Custom tube headers? Why doesn't anyone make them for Stude V8?

[289stude]

It can't be that hard!! Or is it?

[ddub]

Lack of demand?

[DEEPNHOCK]

Don't be askeered.. Build some!

There are a couple three companies making flanges, and a couple companies selling collectors and tubing...
A couple guys talked about it, but nobody stepped up with orders...

Belond made some years ago....

[jclary]

While we are a rather large group, the number of us looking for custom headers is probably rather small. Many of us, are content to fix, patch, and simply putter around with a less than pristine performing engine. (Or like some of us...many less than perfect performing "stock" engines.) It's that ol' economy of scale thing. You can take the time to do a back yard work-up, and weld/bend/hammer out a "one-off" set, but to invest in equipment, jigs, material, and advertizing...to produce professional marketable repeatability...a whole 'nuther set of circumstances to kill economic feasibility and motivation.

Although the somewhat comical designation "CASO" is joked about us Studebaker folks...all good humor has an element of truth. Lots of enthusiastic potential Studebaker parts suppliers/dreamers have come and gone over the years. The remaining vendors are a tough skinned bunch, who, like our rides, have put up with and survived getting kicked around.

One possibility, is to use this forum to see if you can generate enough interest to produce numbers sufficient to motivate someone to "step-up" and build them. Perhaps the Racing Group guys will chime in.

[PackardV8]

"Lack of demand?" For true. If the demand was there, someone would be offering them.

There's also the practical answer. The Studebaker V8 is intake limited. For exhaust headers to show a horsepower improvement, the first couple of thousand dollars must be spent on larger intake valves, porting the intake passages and a tall intake which requires a hood scoop on most C/K/Avanti. Then, the next dollars are spent on a performance cam and kit. Finally, headers are then required.

FWIW, I recently put a 308" R1 on the dyno. R3 headers through the mufflers showed no horsepower increase over stock R1 log exhaust manifolds. Got to get it in before getting it out is the limiting factor.

But never underestimate the bling factor. Recently, a guy I know spent $1000 for a polished early Offenhauser aluminum intake manifold and a shiny new Edelbrock carb. He asked me how much more horsepower it would make over his '56 iron intake and Carter WCFB. When I said "Less", he smiled and said, "I guessed as much, but it will look so cool at shows with the hood up."

Thus, if one were to go into header production, go with the shiny chrome-look paint.

jack vines

[Xcalibur]

Of the half-dozen or so who might want AND actually BUY headers, no two of 'em ever seem to want the same thing done the same way.

[Bob Andrews]

I can get them made locally, and thought about it. But as has been mentioned, they don't benefit anything, so I never bothered.

[Studerick64]

You can blueprint the stock exhaust manifolds and eliminate some backpressure.

[Mike Van Veghten]

Any header (tube OR iron casting) that has a smoother, cleaner passage WILL require an engine re-tune. If you do not re-tune, you will not gain anything. In fact, I've seen people install tube headers and loose power and be highly upset at the money spent and the work involved in the swap.
Out of a "few" people that I mentioned this to, most thought I was nuts, "this is a bolt-on, it should work as soon as I bolt it on my car"... The one or two that actually figured I "may" know what I was talking about...did so (re-tune the engine), and guess what, the re-tune netted quicker E.T.'s, AND a coupla more MPH on the drag strip than what was seen before OR with the new header, but "before" the re-tune.

This is NOT hearsay, this is first hand accounts.
One thing Jack does say is basically correct. A "stock" engine will most likely not show a power increase. Some head work, more carburetor, more ignition timing, more than a 3.31 gear in the back...you'll likely see some gain with tube headers and or the cast iron Stude header with changes like these.

One note on the Stude iron header/manifold...if your particular iron header/manifold is like the set I bought, the strange baffling NEEDS to be removed for the best outcome.

Mike

[candbstudebakers]

I had a real larges set of full tube headers all the way down to a large collector, the inter fender needed to be cut so they would fit and as every one knows with the Studebaker the driver side always gets in the way of their steering set up and they would bang against metal with any engine movement, sold them on E-bay and they went like hot cakes.

[Bob Andrews]

Now why did you have to mention hotcakes? I knew I should stay away from this forum. Now I'm off to the diner.

[Flashback]

Your first answer is right on target. Not all Hot Rodders are racers. Most don't have access to a dyno, and tube headers just look cool. All the slide rule hot rodding in the world just doesn't make any difference. Some engine combinations respond in a positive way to headers, including gaining fuel mileage. Some don't. It's just like adding a high lift cam and nothing else. The big difference is, you can't see cams, valve springs, adjustable timing gears, porting, and any of the internal parts, BUT, you can see headers, aluminum intakes, big carbs and fancy ignition components. Agree or disagree with me, it's fact. Been a hot rodder for 59 years. I have built hot rods and I have built winning race cars. It's no were near the same thing. So, all the flow rates, ins and outs, make no difference. As was stated in your first answer "Lack of Demand".

[52-fan]

I have always been told that most Studebaker engines just didn't see any real gain with headers. That being said, I really like the smooth look of the Belond style pipes on an Olds, Cadillac, or Studebaker with 3 exhaust ports.

[Jeff T.]

It may just be be me but as much as I might want tube headers for the "cool" factor, I just do not have the time and energy to build them

[dusty taylor]

here is some that i made. Dusty