I think it may depend who you talk to. I do think that if you are
talking to a supplier, manufacturer or reseller you have to take what
they say with a grain of salt. I have heard many different opinions from
several muffler shops, all at differing ends of the spectrum. I weighed
all the information I had and made my decision on past experiences. A
very good friend of mine took a exhaust system course from Gale Banks in
California. Yep, the Gale Banks. He came back with an interesting slant
on things. Unless you are going to convert to the whole system you will
have only incremental jumps in performance. If you change to a 3" pipe
and free flow mufflers you will realize improvements in power and
possibly mileage. Headers may or may not add. Too many variables.
Driving habits, terrain, and weather all play parts. Maybe the grade of
gas was different in this state than that. When I changed my system,
sans headers, and at the same time replaced my radiator and intake
manifold and carburetor and plug wires and HEI module and hoses and the
oil and the thermostat, I lost 35 deg. in temperature and gained 3 mpg.
I like my mileage and low running temp of 165 deg. As usual it comes
down to, What works for you. By the way, the muffler shop that did my
system does race cars and performance stuff and recommended against
headers. Something about them running hotter than the oem manifolds.
Like Tom said, if they are ceramic coated they may run a little cooler
than uncoated headers. Darren
- --
Darren Paget
76 Experimental
Another Fab Day
http://www.TZEplus.com
talking to a supplier, manufacturer or reseller you have to take what
they say with a grain of salt. I have heard many different opinions from
several muffler shops, all at differing ends of the spectrum. I weighed
all the information I had and made my decision on past experiences. A
very good friend of mine took a exhaust system course from Gale Banks in
California. Yep, the Gale Banks. He came back with an interesting slant
on things. Unless you are going to convert to the whole system you will
have only incremental jumps in performance. If you change to a 3" pipe
and free flow mufflers you will realize improvements in power and
possibly mileage. Headers may or may not add. Too many variables.
Driving habits, terrain, and weather all play parts. Maybe the grade of
gas was different in this state than that. When I changed my system,
sans headers, and at the same time replaced my radiator and intake
manifold and carburetor and plug wires and HEI module and hoses and the
oil and the thermostat, I lost 35 deg. in temperature and gained 3 mpg.
I like my mileage and low running temp of 165 deg. As usual it comes
down to, What works for you. By the way, the muffler shop that did my
system does race cars and performance stuff and recommended against
headers. Something about them running hotter than the oem manifolds.
Like Tom said, if they are ceramic coated they may run a little cooler
than uncoated headers. Darren
- --
Darren Paget
76 Experimental
Another Fab Day
http://www.TZEplus.com
.
