Exhaust Header Secrets: What to Look For

I'm looking to add headers on 2006 pontiac grand prix gxp 5.3 with a BTR truck Norris cam!! I want that extra added hp and sound and raise up the RPM range

You do not want equal length headers on most V8's. You want no more then one pulse reaching the collector at any one time but because of their firing order, 2 will sometimes reach it at the same time preventing scavenging.

Forgot wraping

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yes you are correct- but 409 will work great on the street you want 347 for turbos.

@autoguild in your opinion what is the best long tube headers for the 99-06 LS trucks?

Hey there, I work in a company which makes high-end exhausts for sports cars and racing cars, and talking from my boss huge experience, ceramic coatings are almost a scam if you plan to use the car at high rpm for much time, as the thickness of the coating isn't enough to resist to that much heat for long and will soon start to crack and crumb into dust.

I do the jet hot 2000 coating, with shipping it gets expensive but not only for the looks but the heat that is controlled is substantial.

Well sir you are misinformed about equal length headers and power production. Virtually every gearhead with decent knowledge of engines realizes that non flat plane V-8 engines have an odd firing order and do "not" produce evenly spaced exhaust pulses. This is overcome by varying the length of the primary tubes to correct for this.

A caddy sts w/v8 is quite cheap to buy.

the equal length thing is not really important if you just want a fun supercharged street car

On a cross plane crank a merged collector is much more important than equal length tubes.

It may not be the same as ceramic coating but I have used gloss chrome VHT paint for the same reasons. And if it needs 'adjustments 'or gets dirty over time..another can is a lot cheaper.

Gave up on ceramic coating which discolors,,Been using VHT silver 2000 degree F. Spray can paint with quick coverage, on a sand blasted header.Stays looking better longer without color fading and can be touched up easily..and big savings...

BEST VIDEOS on headers (I watched soooo many). I cant find a shorty headers that meets all your recommendations (browsed ALL the manufactures shorty headers but none has a proper welding as you describe on your video). Could you please tell me witch one would be the best for my CHARGER RT 07 ? Thank you

Something to consider with equal length headers is firing order of your specific v8. There are engines for which an equal length header is not the best. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

On the topic of material and ceramic coating and rust...

Any metal with high iron content can be passivated using phosphoric acid. Iron will oxidize eventually if exposed to oxygen no matter what. But oxidized iron can be converted from iron oxide to iron phosphate. The iron phosphate layer can prevent deeper structural iron from being exposed to oxygen.

The header should be boiled to promote a flash oxidation layer to give the phospho something to convert and thus build a thicher iron phosphate layer.

Ceramic coating is something most people can do at home.
It's worth the price of a set of headers to know how to do.

Great video man. Keep em coming.

P.S. might consider teaching that matching the header to the intake and cams shaft is the key to making good power. A stock engine can actually lose power by adding a header designed for racing applications. Also, the diameter of the runner affects pulse timing. A smaller diameter will accelerate the exhaust gas and a large diameter will slow it down. The reason this matters is at what rpm do you want max torque. If the intake is designed for peak torque at 3000 rpm and the header for 7000 rpm... well you can see what's up. They will be working against each other. Then the cam shaft enters the chat, lol!

One problem that cheap Chinese stainless headers can have. When you MIG or TIG weld headers you have to protect the backside of the weld with either painted on flux or cap the ends and fill them with shielding gas while welding. This is not always done with Chinese built headers. It can cause cracking at the weld.
Also 304 stainless has a significantly slower rate of heat transfer than mild steel. So uncoated stainless headers have about the same heat transfer rate as mild steel headers that are ceramic coated. But stainless is much more expensive. The cost of stainless alone is comparable to the cost of mild steel ceramic coated headers.
And you can get away with 5/16" thick flanges with stainless because it's a much tougher metal than mild steel.
409 stainless is only used by the big auto manufactures because it lasts for the practical life of the vehicle in areas where the roads aren't salted. Even though cosmetically it will look bad it will still be sound unlike mild steel. It's not even really available from the header tubing supply places, only 304 and 321.

How important are equal length header tubes on a typical V8 engine when the exhaust pulses on each bank are not uniform. They are both 180 and 90 degrees crankshaft rotation apart.

What if you put thermal wrap on your headers to minimize engine bay heat?

I need headers for Toyota Corolla 2014 hatchbacks zre182

Tri-Y headers work great but not so good over 400 cubes. Got a small block you will love them. ;<)

Almost. For a dual plane crank, each bank has two exhaust pulses arriving to the collector so close, it presents as one large pulse. Result? Unequal scavenging is the result of equal length headers.

Titanium.

