straight eight header how to?

D

diego64

Member
Im looking at having a header made for the 263 in my 51 special. Im wondering on how to group the ports together. Should it be front four into one collector and back four into another? Should it be front two and rear two grouped into one with the four centers into another? what would sond best trough dual exhaust, or does it not realy make that big of a difference an should just be done whichever way is easies? thank you in advance
 
Straight Eight Header

What really sounds neat is a 5 and 3 split. Five through stock muffler and three through glass pack.:hurray:
 
headers

I remember in the early fiftys I visited a speed shop in Glendale Ca. and they had headers for a Buick straight 8. It looked like a bowl of spaghetti
and my conclusion was at the time that it would sound like two four cylinders motors. For you old timers there was a 180 degree crank available for the Ford flat heads involved in racing and it sounded like twin fours. Stormy
 
headers

Well for an intake manifold I would suggest copying the stock manifold, but make it with smooth bends, One 4 barrel,to make it simple, and driveable. doesnt have to be a big carb, unless you are going all out. for the exhaust just making one like the original in 1 1/2 in. tubing would work great, just make it smooth flowing, and you should feel a difference, or just any kinda header in that size tubing, will make a difference.
 
The stock single exhaust is really quite bad. The stock dual exhaust that comes on the dual carb set up is quite good. But virtually any header is way better. Over on jyrki's site he shows what he did for his 320. These are not bad at all and fairly straight forward to build, if you've never done it before. These will diffinatly make power that you will feel. If you want a header that will get all the power there is to get, then you need to build a 180 degree, stepped tube, try-y. Come off the head with 1 1/2" tube about 12" long. Step up to 1 5/8" tubing and merge the two togather someplace handy that all pipes can be grouped togather. Join 1-8, 6-3, 2-7, 5-4.Total lenth should end up about 36''-46'' long. + or - 10'' wont hurt anything, in fact non equal lenth broadens the torque curve. Dump it all into a merge collector of 2 1/2''. Collector lenth of about 28'' will work great. Have fun. alleycat
 
yeah i got some straight eight headers from alleycat. thanks alley.:thumbsup:.
satin white hot coated and those things are beasts.
 
thanks for the replies. Ive visited a few exhaust shops in my area and some don't want anything to do with it. The others want what seems like way too much money. Has anyone had a set of headers made by a shop and if so how much did they charge you? What is a fair price to have a set of headers made? If anyone knows of a good place to try in san diego let me know please.

Due to all of this it looks like I might just have to have the stock manifold split(5-3) and have an extra flange welded on. I know i probably wont get any performance gains from it, but at least i willbe able to run dual exhaust without going broke.
 
diego, when were you planning on doing the exhaust split? what size straight eight do you have?
before the headers, my exhaust manifold was split for two. just cut and welded. but if you dont wanna go through the trouble, i can see if i can find mine in the pile of parts.
 
Hey LowBlow! Got that baby installed yet? I'm still using the same formula, I've just managed to reduce the number of pipes and its out of stainless steel now. Should bark with the big dawgs. alleycat
 
does anyone have a good decription, drawing, or pictire of what has to be done to the motor mount in order to make the 41-42 dual exhaust fit ?

Alleycat, reading through old posts , I read where you might start doing small runs of various parts like headers, valve covers etc. Have you had any luck with that? You wouldn't by any chance have a header to sell? If not do you have any flanges made you could part with?
thanks
 
I've toured foundrys, looked into what it takes to get this kind of stuff made, and I must say, it ain't easy! I have a basic background in tool&die work, so the trick is to get the parts made, on the engine to see if they will really work and then back to the foundry and see if they can pull a plug off my parts. If not, then I'll have to make the patterns and go from there. Headers are most likely first on the list, since they are well on the way to being finished and there is a header maker down around Tacoma who seems to be game to make a run, if I bring him a header to copy. alleycat
 
does anyone have a good description, picture, or drawing of how to modify the motor mount on a 51 as to be able to run the stock 41-42 dual exhaust?
thanks
 
Diego, I just got finished with my dual exhaust project. I am currently running an old 50's Edmunds dual intake for the straight eights with two holley 94's. I acquired a set of 41-42 Buick intake and split manifold last year. The left side exhaust manifold was cracked so I had to have that welded by a good cast welder(aint cheap!) While the manifolds were being welded, I went forth with modifying the left side motor mount to be able to use the split exhaust's. I flipped the the mount thats on the motor upside down and then bent a piece of 3/8" flat stock in a 90 degree angle. I then mounted that piece to the frame where the old motor mount was located. This gave me enough space to be able to have the dual exhaust run down and underneath the car. I then dropped the car off at my exhaust guy to run 2 inch pipe all the way back running through smittys 24" mufflers. The thing sounds awesome. I have a slight exhaust leak at the top of the right exhaust manifold where the heat riser was located. I had to block off the heat risers on each manifold with 1/4 steel plates. I am going to reseal them up this weekend.

