All things FE Headers.

[TomP]

Where does Hooker make them now? I visited there in the mid 80's. We went to their Ontario CA plant and it looked like an industrial building but was converted to offices. Still had electrical cords hanging from the ceiling and air fittings and work benches but added carpet and desks all over. Just down the road was Summers Brothers and the Goldenrod was sitting outside unrestored!

[DuckRyder]

Anyone know what specifically the difference in Sanderson FF427 and FF427CS are? Pictures would be fantastic. I know the CS is for Camper special but not sure what makes them different (Camper specials, at least some of them, have a front anti sway bar).

[TomP]

I think the Camper Special had the sway bar behind the I beams attacked to the track arms. That would affect header fit. I'm sure ones for a Camper Special would fit either style so i'm not sure why they need a non-CamperSpecial version.

[RustyCrankshaft]

Yep, camper special had a "Sway bar" behind the beams and it tied the 2 radius arms together. I can get some pics of my 73 C/S tomorrow. I don't think I've ever seen a header that said it fit a C/S and I've installed very few headers that didn't fit!!! The 73 had some kind of headers on it when I bought it, unsure what brand but they look like Headmans. The biggest problem with truck headers is a lot of them have the port opening so low they'll only fit the later low port like on a D2.

I bought Barry's EMC headers which were Hookers (I was going to say I bought Barry's Hookers but that might overload his phone with calls) and they will work with the ports that are higher exit like a C1AE, etc.

I've never used a set of the FF427's so I have no idea how they fit, although they're tech support guy said the flange opening was big enough for "any" port. They're words, not mine!

[DuckRyder]

Yep like I said at least some CS have the front sway bar, at least where bumpsides go there seems to be controversy as to whether all of them had it or not.

My truck isn’t a Camper Special, I’m just wondering if one or the other exits higher (or lower) which might help or change the exhaust routing.

https://www.sandersonheaders.com/ff427cs-header-set-ford-camper-special-fe-engines.html



https://www.sandersonheaders.com/sanderson-ff427-header-set-for-ford-fe-engines.html?category_id=37

[Rory428]

Many years ago, I found a Camper Special front sway bar, and added it to my 74 F350 ramp truck. Since my original radius rods already had the holes in them, it bolted right in. When I added the sway bar, I had Hedman long tubes on the truck, which cleared the sway bar just fine, as did the FlowTechs that replaced the Hedmans did. That said, a guy I know has a 68 F250 Camper Special, and when he tried the same model of Hedmans that I had, they would not clear the odd looking PS box that his truck had. Unlike the PS box on my 74, his had this large angled lump that pointed toward the engine. I don`t know if this steering box was unique to Camper Specials or not.

[RustyCrankshaft]

Yep like I said at least some CS have the front sway bar, at least where bumpsides go there seems to be controversy as to whether all of them had it or not.

There is a "front" and "front rear" sway bar. The front sway bar is AHEAD of the beams and not an issue for any kind of header. There is also the more common front "rear" sway bar that goes between the radius arms.

There are 2 different integral power steering boxes on the 2wd's. The one you had in your 74 was used for a few years prior to that, but exactly when is a bit of a mystery. I've had 68's with both styles and 70's with both styles.

[thatdarncat]

Here’s a set of Hooker #6376 adjustable race headers. These have the 2” primary tubes. They are similar to the larger tube #6375 Hookers. They have a 3 1/2” collector. I bought these used from a friend recently and abrasive blasted & painted them. I don’t know how old they are. Like the other Hooker FE race headers I don’t think Hooker makes these anymore. They did not come with the “adjustable” tube sections for the primaries, so they are on the shortest possibility. They are listed as fitting both the ‘67-‘70 FE Mustang/Cougar and the ‘66-‘69 FE Fairlane/Torino/Comet/Montego.

*Edited to add - when I first got these and I mocked these up I found one upper bolt hole on each side ( which are slotted ) didn’t line up exactly with the bolt holes in the heads. I tried another pair of heads to be sure, and same issue. It was a simple matter of a little work with the die grinder to clearance the header flange hole a bit more. A small issue, but with as much of a pain as FE headers in a shock tower car are, if I’d have been trying to install them in the car right out of the box it would have been a struggle, and likely tougher to figure out what wasn’t working. Mocking the headers up on a spare engine can be a big help. These headers have the 16 bolt pattern and the person who had these before wasn’t using the upper holes I needed for my heads, so they hadn’t run across the issue. Just an observation. I have run into this issue in the past on different set of headers, one bolt hole on the flange was just slightly off, but I found it ahead of time then also.






The #5 & #6 tubes clear the oil filter by about 1/2”.

[6667fan]

Those snakes are cool Kevin. They would look smashing on a dummy engine in my shop.
Wanna sell them?

[thatdarncat]

Those snakes are cool Kevin. They would look smashing on a dummy engine in my shop.
Wanna sell them?

Sorry, I bought these from my Buddy because I’m going to use them when we break-in & dyno test my 427 soon, then I may be using them in my ‘67 Cougar the 427 is going in.

[427John]

The super tall shelby valve covers are also very cool,I've got a set of the old pro/stock pentroof covers that are really tall too,I haven't measured them but they look significantly taller than a set of cobra lemans covers I have.Did they make those valve covers in different heights or is it just an optical illusion?

[427John]

That got me curious and I went out and measured them,it looks like it was an optical illusion both sets measured about 5" on the high side ad about 4" on the low side.

[preaction]

Kevin, there was a company in Minnesota called Headers by "ED" have you ever run accross a set of those ?

[Nightmist66]

Dad and I both have a set of "Ed's". I wasn't fond of fitment with them. Seems like they hit just about everything possible, including physically touching the oil filter if you're running an FL-1A and the C1, C3, or C8 filter adapter. Clutch linkage clearance is "okay". Flanges were thin and so were the tubes. Mine were 1 3/4" primary and Dad's car currently has the 1 7/8". Both are Fairlanes '66&67. I have a couple pics of the old worn out headers on the old 390 that was in my car.

[thatdarncat]

Kevin, there was a company in Minnesota called Headers by "ED" have you ever run accross a set of those ?

Headers by “ED”were actually very popular around here, and you still see a set in use occasionally when looking around at the dragstrip now days. I have a friend that still has a set on his Scrub-velle. Maybe one of the other locals will comment, my experience is limited. I moved back to the Twin Cities area after graduating high school right after when our two local dragstrips had closed, so I never had a chance to check out any FE versions on a car back then, and by the time I was racing at Brainerd I don’t remember seeing any FE ones. Ed usually had a booth at the big winter car shows around here back then, and I talked to him a couple times about FE headers for my 427 I was building at the time, but eventually I ended up going with Hookers. I don’t remember exactly why, but one reason might have been since his headers were pretty much made to order I never had a chance to check out ahead what they would look like. And if I remember I think they were quite a bit more expensive too. It wasn’t much longer after that that I heard Ed had changed to only selling his headers as weld together kits, and not as complete headers any more. He kept on like that for quite a few more years. One of Ed’s main selling points was that he tried to make all his headers equal length within 1/4”. Ed’s shop was in a garage not far from where I lived, and I drove by a couple times, but never caught him outside. I dug out my old Headers by “ED” literature so people not familiar can check it out. I don’t have anything with prices. All the Headers by “ED” I’ve seen over the years have the tag welded on them mentioned on the flyer.