Have been mulling over picking up a set of the TAPerf shorty headers for my 66 Riv GS. Between shipping and jet coating they are a bit spendy. I have noticed that everyone seems to think highly of TAPerf gear so they must do nice work. Has anyone had personal experience with these shorty's? The local talent seems to think I won't get any real advantage with the short runners on this style header. I do plan on opening up the exhaust ports on the heads and port matching the mainifolds. I just wonder how much H.P. $700 would buy, Thats about the cost of a new switch pitch T.Q. and some tranny work. As usual any and all comments are welcome. Lou
I use the shorty headers on my 70 skylark w/ 455. Love them. They fit perfectly without having to dent them at all. I wouldn't go back to the long tube headers. I never have good luck with them. I would recommend going easy while porting the heads. I gasket matched my exhaust ports and stayed within the port hole in the gasket and even then I went a little too far. give your self 3/32 of an inch at least so your gaskets seal. Part of my problem is i went with copper gaskets with that squash to seal and the squash area is right on the edge of the exhaust part. I get a tiny little leak there. Not the headers fault however. If I could afford it, i would but a set of the ta shorties to keep under my pillow at night.
Thanx for the reply's, I truly appreciate all advice. My hesitation lies in the anemic exhaust valve size of the nailhead. I just had my spare heads cleaned and magnafluxed. These heads are a work of art, the comb chambers are machined and will need practically no smoothing other than cc'ing and beautiful straight runners into the intake valves. The only drawback I see is the small exh valves and narrow ports behind them. In reading other tidbits in this forum all warn of getting western with the die grinder. The stock exhaust manifolds are wide open. I know the 455 heads are more generous in the exhaust area and would love to hear some feedback from a nailhead owner also. Again thanx for the previous advice. Lou
