Headers

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Statcoy

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Dec 1, 2019
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57
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Location
Oregon
My Car
302 1971 Mustang Coupe
Just tryna restore it
So I bought an exhaust kit off of CJ Pony Parts cane with an H pipe made to fit small block V8. I attempted to put it on, so I kind of had everything set in place, and it looks like my headers are uneven more so the passgendr side the driver side seems to fit fine, both exhaust piped are pretty long , anyway my passenger side is almost directly under the floor pan. What is the issue here ? I'm so confused. Do I need new headers? Also when I had my carb rebuilt the guy who did it told me that more than likely my engine was from an F350, idk how possible that is . Tired of throwing money into the wrong things! Anyhting helps

 
Well you never heard it from me, but a jack or long digging iron placed in the right spot is a very useful tool to have sometimes

 
Those exhaust manifolds are definitely not stock; no kit is likely to fit aftermarket exhausts unless you know who made the exhaust manifolds and they sell h-pipes and related intermediate exhaust pipes. Most folks with long-tube headers end up having the remaining system custom fabricated at a local muffler/exhaust shop.

 
So can I just buy new headers and all?

 
I don't know that 302s came in F350s. Back in the '70s the base engine was the 300 c.i. I-6, and 302s only came in the F150s. For the F250s and F350s the base V8 was the 360 F.E. After the F.E. engines were phased out the I believe 351M and 400 were the only V8s offered in the F250s and F350s. It's possible the carburetor on your car is from a pickup and that is what he was basing that on.

As far as the headers, it looks to me like they were modified by speed bumps, pushing the passenger side up. It looks to me like they are leaks waiting to happen, so new headers would definitely fit better and last longer.

 
I don't know that 302s came in F350s. Back in the '70s the base engine was the 300 c.i. I-6, and 302s only came in the F150s. For the F250s and F350s the base V8 was the 360 F.E. After the F.E. engines were phased out the I believe 351M and 400 were the only V8s offered in the F250s and F350s. It's possible the carburetor on your car is from a pickup and that is what he was basing that on.

As far as the headers, it looks to me like they were modified by speed bumps, pushing the passenger side up. It looks to me like they are leaks waiting to happen, so new headers would definitely fit better and last longer
Click to expand...
So how far up is that exhaust suppose to go ? And wjere should it be when I get new headers !

 
For my opinion just under the transmission pan is okay. Hookers 6921 or 6915 is a good choice. If you having trouble to get the exhaust  exactly onto the headers you can use flexpipe, if you dont want to do a custom pipe section.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I usually do 99% of my own work on all my projects but exhaust is one of those things i leave to the PRO's.  Get a good set of headers on it, then take it to a local exhaust shop and have them custom bend some 2 1/2" stainless pipes, x-pipe, and mufflers. I tried the Pypes kit and couldn't get it to fit the way i wanted. Other people had good luck with them but i did not. I returned the kit and went to the exhaust shop. The custom exhaust was only a few bucks more than the PYPES kit.









 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you want a kit to fit right with headers, it has to be designed from front to back for a specific set. Every header ends up in a different spot under the car, so no one makes a specific "plug n play" exhaust kit unless they supply the headers. The pipes also tend to come with extra length and you'll need to trim them to fit.

IMO, take your kit and the car to an exhaust shop and have them install the kit and fab up the pipes needed to mate the two.

another note, I'd replace those headers as they look pretty crusty - before you go to an exhaust shop. You don't want to have the pipes made to fit, then have to replace them down the road and find out they are a brand that is no longer available.

I've used the reproduction TriY headers on a couple of my cars with good results.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c5zz-9430-bk/year/1967/make/ford/model/mustang/submodel/shelby-gt-350

If you prefer a 4 tube header

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hok-6901hkr

 
So how far up is the exhaust suppose to be?

 
If you want a kit to fit right with headers, it has to be designed from front to back for a specific set. Every header ends up in a different spot under the car, so no one makes a specific "plug n play" exhaust kit unless they supply the headers.  The pipes also tend to come with extra length and you'll need to trim them to fit.

IMO, take your kit and the car to an exhaust shop and have them install the kit and fab up the pipes needed to mate the two.

another note, I'd replace those headers as they look pretty crusty - before you go to an exhaust shop. You don't want to have the pipes made to fit, then have to replace them down the road and find out they are a brand that is no longer available.

I've used the reproduction TriY headers on a couple of my cars with good results.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c5zz-9430-bk/year/1967/make/ford/model/mustang/submodel/shelby-gt-350

If you prefer a 4 tube header

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hok-6901hkr
Click to expand...
Will those hooked work for my 71 302? Another issue I'm facing is time I leave for Fort Benning in like 2 weeks and idk if I'd be able to scrape up enough money to trailer it over to someone I vuess worse case I could do it when I come back, but I was hopefully just gonna do it myself !

 
If you want a kit to fit right with headers, it has to be designed from front to back for a specific set. Every header ends up in a different spot under the car, so no one makes a specific "plug n play" exhaust kit unless they supply the headers.  The pipes also tend to come with extra length and you'll need to trim them to fit.

IMO, take your kit and the car to an exhaust shop and have them install the kit and fab up the pipes needed to mate the two.

another note, I'd replace those headers as they look pretty crusty - before you go to an exhaust shop. You don't want to have the pipes made to fit, then have to replace them down the road and find out they are a brand that is no longer available.

I've used the reproduction TriY headers on a couple of my cars with good results.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sdk-c5zz-9430-bk/year/1967/make/ford/model/mustang/submodel/shelby-gt-350

If you prefer a 4 tube header

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hok-6901hkr
Click to expand...
Will those hooked work for my 71 302? Another issue I'm facing is time I leave for Fort Benning in like 2 weeks and idk if I'd be able to scrape up enough money to trailer it over to someone I vuess worse case I could do it when I come back, but I was hopefully just gonna do it myself !
Click to expand...
Those are the headers that Hooker calls out for the 64-73 Mustangs with a 302. I've never personally used them.

 

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