anyone know who manufactures the 67-68 Z28 reproduction headers?

[aaronz28]

Anyone know who is making these? i've heard that 2 or 3 people were repoping them...

anyone know who id building them?

i owned a set of the 68 "Kustom" headers, but they contacted the powersteering gearbox...

i understand that the 67 version do not, but my car is a 69 and even though these headers weren't a factory option for 69, i believe they were available "over the counter" much like the crossram...

i'd like to get another set , but want to findout if they can be built to accomodate the powersteering box..

thanks

Aaron

akaleniecki@gmail.com

[hotrod68]

Good question! Who did build the headers for GM? I assume they were bought from an outside vendor. I've heard they came in the trunk in a burlap sack. I had a set of Cyclone headers very similiar to the Z/28 headers and have always wondered about this.

[aaronz28]

well I believe Bill Thomas and Kustom made the originals... but i am sure they are long out of business...

there are a number of vendors who sell the reproductions and the cost 1700-1800 bucks... which to me is outrageous for a "replica" especially when there is really nothing special about them...


i refuse to pay 1800 for a pair of headers only to know that I have to beat the piss out of them to make them clear my powersteering box...

granted, i'm sure the orignal car that was used to mock them up didn't have P/S  but since it was indeed an option on Z28s... i believe they should fit...

they only need about 3/4 inch clearance to work correctly.

thanks

Aaron

[Jerry@CHP]

Bill Thomas and Kustom were the two vendors who made headers for GM in 1967 and 1968.  I have a whole chapter with photos on these headers in our 1967-68 Z28 Camaro Fact book.   www.z28camaro.com.

Larry Christensen is the one having these headers made again.  They don't cost $1800.00.  If someone told you that, this is flat out incorrect.......and they are jacking up the prices.  I think they are more in the $1200-1300.00 range.  Not bad, considering a good set of Stahl will run you about $1100.00.

Hope this info helps,

Jerry

[rat pack]

Bill Thomas had his headers made by Douglass Manufacturing then he sold them to GM for the 67 Z's, and according to Bill he did not supply them in 68. That is why Kustom started making them for GM. Bill had two designs of the headers, the early version used a slip fit design collector like a race car, and then he went to the common 3-bolt flange style. The first design were sold in his catalaogs as "race" headers only, but there was a cone shaped adapter supplied with them to connect to the factory exhaust when ordered from GM. He listed those in his catalogs as #H536 for the Z-28 and road race applications. The other set with the flanges were sold as #H527 and used a 3-bolt flange adapter to connect to the headpipes. The ones Larry is reproducing are the first design and appear to be correct. The only notable difference is in the head flange as they are "cut" and not stamped like the originals, otherwise they are almost "dead-on".

The set of Stahl's are good headers, but the Hooker #2207 Super Comps fit great and breath just as well on a street Z. I installed them on a friends 67 that has manual steering, and they both went in from the top with no clearance issues. Then I put them on a loaded 68 with ps and a/c and had no clearance issues, but the driver's side had to be laying in the frame before the engine was set in to keep from getting them scratched or dinged up. Now they are close, really close on the driver's side at the steering box. The plus side is they are about half the price of the Stahl headers, and a grand less than the repro's from Larry. It is your choice................good luck.....RatPack....................

*** Jerry, Larry must be giving you a heckuva deal as they sell them for $1600 uncoated and and $1700.00 coated, and that is for the 67 BT version or the 68 Kustom version.

[aaronz28]

Hi , and thanks for the info Jerry,

i called Larry's old Busness today and was quoted 1500 for the 68=69 Kustom versions and everyone is aware that they come in contact with the powersteering gearbox... how stupid..

the guy who makes them, wont modify them either..

oh well..

thanks

Aaron

[Charley]

I  had Jere Stahl make me a set for a 67 Z a few years back and they were about 600.00 and very nice. He said he still had some orig flanges.

[sam]

The Super Comps work fine! Why give yourself a headache?

[aaronz28]

Several reasons i wont use the supercomps

They hang too low
They interfear with the stearing linkage at one extreme


With the repop headers. You can run the factory wires and plugs with no issues. Aside from the slight clearancing of the powersteering box.   Evertlythin



A

[aaronz28]

I should add that I had a pair of the 1 3/4 supercomps on the car some time ago... i seem to remember having to run a shorty plug for some reason as well...

with the Z28 headers... aside from the darn powersteering box clearance.. (which is minimal)  changing plugs is a breeze and you have no issues with plug wire contact.... in fact you can use the factory looms and all... i believe you even have clearance for the sparkplug heatshields... but i'm not 100% on that.

if the car had manual steering (which it just might get)  then the headers are a perfect fit and they hang nice and close to the floor so you have no scrapping problem like you do with the hookers.

Aaron

[rat pack]

Aaron, I have not had any of the issues you are talking about with the Hookers I mentioned because they are the big tube primaries of 2". I don't know of any header that you can run the heat shields on, and I have a set of the Bill Thomas headers here for comparison. Here is a picture of the #2207 Hookers installed on a 68 SS350 Camaro with power steering. We ended up chaning the headers because they would not clear the factory a/c box on the passenger side w/o serious modifications, but you can see the clearance we had with them around the steering box. I also never had any issue with the headers hanging too low, had about an inch gap at the top of the collector flange, and those are 3-1/2" diameter collectors...........................RatPack......................

[rat pack]

Here is  another car which is a 67 with these same headers installed on a 327 with angle plug heads. Again no issues with spark plug clearance. I chose not to use the stock plug wires and retainers, though I could have, but I chose to use Corvette wires and retainers instead. The reason is because I do not like the look of plug wires running across the tops of the valve covers. The Corvette setup runs the wires behind the heads at the firewall, down next to the block and they come up from the bottom. This makes for a much cleaner engine compartment in my opinion. As for the headers hanging low, no issue there either..................RatPack......................

[aaronz28]

hi,

funny thing... the race guys have confirmed what you said... the 2 inch primary Supercomps fit much much better than the 1 3/4

i had all sorts of trouble with mine years back...

regarding the heatshields... i wasn't sure that they fit, but i thought i've seen a photo or two of the Kustom 68 version headers on a car with heat shields... maybe Jerry will pop in.. i wonder if his original 68 car has them on.

Thanks

Aaron

[Dusk_Blue_Z]

Aaron,

Did you ever come to a conclusion about running repop headers with PS? Or did you end up going to a manual box?

Thanks,

Nick

[Jeremiah]

I dont know how correct they are but I have seen a couple of different auctions with the "supposed" correct style head mating flanges on ebay lately. If you did know of a good fitting aftermarket header the flanges could be easily changed and 99.9% of us wouldnt know they werent the real deal.