Purchasing headers.

[Den]

Was curious were everyone got there headers (Dodge 440) from ? I'm in the mid west if that helps any.

[cat]

In 1988, I purchased a set of Doug Thorley headers.  Not knowing where to go I called the factory and they told me it would be cheaper to buy from one of their dealers and gave me a name.  It turned out to be a speed shop in Modesto, CA. south of where I live and believe it or not they were cheaper.  They're easy to install, improve performance and best of all, no more blasted heat on the poor passengers feet.  After I installed the headers, I ran the rig up to the local muffler shop and they fabricated the exhaust and tail pipes which exit on the drivers side, ahead of the rear wheel.  So, my suggestion is to find a local speed shop and have them order what ever you like.  I like Doug Thorley because of the 3/8 inch thick flange and the fact that they've lasted this long without any trouble.

[EKS]

Check out the thermal coatings for headers. Doug Thorley does a ceramic coating on the outside that stops much of the heat. Some of the thermal coatings (done both inside and outside) will block up to 65% of the heat from the exhaust.

[Den]

EKS. Do you believe this is worth the extra money ? Wife plans on keeping clipper instead of buying new one.

[ed@icollect.com]

go on the internet to Summit racing.com  they have a good selection of headers, headman, thorley,ect.  all at a very good price and don't charge for shipping...I got a set of Headman Elites for my 440.....

[EKS]

DEN
Did not see your question until today. The under hood (doghouse) temperature seems a problem from reading posts and it would help with that. Cooler temperatures should help mileage and life of all underhood components like hoses, belts etc. There are tech articles about how insulating the exhaust system helps with exhaust gas scavenging and better performance. I have not done it myself as we got the Clipper a couple of months ago and headers are on the list but not yet. There is also header wrap material but if you do some internet searches you will find articles about the wrap making the headers brittle and causing burn throughs. Research and see what you find. The search engine that seems the best is www.google.com. Search under `header coatings RV' and `thermal barrier headers' and anything else that you can think of.