Installing Headers

Here are the Hooker Super...        read full caption Here are the Hooker Super Competition headers for ´62-´65 Fairlanes. The workmanship on these headers is fantastic, and they feature Hooker's exclusive Metallic Ceramic Thermal Barrier Coating which looks great and helps keep underhood temperature down.

Although gaskets were included...        read full caption Although gaskets were included with the Hookers, Chris Squire insisted on ROL gaskets for his Fairlane.

An overall engine shot won't...        read full caption An overall engine shot won't show you the clearance situation on the sides of the engine in the Fairlane. The gap on the left side of the engine is about 1/4 inch.

We started underneath the...        read full caption We started underneath the car by supporting the back of the exhaust system.

The Y-pipe was disconnected...        read full caption The Y-pipe was disconnected from the manifolds on both sides.

The Y-pipe was disconnected...        read full caption The Y-pipe was disconnected at the rear where it joins the main pipe, then removed from the car.

Squire had heard from a friend...        read full caption Squire had heard from a friend that removing the idler arm would be helpful when installing the headers, so we removed the arm from the frame and lowered it out of the way. It remained connected to the steering linkage, so it was not a lot of effort.

Up on top, we began by removing...        read full caption Up on top, we began by removing the extra-tall Edelbrock valve covers that are needed to clear the roller rockers. Our plan was to try the installation from the top, so we needed these big covers out of the way.

Clearances are so tight on...        read full caption Clearances are so tight on the K-code exhaust manifolds that this bolt cannot be removed completely from the manifold. It will come out when the manifold is pulled away from the engine.

We're making headway here...        read full caption We're making headway here as the right-side exhaust manifold is removed.

This comparison between the...        read full caption This comparison between the K-code manifold and the Hooker Super Competition header shows that the factory 289 High-Performance manifolds have good-sized ports, so we know the restriction isn't there.

Because our 347 has aluminum...        read full caption Because our 347 has aluminum heads, each header bolt hole was treated with a dollop of antiseizing compound. It's important to use this compound here because of the heat in this area.

The driver-side header is...        read full caption The driver-side header is lowered into position. For clearance, we removed the shock-tower-to-firewall strut braces from both sides.

We were amazed when we were...        read full caption We were amazed when we were successful in getting both headers into position from above. We could tell these headers were made according to close tolerances because there was no header contact with any other part of the car.

With the end bolts in place,...        read full caption With the end bolts in place, the ROL gasket can be dropped into position. Get all of the header bolts started before you tighten any of them or you'll be sorry.

Here's the installation shown...        read full caption Here's the installation shown without the valve covers. Once the tall covers are in place, the headers won't be visible.

The Hooker Super Competition...        read full caption The Hooker Super Competition heads line up with the stock exhaust bracketry. Again, we were amazed at the quality and exact fit of these tubes.

Warner Johnson of Discount...        read full caption Warner Johnson of Discount Muffler made this new Y-pipe to fit the headers. We're always impressed with Johnson's exacting work.

Here's the rest of the system...        read full caption Here's the rest of the system in place. The first muffler is a new Flowmaster unit with a 3-inch inlet and outlet. The round unit at the back is a DynoMax can muffler. This system has a nice, different sound.

Here at Mustang & Fords, we try to bring you the low-down truth on what various performance modifications are worth. Because most of our readers have high-performance cars used primarily on the street, we haven't worked with .750-inch lift cams or alcohol-burning engines. What we do try to focus on are modifications you can do to make a real-world difference on your street-driven Mustang or special-interest Ford.

You may remember the article where we dropped Coast High Performance's 347ci stroker engine into Chris Squire's ´63 Fairlane hardtop ("Hidden Horses," Oct. ´99). Recalling the engine dyno figures, the 347 made 345.1 hp and 371.8 lb-ft of torque at the flywheel with Ford K-code, 289 High-Performance exhaust manifolds, which were run wide-open with no exhaust system behind them. With the engine in the car and the exhaust system in place, we went to Dan's Performance Center in Hesperia, California, for rear-wheel horsepower and torque numbers on the company's brand-new Dynojet.

The car's exhaust system begins with the K-code manifolds, originally designed for the Hi-Po ´63 Fairlane. From there the manifolds empty into a single-exhaust system. Before you snicker about a single exhaust, you should know that this arrangement has a 3-inch diameter main tube leading to a single Flowmaster muffler with a 3-inch inlet and outlet. Behind the Flowmaster is a single DynoMax "can" muffler, also with 3-inch openings. Using this arrangement, the Fairlane made 227.2 hp and 260.0 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels with the air cleaner off. Do the math and you'll find that 117.9 hp was lost to the drivetrain, rolling resistance, and exhaust. Torque reduction was 111.8 lb-ft, with both figures representing a huge loss, considering the potential for a 347.

Interestingly, the figures compare closely with those obtained in our ´64 Fairlane 302 buildup ("Top-Flight Fuelie," Dec. ´99). Both engines have Edelbrock aluminum heads and a K-code exhaust. Our 302 made 206 hp and 250.1 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Clearly, something was holding the 347 back and keeping it from realizing its true potential. It's almost as if the extra displacement wasn't there.

Our suspicions were that the K-code manifolds just didn't flow well enough to handle a 347 stroker. Although they represent a huge improvement over the stock 289 log manifolds, with the 347 we suspected we were getting too far away from a stock condition to expect good performance. We decided to test a set of Hooker Super Competition headers on Squire's ´63. On this car we didn't need to worry about a column-shift linkage interfering with the header installation; the T5-equipped ´63 hardtop was ready to go. We took our project to Windsor-Fox Performance Engineering because of the company's always-excellent technical support.

Working at Windsor-Fox gives us confidence because we can get expert advice on conversions of almost any stripe. We'll show you what's involved in getting a set of Hooker headers into the vintage Fairlane. We'll also show how fabrication expert Warner Johnson of Discount Muffler in Apple Valley, California, adapted the existing exhaust system to the new headers. Finally, we'll go back to Dan's Performance Center to see just what improvements were realized. Because we're interested in the difference from the headers alone, we retained the same exhaust system configuration--a Y-pipe going into a 3-inch, single-tube system. This is the kind of real-life comparison we love to do. We think you'll be surprised at the results.

What's the overall improvement in the power production on the 347 as a result of our modifications? Try 104.5 hp and 96.6 lb-ft of torque. Putting it mildly, it looks like installing a set of Hooker Super Competition headers is a good bet for improving the power making potential on your Ford V-8. Apparently, installing a K&N air cleaner element doesn't hurt either.