Some of you might have noticed the 55 Chevy up on jack stands in the background of the pictures jim409_pontiac posted...
We were out racing last weekend and the tranny started to slip.
So I pulled it out and brought it down to my tranny guy. With a little luck it'll be ready in time for Thompson.
Anyway, while the car was up on jacks I decided to go ahead and build a new set of headers, the old ones were cracking pretty badly in a few spots.
For some time I've been wondering how this car would sound with 180 degree headers. 180 degree headers have two tubes from each side that cross over to the other bank. The make the car sound different. GT40 Fords and Pantera's had them. They were nicknamed a "bundle of snakes" here's a picture...
It's hard to make them work in a normal chassis but I figured with the straight axle on the 55 I would have room to pass the tubes under the pan. So here's what I ended up with.
Here they are painted white.
There is supposed to be a small horsepower advantage if you can get the tubing lengths right but in my case that was pretty much impossible so if I break even I'll be happy. Rather than try to get equal length primaries I aimed for hitting the second harmonic on the long tubes and the third harmonic on the short ones.
I started it up and it does sound different but I'll have to wait until I run it down the track at Thompson to find out how much difference there is in the sound. (I hope they get my tranny done in time) These kinds of headers are sometimes used on circle track cars but I've never heard them on a drag car.
Here's a link to a kit car with a mild smallblock Chevy that has 180 degree headers. You'll notice that it sounds more like a "flat crank" V8 like you'd find in a Ferrari.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Jt3K3SU9Y&feature=relmfu
The 55 won't sound that smooth because of the unequal length primaries but I'm hoping it'll have a bit of that high reving sound quality.
Here's a Corvette with 180 degree headers, skip to the near the end of this video to hear the car accelerate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZTbR6C6Lw
And here's a GT40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eKlSqXNfIo&feature=related
We were out racing last weekend and the tranny started to slip.
So I pulled it out and brought it down to my tranny guy. With a little luck it'll be ready in time for Thompson.Anyway, while the car was up on jacks I decided to go ahead and build a new set of headers, the old ones were cracking pretty badly in a few spots.
For some time I've been wondering how this car would sound with 180 degree headers. 180 degree headers have two tubes from each side that cross over to the other bank. The make the car sound different. GT40 Fords and Pantera's had them. They were nicknamed a "bundle of snakes" here's a picture...
It's hard to make them work in a normal chassis but I figured with the straight axle on the 55 I would have room to pass the tubes under the pan. So here's what I ended up with.
Here they are painted white.
There is supposed to be a small horsepower advantage if you can get the tubing lengths right but in my case that was pretty much impossible so if I break even I'll be happy. Rather than try to get equal length primaries I aimed for hitting the second harmonic on the long tubes and the third harmonic on the short ones.
I started it up and it does sound different but I'll have to wait until I run it down the track at Thompson to find out how much difference there is in the sound. (I hope they get my tranny done in time) These kinds of headers are sometimes used on circle track cars but I've never heard them on a drag car.
Here's a link to a kit car with a mild smallblock Chevy that has 180 degree headers. You'll notice that it sounds more like a "flat crank" V8 like you'd find in a Ferrari.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Jt3K3SU9Y&feature=relmfu
The 55 won't sound that smooth because of the unequal length primaries but I'm hoping it'll have a bit of that high reving sound quality.
Here's a Corvette with 180 degree headers, skip to the near the end of this video to hear the car accelerate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZTbR6C6Lw
And here's a GT40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eKlSqXNfIo&feature=related
(the new headers added some weight)
I would love to hear that new sound from a 409.
Such an anouncement would likely be followed by the following,"Please report to the tech area"
