All things FE Headers.

[preaction]

I have a set that escaped being rusted out I remember Ed being "very" theory orientated and a big parts kits seller.

[cammerfe]

Hard to get on the phone, but when you got him he'd talk for at least an hour. And quite knowledgeably.

KS

[Royce]

Ed, now there is one of the true eccentrics in the hobby.. Back 25 yr ago I was putting a MEL in a 48 pickup and I decided I needed some block hugger headers.. There were no flanges available for that engine so I call Ed... I must have spent 3 or 4 hours on the phone over a 6 mo period trying to get these flanges..  Most of the time was taken up by him expounding on header theory and telling me why all the name brand stuff was crap and why he had special insights into header design. We argued for a long time about my intention to use a block hugger style header.. His contention was the primaries being so close to the block would cause the engine to overheat..Which I thought was ridiculous, but that was Ed.. he also could not remind me often enough the he was the ONLY supplier who could make me a MEL flange.. They were anything but pieces of art  lol

[John67427]

I have used 3 different sets of headers on my FE 1967 Fairlane. Hooker 6375’s, Kustom Headers - # 3-4 and6-7 cross under the oil pan to the opposite side and Crites. I never could get the Hooker 6375’s to fit and ended up selling them to RJ Sledge . The Kustom headers would work with a T pan where the Crites would not. I have since purchased a set of REF’s but have not tried to fit them yet. Thanks for the oil filter adaptor info. Was not aware of that issue with the REF’s.

[preaction]

These also are a often not seen set of FE headers.

[CV355]

What are the chances post #2 from 2018 happens to be the same headers I was trying to identify...

I wanted to make sure that the primaries on cylinders 5 and 6 would clear the Moroso oil pan.  Can't wait to get those things mounted now that they look brand new from Jet-Hot, I'd hate for there to be a clearance issue. 

[thatdarncat]

What are the chances post #2 from 2018 happens to be the same headers I was trying to identify...

That was my hope with this post is that it would help people on header choices, or issues to watch for. I really hope people will continue to add pictures of other FE headers to the thread. The idea was to group a bunch of the info in one place. It should help too when people who aren’t on the forum here search the web too.

I’d still like to see feedback from anyone that buys the cheap headers off eBay, as far as what they fit or don’t fit. I continue to see people report buying them, because the low price is tempting, but it also seems to be total hit or miss whether they fit anything, or are totally useless. Maybe with some info sharing we can find out which ones have hope.

[frnkeore]

It seems like this thread would make a very useful "Sticky", rather than a hit and miss subject thread.

[WerbyFord]

Thread over on fordfe.com says these are Belangers, 63-64 Galaxie (could be 60-64, not sure).

https://www.fordfe.com/hooker-super-comp-6205-t164924.html

Test fitted on the 396 we built for my dad's car i 1977. We didnt cut the car to put em on, used 406 iron instead.
Note Model "A" wheel at upper right, and good old kerosene stove to keep us warm, back in the day it used to get nippy in Michigan.

[cammerfe]

The cross-under headers we used on Brother Lon's '67 Mustang/427 TP were made by 'Bondo' Larson here in the metro Detroit area. (He didn't like 'Bondo'). He was a jack-of-all-trades at DST.

The cross-under pipes never made any difference at all inside the oil pan.

KS

[427John]

Was the 396 as in .030 over 390 or as in destroked 427 like they ran in Nascar for a while?Do the cross under pipes give a significant power increase or is it mainly for fitment? 

[cammerfe]

Larson's were VERY close to being equal length. Some don't think it's very important, but some DO. Larson was one.

KS

[WerbyFord]

Was the 396 as in .030 over 390 or as in destroked 427 like they ran in Nascar for a while?Do the cross under pipes give a significant power increase or is it mainly for fitment?

If you mean the picture I posted, nothing fancy, just 30-over 390. The forged pistons were the big ticket item at $20 - EACH!! $160 for 8 pistons, you could darn near buy a running car for that. The headers had just come with another 390 Gal, rust-free, we bought the car & free headers for $500 or something.

They're NOT 180-degree headers, there's still a pair that fires at 90 degrees on each side, so they dont make that awful import-style buzzy sound.
Probably the routing was an effort to make them near equal length so tuned for a peaky engine or one that's kept near peak revs.

From the header modeling I've done you probably would get a higher HP peak right there, but you'd pay for it elsewhere in the curve.

[427John]

I ask because I have a set of the Dougs headers and they have the cross under,and was curious.

[TomP]

They cross under the pan to get the length on the back tubes without using a big loop. I made my 64 Fairlane headers like that. Just one tube each side.