Headers

[Jon Mello]

Headers, of course, were used on the Trans-Am cars back in the day. Probably any kind of header
under the sun was tried at one time or another. Starting in June, 1968 when Jere Stahl sent off
his first set of road race headers to Roger Penske, Stahl headers were some of the best performing
and most popular headers in use among Trans-Am teams.

Here's a nice set of restored Stahl headers owned by Robert Lodewyk. Jere Stahl tells me these
are the drag racing version of his Camaro header.


A closer look at the header flanges. Same header flanges used by Douglass Muffler Mfg.


Robert Lodewyk also owns this set of original Stahl road race headers which came off the '67 Trans-Am
Camaro raced by Hugh Harn, who raced out of the San Francisco Region of the SCCA.


Here's an original '69 advertisement for Stahl headers.

[Sixteen Grand Sedan #56]

Thanks Jon for posting these pictures.

My car as well as Hugh Harns 67 Z ran in the Sears Point race in September of 1969. Its quite possible that these headers were on Harns car at that time. Now 40+ years later they will be on a car it run against back then---Kinda COOL

[Jon Mello]

These are the factory-supplied GM headers for the '67 Z-28 Camaro. Ron Ogilvie, parts manager for
Bill Thomas Race Cars circa September '66 - August '69, tells me that these headers were designed
at BTRC and built by Douglass Headers (Douglass Muffler Mfg). Ron says that he personally painted
the headers the silver-blue color and placed each set in a burlap bag for delivery to GM. These headers
were probably the most commonly seen headers on Trans-Am cars up until Stahl started providing
Camaro racing headers in mid-'68.


Photo courtesy of Dick Lewis


Photo courtesy of Dick Lewis





Factory supplied instructions on how to do the installation. The headers were furnished "loose" and
it was up to the dealer or owner to install them. No headers were installed on the assembly line.




Here's an original set of GM header gaskets. The heat resistant material is Raybestos-Manhattan No. A 56.


Pages from the Douglass catalog.







Here is an April '67 ad for Camaro small block headers by Douglass.
Most of Douglass' advertisements showed big block Chevy headers.

[Jon Mello]

1967 Douglass Header catalog. (Jon Mello Collection)







Camaro header, top left, H 509-DU.

[Jon Mello]

A little intro from Bill Thomas, found in his '70 catalog. There are probably not enough superlatives to say
about this man who did so much for Chevrolet performance back in the late '50's and throughout the '60.

[Jon Mello]

Michigan-based Kustom Headers became the supplier of Z28 headers to GM starting in 1968.
I don't know if it was based strictly on cost but certainly that probably factored into the
equation. The most high-profile team to use Kustom Headers were the "Chaparral" Camaros
of Jim Hall.


Close-up view of a GM part number on the header flange. For some reason there are a few
different GM part numbers for these Kustom-built headers. These were also available direct
from Kustom and those are stamped KH-37 on the flange.




Some Kustom header flanges are squared-off on the ends and some are pointed.
There does not appear to be any clear reason why. Note the 4-bolt collector flanges.




Info provided in the '68 Z28 brochure. Note the different part number(s).


From the 1974 Kustom Headers catalog...


Here's Gene Harrington's '69 T/A camaro sporting a Kustom Headers decal
on the front fender, behind the front tire.

Photo: Mike Jarchow Collection

[JoeC]

great stuff -thanks for posting

In the Stahl ad they mention Tony Pizzi and Don Yenko

Tony ran the 1967 drag car sponsored by Yenko Sports Cars

I think this was an early Z/28 as later in 1967 Yenko sponsored Dick Harrell in a 427 Camaro

They mention Don's Daytona win which was the 1969 Citrus 250 Don won in a ex Smokey Yunick 68 Camaro

[Jon Mello]

Here are several pages from the 1971 1/2 Kustom Headers catalog, courtesy of Frank Dihartce.

[Jon Mello]

Nearly 20 years ago, Dick Lewis from Ohio went to the effort to get 25 sets of Bill Thomas headers reproduced
using 25 sets of original upper header flanges that he had acquired over many years of being in the Camaro
hobby. There was talk of producing another 25 but the second set was not going to have the original upper
flanges. I am not sure if those 25 got made or not. These headers were copied directly from the original set
which are currently owned by Rick George of Rick's Camaros. Years later, Larry Christensen also reproduced
an unspecified amount of these headers. The headers below are from the first set of 25 reproduced by Dick
Lewis and were sold to Frank Dihartce. Thank you Frank for sharing these photos with us.

[Jon Mello]

A Spring 1969 ad for Stahl Headers. That is Jere Stahl himself standing on the fueling tower at the upper right
of the Penske pit stop photo.

[Jon Mello]

1969 ad for Douglass Headers. I don't think they stayed in business beyond 1969.

[Jon Mello]

1968 Hooker Headers catalog and ads, courtesy of Robert Lodewyk.

[Jon Mello]

1967-1968 Hedman Hedder ads. These were known more for ease of fit than outright performance but I have included
them here for identification purposes in case somebody has an old set they are trying to identify by the bends of the tubes.

[Jon Mello]

NOS header flanges from Douglass Muffler Mfg as used on the factory supplied Z-28 headers in '67. These are owned by Robert Lodewyk and are the 1.75" round port style.

[Jon Mello]

Here are some very neat NOS Headers by JR, made by Beeline Engineering out of Hillsdale, Michigan.
I have seen them called JR Headers and Headers by JR but they were not marketed as Beeline Headers
even though they were the manufacturer. These NOS headers were obviously never installed and still
have the instructions, header gaskets, etc. It is neat to see the Raybestos Manhattan #A56 gasket
material shown earlier for use with the Douglass/Bill Thomas headers. These authentic vintage headers
are owned by Roger Hefty and I thank him very much for sharing these photos with us.


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


Roger Hefty photo


JR Header decals from my personal collection

Jon Mello photo