I have no firsthand experience with the new Holley/Hooker cast iron exhaust manifolds,
but they are getting good reviews, are supposed to flow better than stock,
you can still get to the plugs, and they have nice lines/easy on the eyes:
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Me? If I can't have a set of no-nonsense long-tube Tri-Y headers connected
to a quiet(er) high flow exhaust, I'll skip the shorties and go right for these
new performance-oriented cast iron manifolds. (I'll take the titanium-colored
ceramic coating - see attached.)
EDIT: I may have been misled elsewhere. The attached photos may be natural,
but I'd want the ceramic coating for rust free long-term +
less heat radiated into
the engine bay. So I'll take the black ceramic over the natural.)
I'm too old to put myself through the header aggravation if they aren't going
to deliver enough additional performance to outweigh the extra effort.
Especially when using a stock/near stock cam where the difference between
a higher flowing cast iron exhaust vs. a shorty header just won't be there.