Headers or iron manifolds?

[Greenacarina]

Hello.
I am working on an 88, 4wd, 3/4 ton pickup.
It will be street driven and I plan on doing some towing and hauling.
Stock 350 is getting a mild cam, early 70's heads (1.94 x 1.50), 600 cfm carb, edelbrock performer intake, hei dist.
I am not looking to squeeze every ounce of power, but I don't want to cork this thing up, either...
I contemplated shorty headers, but it looks like I would never see my spark plugs again.
Are they that bad?
Are there cast iron manifolds that would do me better than the factory TBI units, power-wise?
I would like to run dual exhaust if possible, unless an aftermarket y-pipe could give similar results.

Thanks.

 

[Rock Hard Concrete]

The general consensus has been that shorty headers are not worth the hassle. However, some swear by them. If you are already replacing cracked/warped manifolds then maybe it makes sense.

A properly sized and plumbed single exhaust will always make more power and torque than a similar dual exhaust, no matter the engine.

Most have reported a greater gain with a less restrictive y pipe than by switching to shorty headers.

*Edit* my original statement of any vehicle will make more power with a single exhaust was wrong since many vehicles may not support the space required to plumb a single exhaust properly.

 

[99xcss4]

if you do not want shortys get ram horn manifolds way better then logs.

headers like this may be an option but I do not think you will gain any thing from them other than sound

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[99xcss4]

if you do not want shortys get ram horn manifolds way better then logs.

headers like this may be an option but I do not think you will gain any thing from them other than sound

You must be registered for see images attach

ram horns

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Greenacarina]

Thanks for the info, guys!
My manifolds are ok, condtion-wise. Just figured they would be undersized, like many of the components of the tbi engines.
I am looking now at y-pipes...summit and jegs have one for about $300 made by JBA, that I am sure is very nice...but seems like a lot of dough.
Jegs has a couple made by BRExhaust that say "direct fit" (2 different part #'s...not sure the difference. These are just over $100 and look much better than the Walker replacement...looks like more of a merge than the 90 degree coupling that Walker (and GM) use.
Any experience or thoughts on these?
Thanks

 

[618 Syndicate]

A properly sized and plumbed single exhaust will always make more power and torque than a similar dual exhaust, no matter the vehicle or engine.

Absolutely not true.

 

[Komet]

Absolutely not true.

I think the theory is there's less surface area of gas touching metal which slows it down, so the single of equivalent flow capacity has an edge, on paper. I think it would be tough to really prove that either way because each setup is going to make power a bit differently.

 

[618 Syndicate]

I think the theory is there's less surface area of gas touching metal which slows it down, so the single of equivalent flow capacity has an edge, on paper. I think it would be tough to really prove that either way because each setup is going to make power a bit differently.

That may be the case, but that's not what he said. Properly sized is not the same as equally sized.
I'd guess that the difference between equally sized duals or single is theoretical, rather than observable in anything outside motorsports.

 

[Rock Hard Concrete]

That's okay people dog on me for liking my open element filters even though everyone "knows" they make less power.

Same as single exhaust vs dual exhaust. Everyone knows they make more power but there are still anecdotal cases where they don't.

 

[Schurkey]

Another guy I trust on this forum says headers are a vast improvement over stock manifolds.

MY experience is that without tuning, without suitable modifications...you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between stock manifolds and shorty headers on a GMT400 within a typical and truck-useful RPM range.