Headers are mandatory because they give you the most bang for the buck in the hp department. The starter on my car has been baking in header heat since 1987, and it still cranks. (I have been reading up on distributor curve, and the cure for hot start problems lies in proper spark advance set up. When I first set up the distributor, it was totally a hit-or-miss process because we weren't in the shared information world. Now that I have found what looks as if it's good information, I'll take another stab at the disbutor's curve, and I bet that I can knock out the hot start syndrome.)

Headers also complement low end torque with no sacrifice in the low end.

I have a pos set of Hooker Comp + on my car, installed in 87. The problem with these headers is that back then, they designed the comp + for 67-81 birds. Anyone with even a basic working knowledge base on car engineering knows that second generation parts don't fit first generation. So the problem was that Hooker's engineer wasn't that bright.

I have seen pictures of the 7-9 Hooker header, and it looks as if it's a fair fit. I thought about replacing the headers with the "updated" design, but while I have the sheet metal off, I think that I'll pull the left header and hammer it to fit. After almost 20 years, the headers are still rock solid.

From what I have heard, eveyone is satisfied with Doug's. Even though Lanc and I have different points of views on headers, he makes a darn good point. Other than ripping people off, there is no reason for its headers to be any more than the competitors. The mass production process is identical, so there is no justification. Also, the comment about having to bend it however much is a good point. Bottom line, headers are a hammer to fit, even with doug's.

And headers aren't noisy. It's the the type of mufflers. My car is pretty quiet, and it screams instead of roars when you get into it. The noise creats an irritation, the reason cops give noisy cars tickets.