Here's the story on headman headers for any one that is putting headers on their car. Keep in mind that these headers are listed to fit t-birds...
My car is an 84 ,5.0 and i wanted to put full tube headers on it so i got a set of headman 88360 . The drivers side wouldnt even come close to fitting as there were clearance problems with the steering shaft,tranny linkage and floor. A nightmare. I didnt even try the passengers side. Sent them back.
I got a set of headman shorties 88380 and they are now on the car, but it wasnt just that simple. A few holes on the s had to be hand filed larger to get the bolts in the head. All the bolts had to be started at once and then systematically tightened each one a little at a time.The drivers side fit quite well,a little close on the steering shaft but causing no problems.
The passengers side bolted up quite easily but there is only about 3/16 of an inch clearance between the collector and the floor/firewall. This is causing the metal temps in the floor to run extremely high. I measured the floor temp on the drivers side and it is 130F while over on the pass side where clearance is close, floor temps have reached 300f. I'm going to have to use header wrap on the headers so i dont burn the car up. These headers should have been designed better and there was lots of room on the pass side to do that. On the up side they seal well. I have had no leaks. If you want to keep them looking good you had better sandblast and paint them before you put them on the car as they only come shipped with a black anti rust coating on them that burns off in about 10 minutes. I also had to use a combination of 90 degree and straight boot plug wires antd tighten 1 spark plug with a wrench.
I wouldn't buy another set....
sould like every set of headers ever made. none ever fall in with no issues.
I had a 88 bird with a column shifter with headman shortie headers and they clear everything, including the steering shaft.
My question would be are they shortie equal legnths or un equal lenghts?
i think these are what he has on there now
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10002_36264_-1
and i believe these are the ones he wants to put on there
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10002_36262_-1
That's why I recomend the FRPP stainless shorties. Sure the stock 86-88 mounts have to ground down a bit so they fit (you could get around that with ChuckW's mounts) but they are high quality pieces that fit like, well, a stock Ford part. You get what you pay for with headers and the FRPP ones are worth the extra cost IMO.
My BBK shorties bolted in with zero problems.Nice and easy.
BBKs are nice quality headers. I tell people to avoid Hedman and Flowtech headers like the plauge. Me and a buddy tried to put Flowtech long tubes on his 66 302 Stang and it was a PITA. We had to redrill or round out almost every bolt hole........
My Mac's fit with alittle cussing ans swearing. And they are tight around the car in the same places. Thats why I asked if they were equal legnth or not
i have summit brand headers on my bird. They fit awesome,all i had to do was cut the s and install piece by piece and then bingo,one nice set of cheap headers. $100.00 invested.
Fila,didn't it take you days to get your on?
It took about 6 hours total over 2 days to get them on. I'd bet if I had studs they would have lined up a bit better. Nothing like tweeking and bending headers trying to get them on.
the hedman 88380 are uneqaul lenght headers.
im surprised you didnt mention having to smush or crush the runners a little to make room for a socket to fit over thier recommended bolts.
Headman does suck but im interested in more information on the summit brand.
"CUT S"??????
1BDBIRD i have summit brand headers on my bird. They fit awesome,all i had to do was cut the s and install piece by piece and then bingo,one nice set of cheap headers. $100.00 invested.
more info on this please
My buddy put longtube headman headers on his '71 Maverick and they fit fine...we did have an issue with the hydraulic steering ram...but overall they fit great. NO LONG TUBE HEADERS WILL FIT NICELY WITH COLUMN SHIFT...that should be common knowledge by now with these cars. I had flow tech f/l headers in my t-bird and the install was okay, but the quality definitely lacked. With stock style motor mounts, the #5 primary tube had to be dented to clear and the headers rattled around against the K-member....The 1 3/4" Mac headers on my Cougar were are royal PITA but don't really rattle against anything...however the matching Mac Pro-Chamber fit like and is not rattling against the trans crossmember...I guess the mounts I got from Chuck finally got broken in nicely...lol. I can't even imagine going back to stock mounts!
yes, the mac LT's i had rubbed against the k member and rested on the brake lines... also, they rubbed against the steering shaft (even after i replaced it with the flaming river shaft) so, every time I'd hammer it, the steering would lock and i had to unleash super human strength to turn the wheel to avoid certain doom lol. also, both sets of h pipes i had fit like hell, i cant waite to switch to new headers and deal with making the prochamber i want fit them...
The s where the header bolts to the head are notched as where to cut them,then you put the pipes that are made to slip around stuff(like steering shaft) on after you put on the other pieces. I did have to dent them to fit around motor mounts,If the mounts were mustang ones i woulnt had to bend them at all. A couple of the tubes are slip fit to the collector to aid in installation. My hustlers for my clevland were the same way,had to cut and then assemble piece by piece.