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84 2wd, short box, 440 header recommendation

68gtx

68gtx

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ok now its down to headers.. what you guys running and what fits?? i have headman small block headers now and fit is good.. anyone run the 440 ones?? ON the Facebook dodge dw site they are telling me that b body headers fit the truck application, anyone done this?? what year and how do they fit??i don't want to smash or dent any new headers to fit..
 
OK , I think I just put in my two cents in on this in another thread . As a lot of you guy's know , I've done quite a few Big Block swaps on these trucks . I "used to" swear by Headman & Hooker for this swap . There's a couple of companies now selling headers for this swap . But when I was doing the build on my truck , I must have sent back at least three or four sets from different companies . They "all" had issue and I ended up keeping one of the sets of Hookers that I got . It had the lesser of all the evils . Do yourself a favor and what ever header you try . Bolt them on the block first while it's on the stand and check for spark plug clearance as well as bolt clearance were they bolt to the head . And don't skip any bolts . Trust me on this .
 
bear said:
OK , I think I just put in my two cents in on this in another thread . As a lot of you guy's know , I've done quite a few Big Block swaps on these trucks . I "used to" swear by Headman & Hooker for this swap . There's a couple of companies now selling headers for this swap . But when I was doing the build on my truck , I must have sent back at least three or four sets from different companies . They "all" had issue and I ended up keeping one of the sets of Hookers that I got . It had the lesser of all the evils . Do yourself a favor and what ever header you try . Bolt them on the block first while it's on the stand and check for spark plug clearance as well as bolt clearance were they bolt to the head . And don't skip any bolts . Trust me on this .
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every header i get will have to be ordered in , as nowhere around here stocks anything!!!!! which make returning stuff expensive and everyone cranky..
leaning towards headman, haven't had good luck with hooker in the last few years..

bought a set of hooker super comps for my big block sway in my mustang and they were horrible not to mention what i paid for them
 
Yah see , I was lucky In a way . I just happen to have another big block on the engine stand to try the headers on before they where to go into the truck . So I could dry fit them on that engine and have a good look at them to see if I was going to have any issues before they ever made it to the truck . The Headman's I tried where a really nice design and the ball cup reducer was interesting . I was really impressed when I took them out of the box . But they never made it into the truck to see how they where going to fit the body . I bolted them on the engine and they where great , just as long as I didn't want to run spark plugs . A couple of the tubes actually ran right in front of the spark plug holes . Other's I could have indexed and gotten away with it , but there was those couple that no way in hell I was going to be able to get plugs in , let alone wires . It all go's back to what I think I said in the other thread . Quality control . Because I've ran Headman's on these trucks in the past and had them fit great . But that was another design which evidently they don't make anymore .
 
I've also run Hooker Headers in the past and never had any real issues . That is until this last time . The set I have on my truck now is actually the second set I tried . The first set there was so much wrong that I almost didn't even try the second set they sent me . But at that point I was willing to try anything . So I had them send me the second set which is what I have on there now . They fit the truck it's self good with the exception of the passenger side collector aim's a little towards the frame . I didn't realize that until I went to my exhaust guy and we where making up the exhaust for it . I'm going to be straightening that out eventually when I change up the collector end of it and swap it out for a bigger collector . It go's down to 2 1/2" now . Why'd they do it like that I don't know . More then likely , no-matter what header you go with , your going to have to index a couple of the tubes . Same way with the Hookers . Just less of them .
 
Oh , by the way . The Hooker headers that BPE sells and they make it sound like Hooker makes them for them . Look up that part number over at Summit or Jegs . Same headers .
 
I know what your talkin about when you say check for spark plug clearance. All but 2 of the spark plugs were good with my Hooker Headers. 2 were close but I thought they would be OK, since I had wrapped the headers. But I burned thru one boot and the other was a little blistered. So ended up getting Accel spark plug wires with ceramic boots.
 
I'm using the Hedman headers for the late-seventies 440 powered trucks. They fit my '84 - 440 fine. Unless you already have them I can't figure out why folks want to use a B body header? There are others that make headers for the 70's 440 trucks.
 
Rick62 said:
I'm using the Hedman headers for the late-seventies 440 powered trucks. They fit my '84 - 440 fine. Unless you already have them I can't figure out why folks want to use a B body header? There are others that make headers for the 70's 440 trucks.
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Then you got lucky . I used to swear by headman and hooker for this swap , Heck , I've done enough of them . But with what I went thru with my Warlock this last build I just can't . I blame it on quality control myself . You see what 68GTX is going thru , well I went thru the same issue's as well with Headman , Hooker and one other brand that I can't think of the name right now . Like I said , I settled on the hookers I have in there now and that was the second set that I had gotten of that brand and I still had to work them a lil . There's no excuse for anyone to have to deal with these issues with the money that they get for them . As far as B-Body headers fitting in these trucks ? They don't , plain and simple . And as far as the 70's big block truck headers fitting the 80's truck's ? Your a 100 % correct on that , even though the tech's at places like Summit and Jegs say they don't .
 
I had to call the big parts warehouses and a few individual companies to get 1 person to tell me headers for a C body would fit years not listed. I was looking for a cheaper alternative to tti's and they kept saying they wouldn't fit a 66 because they were only listing 69-73. I always try to contact the company I'm going to whose product I'm going to use, they generally know what their product fits. Hell, even my pipes from tti were buggered up right after the collector, I just wanted to drive the car so I didn't fix it, then I smashed the pipes on a driveway last June and she didn't see much use after that. I'll assess the damage this spring and get replacement parts and get it right. My point, even the best parts money can buy aren't always perfect.
 
bear said:
Then you got lucky . I used to swear by headman and hooker for this swap , Heck , I've done enough of them . But with what I went thru with my Warlock this last build I just can't . I blame it on quality control myself . You see what 68GTX is going thru , well I went thru the same issue's as well with Headman , Hooker and one other brand that I can't think of the name right now . Like I said , I settled on the hookers I have in there now and that was the second set that I had gotten of that brand and I still had to work them a lil . There's no excuse for anyone to have to deal with these issues with the money that they get for them . As far as B-Body headers fitting in these trucks ? They don't , plain and simple . And as far as the 70's big block truck headers fitting the 80's truck's ? Your a 100 % correct on that , even though the tech's at places like Summit and Jegs say they don't .
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The phone jockeys go by the manufacturer catalogs. It's all they have. Since the B and RB motors weren't offered after 1978 trucks, they don't show up in any catalog for years after that. Since I knew the small block headers are the same from 1977 through 1991, I took a chance and ordered the 1978-440 part assuming the would fit in my 1984 - 440 powered truck. I did have to put a small notch in the upper rail of the frame on the drivers side. But, since the headers aren't advertised as fitting my application I can't complain. Two wheel drive headers are different than the four wheel drive headers.
 
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