After reading the 440/A body thread further down & there being only 1/8" from his headers to the fender I am wondering if a future planned swap (440/A body/max wedge ex manifolds) will be a no go. Thank you for your time.

Maxie exhaust manifolds stick out quite a bit further than HPs do.
Maybe an inch per side, going by memory.
I had an RB with full Maxie exhaust on my '63 Savoy, and they were kinda tight on the right side even in a B-body.

Seeing how tight my clearance was with 68 HP manifolds, I can't even imagine trying to fit max wedge manifolds in there.

alright it sounds like a no go. thanks guys

The old Max Wedges were mounted further forward than the later stuff. Gonna take some work in an A-body.

As cool as the max wedge stock headers are they are very heavy and like having two furnaces under your hood.

A good set of long tube headers would be a better choice in my opinion on anything but perhaps cars that came with max wedges.

Number 1 thing to do is start with a 400, no 440.

yeah they for sure are heavy. I have some good money invested in em so I'd like to put em to good use.

Yeah, they weigh a ton.
Something I forgot to mention is that they're also longer front-to-back than HPs.
So the right side doesn't fit later Bs with their engines set back further than the early cars.
On my '63, I had to add a heat baffle for its dual master cylinder.
Found that out on its maiden half-four drive when the brake pedal got real mushy...

I didn't do my homework first & it bit me here