I have Hooker Super Competition long tubes and they perform great. However, when it comes to ground clearance they couldn't be worse. Since I have larger wheels/tires than stock, my car actually sits a bit higher than stock and the headers still barely clear the ground, and scrape on EVERYTHING. I've looked everywhere, and can't find any other longtubes available. I will not switch to shorties or mids, but am willing to try another brand of longtubes and see if they have better clearance. My car would look so much better lowered at least an inch, but if I did that my headers would touch the ground. Are there any alternatives out there?

 

headmanns are taller, you could also switch to stiffer springs so they won't bottom out as often.

 

That is one of my plans, a roadrace stiff suspension setup. But when the flange is only 1" off the ground, I don't think it will stop them from hitting everytime there is a bump in the road. I guess if I wanted to lower the car I'd probably have to get custom headers.

 

One thing that may help you out would be new motor mounts....I've got the 2210 headers on my car and my engine sits a bit higher with my new poly mounts. The lowest part on my car is the 3" exhaust tube on the drivers side soming from the header going under the frame to the rear....but I have weight jacks, so I can fine tune the stance and height of the car for clearance and looks.

- Joel

 

I think if I went to poly mounts my HSR wouldn't clear my hood anymore. I think a flange-less header would be ideal, because it is almost always the flange that hits and causes problems. I may try the Hedmans since they supposedly sit higher and are a slip-on fit.

 

Yes you are correct....You'd definitely have problems with the HSR if you moved the engine higher. Hmm....you're only choice might be to tweak the ride height then or switch to different headers....although you'd be losing performance.

- Joel

 

Well I was considering a different brand of longtubes since that wouldn't hurt performance. But yes, shorties or mids are absolutely out of the question.

 

I've got the hedmens on my bird and they've had terrible interferrence issues with both my 87 and 91. The primary tubes were hitting the pocket the a-arm bolts to. Grind and dent

 

I had no problems installing my Hooker super comps with the new engine mounts I have, but my buddy with an '89 Iroc had a pain with them on his engine....interference with the A-arm mounts as well. He had to grind and cut to get them to fit.
Also, if you don't already have one, you'll need a mini starter. I have a CVR high torque unit that has adjustable mounting.

- Joel

 

I have just installed hedman long tubes on my 89RS, they have great ground clearance, but I also have a T5 which was a nightmare, i had to cut the collector, extend it 4 inches and angle it down and to the inside to clear the slave cylinder, ssssucks really bad, my car is factory height, the only thing that hangs low is where i had to go under the cross member, the cutouts are low also, but they were not a necessity either.

 

well, you could just cut off the flange and make a coupleing, or band clap it, i don't know if ball joint type would help much....

I look at it differently though, the header are one thing, but the biggest problem i think is the Floorpan... I would assume that just about any long tubes would work (given that they are close to the orientation) with a lil message to the floor pan, ones designed for a 55-57 chevy come to mind...

channeling the frame tubes that get in the way, (you should have frameties by now), and just working on raising the point were the exhaust goes...



this is true dual 4" on a car that sits about 2.5 in lower then stock, this is far more work but the same idea....