Equal length is not the objective. As in pipe length. Equal length of heat distribution length into the collecter. Then theres the distance into the collecter each individual pipe goes

In my opinion, a common collector is NOT needed or the best . One should use a straight line style "lakester" headers as smooth and uniform as possible. Yes, one may have four different lengths in the header (V8) but one must have exact same length overall. Best length is about 30 inches with the max speed in the gases is about 1100 feet per second. In NASCAR, straight line racing, lakester headers are the preferred. Don't use complex or convoluted headers like in Hooker Headers, they are bad and today they are made in China. Kooks Headers is one of the better ones, they are made in Statesville, North Carolina.

What about long tube vs. shortys?

The stupidity of this video...
Only time you want equal header is on 4cyl engines. And even that is questionable as in recent testings uel 41 header has made more hp than el 421 header on boxer engine.
You show picture of real good mig weld and write "welded by apes" under it...

Equal length is not ideal.

Equal length is nowhere near as important as proper length, in fact unequal length can be better than equal length if it improves exhaust harmonics.

That is almost all garbage information. Silicone braze is not what is in that picture.

Equal length headers on a cross plane crank V8 are trash. Tuned headers are the answer.

My advice is this. If you are building a motor
for racing or hauling ass, then go ahead n put
Headers on. Headers will give you heat problems, you may need to heat wrap them. Also, sometimes the headers are really close to the spark plugs n will burn up the plug wires
because of a tight fit. The better headers are very expensive, unless you really really want
to have headers on your ride. It's not really necessary.
My recommendation for a good street/strip motor is to use the original cast iron exhaust manifolds and install 2 1/4 in pipes, for good flow, with Flowmaster mufflers for a nice throaty sound without all the noise n resonance you get inside the car. It will interfere with listening to your stereo. Bigger pipes mean you will be running at
WOT which are not good for a street motor.
I have a Chevy C-10 with a 355 ci built up small block which has plenty of muscle n has
a bad ass authoritative throaty sound. It runs
n sounds great n has a slight resonance inside
the cab. Unless you really really want headers n the headaches that go with them, heat, getting loose at the collectors etc. The stock exhaust manifolds will work just fine. They can also be ported a bit. The stock exhaust manifolds also give you low-end torque which is what you want in a street motor vs high-end
torque which will waste more fuel n not be as fun to drive on the street. A race motor is really only good on a drag strip, not on a weekend cruise...

I'mma head out downtown to look for some headers

No mention of our expensive friend titanium.

But x-plane V8s don't have an even firing order. Unless it is a flat plane V8, equal length is hype. Equal length sounds great on paper, until you space the pulse correctly by the firing order. Funny that Hooker would claim otherwise, marketing run amok.

I strongly suggest you watch David Vizards video on headers, you need to learn some. Theres a whole lot you left such was wave pulse reversion and its effect on scavenging.

Great advice and I totally agree with you Sport Tuned 304 headers are what I would be looking for!... The problem with many of the new Engines of today is that they have aluminum heads that are well designed, but end up breaking bolts because they have cast iron manifolds as stock to preserve heat (big heat/thaw difference)!... 304 Stainless Sport Tuned Headers I believe will solve much of those problems from breaking header bolts, but at a cost of changing out your thermostat to a little later opening with keeping the heat! There is always a heat distribution change on the aluminum heads and changing out the head bolts to something that will accommodate the heat exchange (heat/thaw) is also a great interest as well! Why many companies decide to go with cast iron manifolds is because of the cheap price!

Great article!

Looking at the subject of Headers realistically , ask the question, how many times does one need the extra hp gain in a street driven car that already has 400hp?
Other than the cool sound and “bragging rights” it’s a lot of coin for negotiable gain spend better on less costly improvements.
Od course this is just one ma’s opinion......

Watched a David Vizard video about tube length, he will disagree about equal length is best. Depends on many variables.

Nice video production but I disagree strongly about your view on equal length headers being the best they do not produce the most horsepower actually unequal length headers correctly designed produce notably more power just FYI

304 stainless is not a good material for exhaust. 321 Stainless steel is used in aviation exhaust systems. Also, make sure they are purge welded!

I know this is two years old but......

Wouldnt unequal lenth headers work better for the exact reasons you are saying equal length do?

Think of a sbc firing order.....5 & 7 go one right after the other.

So wouldn't you want one tube to be longer then the other so you keep them spaced out at the collector?

Lots of engines have two cylinders next to eachother go off one after the other...... lol 😆

I have stainless steel kooks with hp cats and a Borla exhaust. LT 5.3 2015 GMC Sierra. I also have an engine tune. My problem is yearly smog. I have to go back to the shop before I smog the vehicle. Is there a permanent fix for this,it's really getting old

Well number 4 only applies when you have a flat plane camshaft.

You realize if you weld the header to much it also creates potential for cracks right. Also nothing wrong with mild steel, it will outlast your car is driven in the summer months or if your in a state with no snow.

One thing to rememberfor everyone.... ceramic header is prone to cracking... stainless steel header will not crack

Should have explain the benefits between long tube headers and short tube headers.