Anyone using Speed Engineering Headers???

[Steve Cole]

Originally Posted by racecougar

MSD multi-angle boots work well with these headers.

Thanks Racecougar!

[ivorton74]

Well pulled the trigger n bought the shorty headers. Hopefully they work out fine. Btw are these the correct plug wires for the headers? I found em on speed engineering part number 32823

[Steve Cole]

Part 1- Initial review.
Ok, my headers arrived yesterday. In the hopes of helping others to decide if these are right for them I figured I would do a two part review 1. initial impressions, and 2. after installation review. It will be a while before my motor is installed so this is part one of the review. First off, when I called them before placing my order, a man answered on the 2nd ring. He was very knowledgeable about the product and informed me these headers had been recently re-designed (I say tweaked) to provide for better clearance around the starter area. (They listened to their customers). They also changed from the old 3 bolt style connection to the V-band clamp style, nice! Those were the two biggest issues I had with these and they were resolved. Woo-Hoo.

I placed my order from their website and immediately got a emailed receipt. Within a few hours I got a notice of shipment and a tracking number, damn! It took one week from the day I ordered them to get them from California to North Carolina. Shipping was $12. When I opened the box, every piece was individually wrapped in plastic. There was no padding, but the way it was packed, there wasn't much moving around either.

At this price point ($157) I assumed there would be some final honing, smoothing, de-burring that needed to be done to clean them up. Nope, nothing, nada. These tubes are welded inside and out and all welds on the inside were ground smooth. There were no burrs or sharp edges, nothing. They were ready to bolt on right out of the box with no prep needed. (I'm impressed) Even the collector extensions where the O2 bung is, the welds and hole for the bung are smooth as a baby's but.

Fit and finish- The stainless is polished. Not killer chrome polished, but polished enough. Keep in mind, this is the best they will ever look. They will probably turn a dull, dirty, bronze color almost immediately but I'm okay with that. This is not the highest quality stainless either. Strong magnet will stick to them but a weaker magnet probably wouldn't. To be fair, my Magnaflow full stainless exhaust system had more iron content than these do. The exhaust gasket that comes with them isn't worth using so I also bought the nice set they sell for $29. Header bolts are included. All in all, to my door it was $198 for the headers, upgraded gaskets, and shipping. Very reasonably priced!

Placing a straight edge on the mounting flange, I noticed about 1/16" bow in the middle. Installing them will pull this out. The tubes are thinner than Thorley's but these are 1/4 the price. Here are a few pics-

[Steve Cole]

Here are few more pics.

Inside the collector, there is some kind of spear thing, supposed to smooth airflow or something.

[ivorton74]

Sweet now I really can’t wait to get mine!!

[PhilistineAu]

I've added these to my master word doc.

I shall be getting a pair of the shorty headers. Thanks for sharing such a detailed review!!!

[Steve Cole]

Originally Posted by PhilistineAu

I've added these to my master word doc.

I shall be getting a pair of the shorty headers. Thanks for sharing such a detailed review!!!

Glad I could help, that's what it's all about!

[ivorton74]

Finally got my headers. They look pretty good n like a quality item. Hopefully it fits fine.

[sluggy]

just put the shortys on my 62, awesome fit !!

[verdell]

Originally Posted by sluggy

just put the shortys on my 62, awesome fit !!

WOW!!! What engine mounts did you use? Do you have any more pics particularly the passenger side fitment?

[sluggy]

Ill get some photos of header in the next couple of days, i used these mounts. Also ended up welding 6mm plate to the crossmember and bolting the 10mm plate to it.

[verdell]

Originally Posted by sluggy

Ill get some photos of header in the next couple of days, i used these mounts. Also ended up welding 6mm plate to the crossmember and bolting the 10mm plate to it.

Thank you for your help. I picked up an L33 from an '05 Sierra a couple of weeks ago and hope to have it in soon. All the guys around here with the 73-87 square bodies have used Speed Engineering long tubes with their LS swaps. I was looking for an alternative to the 2010 Camaro style cast iron manifolds or $700 Doug Thorley's but wasn't sure if anything else would fit without hacking up the 60-62 frame. Any and all photos are appreciated!!

[Old 62]

Here is a set of the shorties in a 62 all seems to clear fine. Just a little tight by the starter.

[sluggy]

One from underneath, and one from above. I used the factory heatshield around the starter and wiring and wrapped any electrics in heat resistant cover. The trans is a 6l80, no clearance issues with that.

Like Old 62 said, no problems !!

[verdell]

Originally Posted by sluggy

One from underneath, and one from above. I used the factory heatshield around the starter and wiring and wrapped any electrics in heat resistant cover. The trans is a 6l80, no clearance issues with that.

Like Old 62 said, no problems !!

Excellent. Thank you, Sir! That's exactly what I needed to see!! The headers were the final piece of my LS swap puzzle. I'm GTG now...

[verdell]

Originally Posted by Old 62

Here is a set of the shorties in a 62 all seems to clear fine. Just a little tight by the starter.

Thanks a bunch, Old 62! I really appreciate your help!

[Clrussell]

Thanks everyone for the info. I ordered long tubes for the 61 apache so we will see how they workout

[ivorton74]

Got mine in today n they fit perfect. Still need to get longer plug wires n the dipstick is touching one of the tubes. Other than that they’re fine

[Clrussell]

Very impressed with these headers. Zero block clearance issues. Won't know on truckfitment for a while.

[verdell]

Originally Posted by Clrussell

Very impressed with these headers. Zero block clearance issues. Won't know on truckfitment for a while.

Those look great. Please keep us posted on fitment, pictures are always nice!

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by verdell

Those look great. Please keep us posted on fitment, pictures are always nice!

I should be able to post pics tomorrow with how the long tubes fit on my '70.

[NC_John]

Long tube pics. '70 using dirty dingo sliders.

One of the pipes is too tight against the bellhousing on the passenger side (I may "clearance" the pipe for a better fit). I think there may be an issue with one of the plug wires as well on the passenger side (based on the plug vs header pipe angle) but need to check again.

Here they are compared to the Doug Thorley Tri-Y's (my other option). The DT is a far better built header (at a far higher price) but my engine may like long tubes better (as indicated by some dyno work). Ideally I need a long tube tri-y (4:2:1) but can't find one that I know for sure will fit.



All the other pics -





Bellhousing clearance issue (T-56 transmission). It very nearly touches.





No issues on drivers side.







Ground clearance is better than I expected.

[Boyd67]

I ordered a set of long tubes for my 67 and received them today. They look pretty nice. I need some info on v bands, I guess? I've always had 3 bolt flanges so I'm not sure what I need to bolt my exhaust pipe to headers.

[racecougar]

The collectors are slip fit. Since slip fit sucks, I welded a set of V-bands on mine.

[Project1970]

Photo dump of my Speed Engineering 1-7/8" long tubes:

Driver's side:






Passenger side:



The starter / O2 sensor wiring is tight as hell on the passenger side. At the very least I need to undo some of the terminals on the starter and re-orient the ring terminals. Definitely going to add some heat shielding over here.

Underneath:





The collectors aim pretty squarely at the trans crossmember. The exhaust shop is going to have to fab up a jog down here - the previous setup just had long downpipes that brought the whole system to below-frame level.

Clearance to the oil pressure sender is close but nothing to worry about.


I need to finish getting them installed (need new header bolts, ordered a set of studs for it) but I'm extremely happy with these for the money. They fit way better than the fourthgen shorty headers I've been running.