Sanderson Headers for my 63 Riviera

Discussion in ''Da Nailhead' started by NewSchool, Oct 17, 2016.

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  1. NewSchool

    NewSchool Active Member

  2. NewSchool

    NewSchool Active Member

    For anyone that's interested, not sure how many of you out there have a 63. Here is the response from Sanderson Headers.

    [FONT=&amp]"Hello Scott[/FONT]
    [FONT=&amp]
    [/FONT]

    [FONT=&amp]The BNH2 "should" fit your '63. Both years are considered the first generation chassis for the Riviera. The reason we have it listed from '64-up is because we do not have any feedback from our customers who may have installed it on the '63 to where we could be certain it fit the prior year chassis without any issues."

    The only issue I possibly see is the linkage that goes down from the Carb to the 2 speed transmission. We'll See! :cool:

    I'll be ordering these soon!

    -Scott[/FONT]
     
  3. flynbuick

    flynbuick Guest

    This is a lot of trouble and expense for a 10-15 horsepower gain. Instead, I would have the distributor re-curved and be thinking about how to get rid of the factory trans.
     
  4. telriv

    telriv Founders Club Member

    In all honesty I don't think you will see a 5HP increase. These were made mostly for the "Hot Rodder" who needed something to clear the chassis, steering, starter & other confines of a hot rod chassis.
    As far as I'm concerned $$$$ would be better spent on a distributor re-curve & a proper going through of the carb. If it has a Rochester 4GC then a conversion to an AFB from a '61-'63/401 would be a better choice.
    Just my thoughts.


    Tom T.
     
  5. flynbuick

    flynbuick Guest

    Breaking exhaust manifold bolts off is a real risk.
     
  6. 8ad-f85

    8ad-f85 Well-Known Member

    To be fair, the 5-15 hp gain referred here is at the top of the power curve.
    Ignore that part of the curve and realize that the benefit is felt much more through the low and midrange, especially part throttle, which is very difficult to measure.
    It may easily add 25lbs/ft of torque (or more) in a range the engine might not ever get tested on any dyno.
    Headers in general work really well with a recurved distributor.
    I'm offering no opinion to the specific header in question.
     
  7. doc

    doc Well-Known Member

    Take a long hard look at my list of cheap tricks and the sticky on the Doc dual plane manifold mod.... those alone will pick up way more hp than a set of headders.... and easier to do..... :Brow:
     
  8. ahhh65riv

    ahhh65riv Well-Known Member

    I did test these headers on the dyno against the factory manifolds. There were some minimal overall increases in HP and TQ, but I was more surprised how they changed the RPM range where they performed better. The manifolds are pretty good.
     
  9. 401Riviera

    401Riviera Well-Known Member

    I've got a set for my 63. I tossed the dyna-flop for a st400 that was converted to a th400, doing that opened up doors for camshafts and converters.
     
  10. 8ad-f85

    8ad-f85 Well-Known Member

    Didn't realize these were short tube headers.
    No surprise that there isn't much gain, the tube lengths math out to benefits at higher rpm than the engine's powerband, excluding maybe a tiny bit of flow.
     
  11. NewSchool

    NewSchool Active Member

    Thanks for all the replies. I decided not to go with these based on all your responses. I instead spent the money to replace my rusty stock exhaust from the manifolds back with new aluminium pipe and a pair of flow masters. It's nice to get out of my car without smelling like exhaust fumes. My stock exhaust has several leaks. Her are a couple pics. I'll check out Docs stuff too. Thank guys! :TU:

    exhuastOne.jpg

    exhuastTwo.jpg

    It really sounds great with no interior drone. I expected the drone but nothing!

    -Scott
     
  12. NewSchool

    NewSchool Active Member

    I've got the Carter AFB Carburetor. I'm going to have it rebuilt. I think this will make a huge difference as it looks fairly gummed up.
     
  13. NewSchool

    NewSchool Active Member

    Thanks Doc, I'll check out your Sticky!
     
  14. dual-quadism

    dual-quadism Black on Black

    If you end up doing headers on your Riv, go with the TA shorties instead of the Sanderson. The TA's have a ball/socket flange which is way better than the old 3 bolt crap flanges that need a gasket and leak constantly. I have installed several sets and they fit good. Tom is right, no hp to gain doing it, but allows running a true 2.5in full exhaust. Spend $$ on heads/intake/cam(not TA/Schneider cams-they are horrible) and you'll love it even more.
     
  15. NewSchool

    NewSchool Active Member

    Thanks for the response, I decided to not do the headers. I'll look at other things as suggested for HP gains.
     
  16. 1972Mach1

    1972Mach1 Just some M.M.O.G. guy.....

    If I may ask a couple questions, as the 401 in my 63 Riviera is my first nailhead, but I've built quite a few other engines: At what horsepower level are the quoted dyno numbers for the headers being tested? Is it only a 5 hp gain on a stock or close to stock engine? What about a nailhead built for 400-450hp? What are the gains on something like that? The reason I am asking is because I have much more experience with big block Fords, Cadillac 472s and 500s, and big and small block Oldsmobiles. I can attest that on the 552" stroker in my Mustang, if I were to put the stock manifolds on instead of the 2" primary/4" collector headers that are on there now, I'd lose 50 or more hp. But, by the same token, if I were to bolt my headers onto an otherwise stock 429 or 460, then a minimal gain of maybe 5-10 hp at the very peak would be realized, and the bottom end would lose a ton, just as was quoted on here for the Sandersons. So do my Mustang's headers add 5 hp or 50 hp? This is on a dyno proven 673 hp/ 748 ft.-lbs. engine. At what point do the nailhead manifolds become a bottleneck, and headers start to make sense? Has anyone dyno'd these headers vs stock manifolds on a "full tilt" nailhead? Just curious as I'll be going into the 401 eventually and hoping for a nice 375-425 hp street engine.....Thanks for your time and response to a nailhead newby.....

    Lucas
     
  17. flynbuick

    flynbuick Guest

    A stock 401 nailhead will not dyno 300 hp.
     
  18. 1972Mach1

    1972Mach1 Just some M.M.O.G. guy.....

    That's kind of what I was thinking.....so are the 5 hp dyno gains on a stock under 300 hp engine, or a modified one for 400 hp?

    Lucas
     
  19. 8ad-f85

    8ad-f85 Well-Known Member

    A "full tilt" nailhead (or anything) wouldn't use a mass produced, small diameter shorty header.
    Headers don't really 'add' anything, their design features incorporate into the overall combination.
    All the engine responds to is the scavenging and/or flow.
    Nailhead manifolds are branched more than some log types and may have a better overall effect.
     
  20. 1972Mach1

    1972Mach1 Just some M.M.O.G. guy.....

    Yessir, I have a pretty good understanding of how an engine works, and I agree with you. That was the point I was making mentioning my Ford: The headers I have on it (2" primaries that I fabbed myself) will only "add" 5 hp on a stock engine but will kill the bottom end, but will "add" 50 hp on my modified one......That is why I am asking at what hp/rpm level on a nailhead do headers become beneficial over the factory manifolds?
     

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