The RH hedder also comes very close to the steering idler arm, but it maybe so, for I have a heavy-duty-type idler arm. The zerk fitting is on its side, at it comes very close to one of the lead pipes. The stock idler arm should be fine with this installation. I still have mine, and it is slightly smaller, and the zerk fitting is at the bottom.
Nearly half of my front "Y" pipe will have to be cut if I don't get a muffler shop to make a custom one for me. I am still reaserching prices for this. If it turns out expensive, then I will sacrifice my nearly-new front "Y" pipe.
The re-installation of the A/C bracket on the right side was very smooth. I had to find the appropiate spacer (about 1 - 3/8") to take-up the welded-on spacer on the factory manifold. Again, I did not have to grind anything on the hedders or related engine hardware.
They look good once installed, I can't wait to finish the job.
Here is a picture. I will post about 4 pictures in this new posting to show how they fit.
I want to share my experience with the ZZ4 Headman Hedders that Ecklers sells in page 133 of its catalog for $199.99 dollars.
As far as hardware, Heddman delivers as advertised, and I did not have to modify any of it to fit the 1981 Vette application. Especially noteworthy were the bolts for the hedders at the heads. A 7/16 X 1/4 drive socket allowed me to tighten most of the bolts with ease. The bolts inside the bend of the lead pipes required an open wrench, but they were easy to get. :s
On the negative side, they come painted with a very thin black base coat of paint (maybe even primer, but I have never seen black primer before). The paint accepted my Hi Temp paint (1,200 degrees) with ease, but even a small bang with another metal surface would chip or flake the paint coat easily.
The warranty disclaims any modification to the hedder to include wrapping of heat insolating material or even ceramic coating. I have seeing other hedders that are ceramic coated, but alot of these are made with 16-gauge sheet metal. I believe that this would be thinner than the 14 gauge sheet metal claimed by Headman (The othe brands' ceramic coated hedders do look nice though). Nevertheless, I felt that with these hedders painted black would match nicely to my chosen color combination of the engine compartment in Chevy blue and black.
The instructions are accurate, and I could not believe how I could not deviate what so ever to install these hedders. It looked like I had plenty of room to install them with spark plugs still in place on the left side of the engine; however, this proved to be foolish, and I had to take them out as instructed in the installation directions. On the right side, it was the same case with the starter -the instructions require removal of the starter. Once the RH hedders were in place, it tested my mechanical abilities
to install the starter back into place. Just enough room is available to slide the starter (factory) into place, and before it is seated all the way I had to slide one of the starter bolts (outboard) into the hole and rotate the assy at the same time. The inboard bolt went in without problems. The RH hedder also comes very close to the steering idler arm, but it maybe so, for I have a heavy-duty-type idler arm. The zerk fitting is on its side, at it comes very close to one of the lead pipes. The stock idler arm should be fine with this installation. I still have mine, and it is slightly smaller, and the zerk fitting is at the bottom.
Nearly half of my front "Y" pipe will have to be cut if I don't get a muffler shop to make a custom one for me. I am still reaserching prices for this. If it turns out expensive, then I will sacrifice my nearly-new front "Y" pipe.
The re-installation of the A/C bracket on the right side was very smooth. I had to find the appropiate spacer (about 1 - 3/8") to take-up the welded-on spacer on the factory manifold. Again, I did not have to grind anything on the hedders or related engine hardware.
They look good once installed, I can't wait to finish the job.
Here is a picture. I will post about 4 pictures in this new posting to show how they fit.
:cry :confused :L
