LS Headers - which one?

[rkwhite61]

Need some help/advice on what headers I should be looking at for my LS swap. Most of the threads I've found are fairly old and I would like a current opinion.

Mid length or long tubes (if long tubes, would prefer they do not hang below frame as car is lowered).

Vehicle specs:

'57 w/ '02 5.3 & 4L60E
Earle Williams side mount LS motor mounts
Stock steering set up with CPP 500 power steering box


Thanks in advance

[Run-em]

I don't have a clue as to headers, but after eyeballing Chevy truck exhaust manifolds, I am going that route. They should be quieter.

[rkwhite61]

Well, I was going to go with Sanderson mid-length, but after two phone calls to them, I was given three different part numbers for my application. Each one looks different as well. Bummer. Back to square one.

[Rick_L]

Hooker and Hedman both make long tube headers for LS swaps into 55-57s.

I don't think what's on the market has changed much if any.

Someday Earle Williams will probably offer something with long tubes, who knows when.

I don't keep up with shorty stuff like Sandersons, they probably have something - just a matter of figuring out which one.

Street and Performance will have something too.

[rkwhite61]

Hooker and Hedman both make long tube headers for LS swaps into 55-57s.

I don't think what's on the market has changed much if any.

Someday Earle Williams will probably offer something with long tubes, who knows when.

I don't keep up with shorty stuff like Sandersons, they probably have something - just a matter of figuring out which one.

Street and Performance will have something too.

Thanks Rick. Was just looking at the long tube Hookers. They look really nice. Do you know if they hang down much below the frame, if any at all?

[WagonCrazy]

Hooker 2289hkr.jpg

Hooker makes a long tube header for LS engines, that should fit nicely into your Tri-5, and be tucked "above" the bottom of your framerails DEPENDING ON how high you spot the motor mounts at the front of the engine AND where you spot the transmission mount at the rear.

Hooker 2289 HKR look it up on summit racing.com They include O2 bungs welded in, and are about $550 + tax and shipping.

Now, in hindsight...I wish I had bought these for my LS conversion in my Nomad (ChevyNut's C4 frame conversion) because the ones I bought were Hooker 2293 HKR which were for a tri5 with a Unisteer Rack & Pinion setup. The driver side tubes interfere with the steering column geometry, so I had to notch and weld up one of the tubes to keep from interfering. That isn't the end of the world, but it looks like a mis-matched "Driver's side" header on a very custom build. The passenger side header fit fine AS IS.
The collectors on my 2293's definitely sit above the bottom of the frame rails, and will be piped thru a diagonal cross member welded in to strengthen the twist tendency on these frames.

DSCN1215.jpg

In order to get the tubes to fit "thru the frame", the LSengine/T56trans sits higher than the old stock SBC/T350 did, and therefore demanded that I do some fairly aggressive trans tunnel and firewall mods to get it to fit. It sit higher than the stock firewall/tunnel would allow. I wanted to re-do the firewall anyways, so that wasn't a big deal to me. You might be so far along on your build that you don't want to mess with a painted firewall now?

DSCN2295.jpg

[niceguy]

Don't hold your breath for a Williams Classic LS header.
There are way too many competitors on the market as it is.
I'm not sure we could do anything that hasn't been tried already besides a larger tube diameter.

We have been using the short patriot headers for a while.
The only issues so far are the water line on the back sometimes hits, and some aftermarket coil covers have to be modified to clear them.
Oh and our preferred oil pan designer keeps changing the design without changing part numbers so they don't always clear the way we'd like.
But you didn't hear that from me

-Nathan

[56-210Sedan]

Here is a source to look at http://www.555657.net/ not sure if they have exactly what you are looking for but it might be worth talking to them about your build.

[chevynut]

Check out the ones in this thread....

http://www.trifivechevys.com/showthread.php/2975-57-Sedan-C4-LS1-T56-project?highlight=kooks

Paul, I thought your headers fit well. If you used a longer than stock steering column like I did (35") the shaft should have easily cleared the headers. I wonder how the 2289's would work, but I sure like those Kooks headers!

20091117_1848.jpg20091117_1849.jpg

[chevynut]

Paul, the 2289 Hookers are for are for a 68-72 Chevelle.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hok-2289-1hkr/applications/make/chevrolet

Here's the 2292's (L) and the 2293s (R) both made for 55-57 Chevy LS swaps. It looks like the 2292 might be a better choice for a C4 steering rack setup, but not necessarily for a stock-type steering box. I think we discussed both sets of headers when we built your frame. It's possible that the 2289's would work well too.

hooker 2292 55-57 LSx.jpghooker 2293 55-57 LSx.jpg

[WagonCrazy]

I've got a bit of egg on my face here.

I definitely DONT have 2289's.
I definitely DO have 2293s.
What I should have had was 2292s. That would have given the space at the front tube for the steering column.

So..if I did it over again, I would go with 2292's.

[weissmr]

Take a look at what Street and Performance has on their website and give Mark Campbell a call over there. They have done hundreds of LS swaps and are very knowledgeable on Tri-Fives as well.
Mark will know exactly what you are looking for and is willing to make any adjustments to their standard headers to work for your application and components.

[Rick_L]

weissmr, from what I've seen most of the S&P stuff is shorty headers. Do they have long tubes?