selecting a decent header

[grumpyvette]

Hi Friends,

Which are better, Shorties or long and Why? 1966 402 4 spd car
I bought a set of long tube set em in when we installed rebuilt motor and low and behold they are the wrong ones!! Now I am wondering if I am going to have to pull motor again to get them out and if I can find one that I can put in after the motor is in. Shorty's being the ones if I leave motor in and cant get ones to go in.

Also which brand I am on limited budget trying to stay 350 or less

Thanks
Mike

Are you more concerned with physical fit and spark plug wire clearance, or header tube clearance on the frame and suspension, thats preventing the current headers from being used to get the engine installed in the car,? or is it actual performance the headers provide for cylinder scavenging?
no header will function well unless matched to a low restriction exhaust behind it! and theres a very significant difference in the power potential between your average commercial header thats randomly matched to a cam, and having selected both the header and cam to work together as a complementary matching pair in a selected rpm range, where the combination fully exploits cylinder scavenging efficiency,gains in excess of 40 hp are common.
header primary length, diameter and collector design are all something that can be fairly accurately calculated, if you know the engines displacement, compression and cylinder head flow and cam timing.
IF you know what the theoretical ideal is, to match your particular combo, you can shop commercial headers and make a more informed choice,
I can tell you before you start most lower cost commercial headers are designed more for ease of manufacture, easy installation, and low price, than any though going into too maximize engine performance!

RELATED INFO (yes I'm aware many of the guys reading this WON,T bother to read through the links ..& sub-links....well thats a shame, as theres a ton of good info,and knowing all you can allows far better choices)

http://www.wallaceracing.com/header_length.php

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/building-custom-headers.961/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/x-or-h-pipe.1503/page-2#post-50603

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/is-backpressure-hurting-your-combo.495/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/calculating-header-design.185/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/building-an-exhaust-system-for-your-car.1166/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...lsa-effects-your-compression-torque-dcr.1070/