TECH TIPS:MUFFLERS PART TWO-HEADERS FOR YOUR 51 PONTIAC STRAIGHT SIX

Quite a number of old car guys like to retrofit their rides and this includes a set of headers. Headers help a motor breathe more efficiently and keep your car from sounding like a four-wheeled whiney nerd.They can make a deeper sound that would be right at home on a NASCAR track-but legal.

So the question is-do you want your car to sound neutered or do you want that “don’t mess with me” rumble to send a serious message on the street?

The header issue is like every car issue-full of opinions, fact and fiction with a number of options available. We talked to pros about the header issues and they had some serious advice.

The first thing most experts highly recommended was deciding if you actually need headers. Pros think that the advantages are negligible on smaller engines. In other words, a 454 Chevy big block will wake up a lot more from a header installation than a blue flame straight six from 1951.

The big blocks like to breathe and 6-bangers don’t care.

Pros notes that any header installation benefits heavily from spending more-in other words, buy a quality system. This works for several reasons but the biggest one is fit-in other words, if you buy a piece of crap header it won’t be an exact fit. You are going to drive the poor guy that installs this questionable header crazy because they are so poorly designed that issues like frame or steering box obstruction will arise.

Issues that don’t surface with better headers.

The other thing is the quality of the metal in these headers because non-coated bargain basement headers are going to leak at the manifold almost immediately and disintegrate into metallic dust in a very short period of time. You’ll be right back to a carbon monoxide spewing, noisy piece of crap under your hood before the ink on the sales slip dries so why bother?

Basically experts tell us that “quality headers will insure a quality fit and a longer life for not a lot more money”. When the header issue arises, shop around, buy a name brand and ask yourself an honest question –

“Are these headers really going to help my 51 Pontiac?”.