What's available these days for BB a-bodies? Are there any underchassis that aren't a headache?

Maybe we can start a list, including Price, and your experiance/opinions?

only two under chasis that i know of off the top of my heard are:


schumacher easy install from what i hear.
tti


headman- fenderwells
hookers- fenderwells
pro parts- semi fenderwell




.

I am surprised that I can not locate a set of used a-body fenderwell headers.

Personal experience-
Bob mazzolini 440 A body headers-

I think these are headman B body headers. They fit with with plenty of clearance dents added with the big hammer. including flattening the passenger side inner fenderwell with a sledge at the shock tower. Plug clearance with stock heads is ok. If I remember correctly they are 1 3/4" primaries.Changing plugs will take an afternoon unless you cut some acsess holes in fenderwells.

CPPA headers-
2" primaries, industrial chrome plated.I believe these are the same as modern TTI headers. These headers burned the boots of every plug wire and shield I tried with the exception of Jacobs wires with the ceramic boot. Switching to edelbrock heads cured all plug wire issues. The down side to these are that they totally encapsulate the starter. Want to change it? the motor is going to have to come out. when the motor goes in, the starter better be in the right position. If the body has rotated a bit too much and you get the motor in, you wont be able to spin the starter into it's correct position without pulling the motor back out. I've done all my motor installations by myself hanging the headers and starter roughly in place with safety wire. If you have a helper I'm sure you can knock a few hours off of the installation time.

Pro-Parts semi fenderwell headers-
The answer to everyone's prayers that has had underchassis headers in an A body. 2" primaries, can be installed or removed with the engine in place. Starter can be changed out without drama, even at the track! No issues with tires and turning. Ground clearance is almost the same as the CPPA's. Headers that assymble in one and two tube sections are the way to go as far as i'm concerned.
On the downside, at least for some, the headers require holes in the fenderwells. Of course so did the underchassis headers if you want to change plugs in less than a day. These holes just have to be bigger.
-Tom.

Does Tubular Automotive make BB A-body headers?

Their SB headers are killer.

does anyone have pics of the semi fenderwell headers installed on a car? i'm interested

thanks,
Matt

do u remember what the proparts semi's set you back? money wise

thanks a bunch!

This winter I bought the ProParts 2" semi-fenderwell headers for my 69 Dart with a low deck and 440-1 heads.
When I bolted on all 8 tubes I was thrilled with how they fit and didn't hit anything.

But then I went to put the collectors on and things got ugly. The drivers side hung close to the ground on a bad angle and the passenger side ran right into the tranny k-member frame. And when I turned the steering wheel I realized one of the tubes(#1) was hitting the steering drag link bar very hard.

So I had to ding the #1 tube pretty hard, cut the drivers side collector and give it a different angle, same with the passenger collector and shortened it to get it away from the tranny k-member.

But once I was done with the chop saw and the welding for about 3 weeks my body was wore out but they fit pretty nice now, although the collectors are not fun to try and slide over 4 pipes that are all fighting against each other.
It took some work but I'm happy with the headers now, just need to get the car running again so I can drive it to settle the front suspension and make sure they're not too close to the ground, especially the drivers side.

Wish I could post pics but our main computer that was setup for all that crashed.

next time

leave the pipes loose on the heads that way you can slip the collecters on easy and will not figth you

I dinged number 1 pipe too

the heigth of the moter makes a diffrence

I did leave the pipes loose on the heads, still no fun.

I got them for $500 shipped from Mazzolini so they're not expensive and they will be pretty easy to work with now. I personally do not recommend cutting off the 3-bolt exhaust flanges, I rotated mine and rewelded them so they don't face the ground but I used to collector reducers that come with the headers to make tools to remove/install the collectors. We welded steel plate to the end of them with a nut in the center, that way I can bolt them to my collectors to tap them on w/o hurting the flange on the collectos and I can attach a small slide hammer to the nut to remove the collectors when necessary. I CANNOT imagine getting these collectors off w/o the 3-bolt flanges.

I also added a couple more L shaped tabs to bolt the collectors to the pipes. The number 8 pipe barely slides in far enough.

After clearancing the #3 primary (I think) on these headers to fit my low deck with edelbrocks, I've decided to leave them off the car for now. I have hedman b body headers (1 3/4") and they have quite a few dings here and there, and can use a few more of course but they're on the car. I'm saving my pro parts for either a raised port head or RB swap.

B body headers capture starter and all that, but unbolting driver side mount and flange bolts isn't that big a deal, have a picker here so we'll get it done ^_^
Eric

Mine are Hedman 75150. 1"3/4 3" col. Accepts power steering. Very minimum denting. In a 383 Duster. Would be better with a 2 inch primary.

What those headers sound like at 6500 and the tires smoking (Just ignore the part with the Beaumont).

Okay, maybe not quite 6500...

From hearing what people have had to do to other underchassis a body headers, I think 99$ b body hedmans aren't so bad. I'm glad I took the gamble and bought them when I did. No idea how they are nowadays... or if the PN# I have is even made still....