Hello all!

New registered user but long time lucker. I've been coming here since before I had a firebird. This is probably the #1 first gen resource on the web.

So hopefully someone can answer my question because I can't find the answer anywhere.

I have a set of D569 Doug's Headers that are to go in my 1969 Firebird. It has a TH400 with floor shift and PS. Will I have to modify any linkage to get them to fit? The Dougs catalog says modification to locking steering column is required. What exactly will I need to modify? It is not a tilt column. Does this apply to me?

I would put them in the car however the engine is out and will not be back in for awhile so no way to test fit.

I originally bought them because I read that they fit in 69 auto firebirds and this problem applies mostly to the A-body.

Thank you. I'm sure someone here has had to deal with this?

This exact same issue was brought up here a couple of weeks ago. Suggest you search for "dougs" or "dougs headers".

IIRC, the linkage you are referring to is the one that locks the transmission shifter and steering column when the key is removed from the ignition switch, the new for '69 theft deterent system.

The discussion said that most likely the locking linkage had to be removed - but I do not remember if the Original Poster ever came back and said that for sure.

Well, last Nov. My how time flies.

Tech Thread

You might want to PM Mally38 and see how it came out.

Precisely the reason there are no headers on my car. I've heard that Doug's and Hooker's have the best fit of all of them for a first gen but that you're not able to run the lock rod with any brand. It would be nice to know for sure one way or the other.

Thanks guys. I'll report back once I've got them in the car.

I have headers on my 69 and just installed the back-drive linkage the other day with no issues. Headers are small tube Coyote brand (1 5/8 primary) that I got from Spotts Performance a few years back.

Most 69's have had the back-drive linkage disconnected years ago.

It's used to actuate reverse lights and the column lock.

3 tube or 4 tube headers? Never heard of Coyote brand. Coated/painted? Price(if you remember)?

They are 4 tube and were cheap at the time. I think Spotts was selling them around $150 bucks (2004). I had never heard of them either.

I currently have them off the car to change my oil pan, so I can take some pics to see if there is anything odd about how the tubes are bent.

Bad Additude? Chit! That should be my screen name, and the board will agree.

Anyway, I shopped headers for a decade. I heard mixed reviews about Dougs, with many saying that they are a hammer fit. Even if they aren't a hammer fit, I think that they are major overpriced because you aren't getting any extra for the extra money. After all, there isn't a shred of documentation that shows that they are any better than others. Likewise for Pypes exhaust, zero documention that its sytem offers anhything additional other than the price. Please show me the beef in either case.

Headman looks like it's a good fit, it appears that they are not a hammer fit, and they are a fraction of the price of Hooker. The only reason I passed on the Headman was that the right header collector hangs down further than the hooker, and I hate the look of brass balls dragging on the pavment.

I bought thermal coated Hookers last spring and had a custom exhaust installed last year. The headers had the same install effort as factory logs. (If I think of it, I'll get some shots of the headers installed because I have the front clip off, and it don't get no more visual than that.) No hammering whatsoever, and the bolts for cylinder #5 and #6 don't get any easier considering the funkyass design.

Cost? The headers and system cost the same money as a set of Dougs, still sitting in the box. The difference between cheap and cost effective lies in quality. I spent this side of $500 for a copper brass rad because it's ten times the better quality rad, including cooling ability, than the $100 pos alumn rad. Also, I paid over double for the thermal barrier headers.

Just like passing on the less expensive Headman, the reason I didn't buy dougs has nothing to do with the price because if I thought they were better than Headmans or Hookers, I would have bought them.

I used Doug's in my 69 and they bolted right up. The linkage does have to be removed or modified. I have not attempted to modify mine.