The title is used much in the same way as the kid in the movie "The Matrix" says "There is no spoon."
Since I am among the few old farts here and everyone only knows the world they grew up in I thought I would give a small history lesson on headers and why we always recommend "long tubes", as the younger crowd calls them, and why that term annoys us old farts. :crazy2:
First, a comparison. Ford came out with their 400 cubic inch engine. This looks the same as a 351 Cleveland except it has a taller deck height and a longer stroke. The heads also had smaller valves than the Cleveland. About this time emissions laws was making the Cleveland engine out of compliance with regulations so they put a shorter stroke crank into the 400 block and called it the 351M. There would be a sticker on both engines, 351M and 400, denoting the engine family they were from. Somewhere along the line the 400 started to be called a 400M. Ford never made a 400M, just the 400 and a destroked version they called the 351M, yet you can read someone refering to it as a 400M everyday. This is just plain wrong. To go a little further, everyone says the "M" stands for Modified, but Ford has never documented this or had this designation for the M. At minimum it was used to differentiate it from the 351C and 351W.
So what's that got to do with headers? You'll see in the next paragraphs.
In the begining of performance driving/racing grease monkeys and engineers were experimenting with all kinds of ways to make an engine make more power. Somewhere along the line the scavenging affect of headers instead of cast manifolds was discovered to increase engine performance. Ultimately they became an automatic change to an engine if you were going racing, hotrodding, or setting a land speed record. This became common knowldege. These headers looked like you see in the pictures below.
The only exception to headers was the Tri-Y headers that made more low end torque on the street due to their configuration helping out with exhaust pulse timing from the same head. Then there came one other "twist" on headers, the "block huggers". These were designed for cars where there just was no room for headers and the engine was built for performance. Here's what they looked like.
They were better than exhaust manifolds but were not real "headers", but what are you going to do?
In 1985 Ford came out with "Factory Headers" on the Mustang GT. This was a tubular exhaust manifold rather than a cast exhaust manifold, but it was a header design in it's principle. It was a great way to market the car with Edlebrock intake and 4 barrel carb. The headers complete the package. By designing the headers to this short style they were easier to install on the assembly line than real headers would be and they could still call them "headers." After a while people that owned these cars would be talking with others car owners and the subject of how their car was modified would come up. When the subject of headers came up they would say that their car had headers, but people knew that the car came with a tubular exhaust manifold from the factory and they were questioned if that was what they were talking about or did they have real headers on it? "Shorties" would have to be the reply. It would be acknowledged that it was better than cast manifolds, but still was not built for serious performance.
As time went on newer guys getting into the hobby wanted their Mustangs that didn't come with factory headers to have them. An aftermarket sprang up to provide them. They were also easier than real headers to install and someone with limited ability could swap them out easy enough. Because of this it seems not much was learned about real headers since they already had "shorty" headers.
So there are no "long tubes." There's headers and there's tubular exhaust manifolds.
Steve
Since I am among the few old farts here and everyone only knows the world they grew up in I thought I would give a small history lesson on headers and why we always recommend "long tubes", as the younger crowd calls them, and why that term annoys us old farts. :crazy2:
First, a comparison. Ford came out with their 400 cubic inch engine. This looks the same as a 351 Cleveland except it has a taller deck height and a longer stroke. The heads also had smaller valves than the Cleveland. About this time emissions laws was making the Cleveland engine out of compliance with regulations so they put a shorter stroke crank into the 400 block and called it the 351M. There would be a sticker on both engines, 351M and 400, denoting the engine family they were from. Somewhere along the line the 400 started to be called a 400M. Ford never made a 400M, just the 400 and a destroked version they called the 351M, yet you can read someone refering to it as a 400M everyday. This is just plain wrong. To go a little further, everyone says the "M" stands for Modified, but Ford has never documented this or had this designation for the M. At minimum it was used to differentiate it from the 351C and 351W.
So what's that got to do with headers? You'll see in the next paragraphs.
In the begining of performance driving/racing grease monkeys and engineers were experimenting with all kinds of ways to make an engine make more power. Somewhere along the line the scavenging affect of headers instead of cast manifolds was discovered to increase engine performance. Ultimately they became an automatic change to an engine if you were going racing, hotrodding, or setting a land speed record. This became common knowldege. These headers looked like you see in the pictures below.
The only exception to headers was the Tri-Y headers that made more low end torque on the street due to their configuration helping out with exhaust pulse timing from the same head. Then there came one other "twist" on headers, the "block huggers". These were designed for cars where there just was no room for headers and the engine was built for performance. Here's what they looked like.
They were better than exhaust manifolds but were not real "headers", but what are you going to do?
In 1985 Ford came out with "Factory Headers" on the Mustang GT. This was a tubular exhaust manifold rather than a cast exhaust manifold, but it was a header design in it's principle. It was a great way to market the car with Edlebrock intake and 4 barrel carb. The headers complete the package. By designing the headers to this short style they were easier to install on the assembly line than real headers would be and they could still call them "headers." After a while people that owned these cars would be talking with others car owners and the subject of how their car was modified would come up. When the subject of headers came up they would say that their car had headers, but people knew that the car came with a tubular exhaust manifold from the factory and they were questioned if that was what they were talking about or did they have real headers on it? "Shorties" would have to be the reply. It would be acknowledged that it was better than cast manifolds, but still was not built for serious performance.
As time went on newer guys getting into the hobby wanted their Mustangs that didn't come with factory headers to have them. An aftermarket sprang up to provide them. They were also easier than real headers to install and someone with limited ability could swap them out easy enough. Because of this it seems not much was learned about real headers since they already had "shorty" headers.
So there are no "long tubes." There's headers and there's tubular exhaust manifolds.
Steve
