HEADERS

[Vince Malvagna]

#1 I have a 1970 Corvette with headers on it,( the cheap ones, I'm sure. )I have owned this corvette for 3 yrs, the headers were already on the car when I bought it, along with side exhaust. My question is, If I invest in a new good pair of ceramic coated headers, how much will they reduce the amount of HEAT getting into the seating area, what kind would you use?? and will it gain any H/P. ???

#2 My car seems to be getting hotter, I not long ago put a pair of headlight protecters on the car that were missing, From that point on I think the car runs a little hotter, Is that normal?? and what can be done to help with the heat ?? Thanks VINCE

[Joe L.]

Re: HEADERS

Vince-----

I doubt that ceramic coated headers will significantly improve heat transfer into the passenger compartment. Excessive heat transfer to the passenger compart is ONE OF MANY reasons that I have never used headers, never intend to, and don't recommend them to others. They do produce significant extra power, but it's just not worth all of the other drawbacks for a driven car. For off-road race cars, they're the thing to have, for sure.

I doubt that the headlight shields will have any significant effect on engine cooling. For C3 Corvettes, most of the cooling air is drawn in through the holes in the bottom of the front lower panel, and not the grilles. If your car lacks the "chin spoiler", that will definitely affect engine cooling, though.

[Bill Lloyd #33481]

Re: HEADERS

Vince,

If you need to use headers, you should use the ceramic coated headers. Dynomax makes a good set that will fit in your chasis without "hammer mods". As for heat transfer you can wrap your headers with a product for DEI. You can get this through Summit or Jegs. The header wrap will void the manufac. warranty. I have had good luck with this wrap and it does keep the driving compartment cooler that even the stock exhaust manifolds. Good Luck!

Bill

[Larry E. Howard]

Re: HEADERS

Vince,
I had a 71 454 with headers and it literly cooked my feet on a hot day even with the top down. I removed the non- coated headers and installed factory manifolds and found this to help considerably. Recenty I did the opposite on my 57. I removed the factory manifolds and put coated hookers on it and I think the heat was reduced slightly. Try the coated ones they look better anyway.