Other than fine tuning the carbs, the car sounds awesome especially through smitty mufflers. It definitely has that 50's muffler rapping sound that I love. There seems to be a little better throttle response, well as much response you can get with a dynaflow tranny. The car also seems to roll-on better at higher speeds as well.

I will take some pics this weekend and post them for you.

I have also aquired a Mallory dual point dizzy for the straight 8 that am going to install soon as well.

Fryguy
 
Pics of the motor mount setup. . .

Hey guys, I posted just a contrite description of how I modified my motor mount over at Ol' Skool Rodz. Heres the link

http://forum.olskoolrodz.com/showthread.php?t=38467


I just wanted to mentioned a few thinks about getting headers reproduced. We have to realize that we are working with an Engine design that has been out of production for over 50 years. Its going to be very difficult to put cost effective and custom exhaust, headers, intake, etc. in the same sentance. Unfortunately this is not a small block chevy motor where we can get a good set of headers for $150-$200. If you really want a good set of headers made, you'll need to find a good fabricator with a great reputation. This goes a long way. You want to make sure the person who is making them, knows what they are doing. You want them to fit right, look right, perform right and most of all, last a long time. The last thing you want to do is cheap out on a pair of headers that don't fit right. If they don't fit right, they are not going to perform right and if they don't perform right, its a waste of money. If you really want a good set of headers made, be prepared to spend between $700 and $1500 depending on regional location, header material, etc. I am not trying to ruffle any feathers, thats the last thing I want to do. I am just trying to set a reasonable idea of what to expect if you are looking to get a good header made. I spent $800 just to have my exhaust routed from my exhaust manifold out to rear of the car and another $300 to have my cracked exhaust manifold repaired. Thats the price you pay to have things done the right way.


Fryguy
 
320 mods

readin back in the strait8 posts there are some really good ideas. as far as exhaust headers, anything is better than stock, alleycat has pretty much nailed it down, intakes would be a 4 barrel [holley, quadrajet, thermoquad, carter, edelbrock, all good carbs,go 12 volt, install a pertronix ignition, make a manifold out of tubing just like a stocker. insert bearings. Cams, whatever u want, with the almost 1 inch lifters, don,t need no rollers, mild or wild cams, try some hilift rocker arms, heads? try raising the intake ports, chevy stainless valves, the siamesed intake ports still have something left, compression, fill the combustion chambers and use flattop pistons?'.balance the crank etc., install a good dampner, and just keep the rpm,s down around 5000, the [248/263's can spin a little faster] now you ask, where do i get all this stuff??or do i need it? go into the strait 8 posts. its all good info, even if its stock, the ol strait 8 is a good engine.
 
Big engine exhaust headers

I just finished reading all the posts on the subject of exhaust headers and no where do I find a name to contact to have a set built. I am just finishing a complete build up on a '49 320 including, 4 carb manifold (holly-weber 2 throat progressives), cam, head work, Ross 9 to 1 pistons, shot peened rods, balance, ignition, full flow oil, etc. I was able to do most of this with local talent or myself but the set of tube headers that I built are just not acceptable. I need to find a better set some place or find a name of a good fabricator. Any suggestions out there?
 
we build custom headers (and just about everything else) for straight 8's, most applications run about $600.00
picture.php
 
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How to make a header

Fryguy said:
Hey guys, I posted just a contrite description of how I modified my motor mount over at Ol' Skool Rodz. Heres the link

http://forum.olskoolrodz.com/showthread.php?t=38467


I just wanted to mentioned a few thinks about getting headers reproduced. We have to realize that we are working with an Engine design that has been out of production for over 50 years. Its going to be very difficult to put cost effective and custom exhaust, headers, intake, etc. in the same sentance. Unfortunately this is not a small block chevy motor where we can get a good set of headers for $150-$200. If you really want a good set of headers made, you'll need to find a good fabricator with a great reputation. This goes a long way. You want to make sure the person who is making them, knows what they are doing. You want them to fit right, look right, perform right and most of all, last a long time. The last thing you want to do is cheap out on a pair of headers that don't fit right. If they don't fit right, they are not going to perform right and if they don't perform right, its a waste of money. If you really want a good set of headers made, be prepared to spend between $700 and $1500 depending on regional location, header material, etc. I am not trying to ruffle any feathers, thats the last thing I want to do. I am just trying to set a reasonable idea of what to expect if you are looking to get a good header made. I spent $800 just to have my exhaust routed from my exhaust manifold out to rear of the car and another $300 to have my cracked exhaust manifold repaired. Thats the price you pay to have things done the right way.


Fryguy
Click to expand...


How did you route the fuel lines. I see them headed for the firewall instead of around the front to the fuel pump. Thanks for any info.
 
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