Ted

Thanks for the information, This is the best real world info that I have read about header design.  Theory on paper and actual number sometimes are far apart. Thanks for taking the time to establish easy to understand data. And yes graphs are wonderful!

Gary Ryan San Antonio.TX.

Interesting how much the longer collecters (?) filled in the the lower end torque numbers. BIG difference there. Almost unnoticeable on the top end.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Ted

If you don`t mind another question regarding your recent exhaust test. From looking at your results it seems to me that for a street driven car or in my case Tbird,that if I need to run mufflers and an exhaust system that includes no more than 2 1/2 inch pipes there is not a lot to be gained from hedders over a 57 factory dual system with mandrel bent pipes of a good size and low restriction mufflers. I can see that this leaves a lot of untapped horsepower at higher RPM but the cost/benefit ratio and noise considerations and the RPM that a street driven car use should be considered.

I would welcome any and all thoughts and comments regarding this. Thanks again for your excellent work and giving us so much useful data. Pete

Pete, the Red car in my avitar does just that. Manifolds and a 2 1/2 inch exhaust system. It's gone a 13.50 @106 mph. Does not seem like there's much to be gained below 3000, 3200 rpm. After that the headers win.....big time 

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Pete.  Here’s torque and horsepower graphs comparing the ‘57 exhaust manifolds against the Sanderson Thunderbird headers as tested with mufflers.  Just looking at the torque graph shows a favorable torque increase with the headers at cruising rpms versus using the ’57 exhaust manifolds.  Once the engine hits its power band in the mid 3000 rpm range, the headers just take off and run away from the factory exhaust manifolds.

 

 

  

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

say ted, could you show the ram horns in those two graphs, for the pick-up guys, thanks, wayne.

 lincoln/merc. y-blocks &mel's                                                               bucyrus, ohio.

Wayne.  Lots of data here so I'll use exhaust testing that's specifically applicable to the pickup crowd.  Here are a pair of graphs that compares the Sanderson pickup headers to the Rams Horns manifolds.   All the curves on these graphs are with the mufflers in place.

 

 

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

thanks ted, i copyed the graphs and i can over lap them. excellent work.

 lincoln/merc. y-blocks &mel's                                                               bucyrus, ohio.

Ted,

Can't thank you enough for the great presentation of data, and the thorough exploration of configurations.

Your data confirmed what (I hoped) was the besto option for me, and gave me the information to confidently go through with ordering a set of Sanderson (coated) T-Bird headers.

Headers are a (relatively) significant investment, and your testing took virtually all of the guess-work out of it for me.

Todd in Central California...about half way between Fresno and Sacramento

1956 Thunderbird - 1960 F-100 - 1961 Starliner - 1961 Imperial

Todd,

One set that wasn't tested but may be worth considering is the pickup long tubes from Speedway. They're 1 5/8, and appear to be mandrel bent but I have not called about them. The you weld it kit is about $160.00 so there is room to make it work with your application and stay under budget. Looking at the tests, I think it looks like 1 5/8" really are a great starting point, and considering the power you will be making, it may be beneficial to go a little bigger.


Lawrenceville, GA