So,
Was looking at putting headers on but my car sits 23.5 inches from the ground to the bottom of the center of my fender.
The issue is a concern that it might be too low for headers, so I am looking at getting some Ram Air exhaust manifolds instead. I just ordered Speedmaster heads that were on sale last week with the RAM Air style ports as my engine is almost complete and have been wafting on Edelbrock heads for some time now.
So has anyone else used the aftermarket Ram air exhausts and what kind of horsepower difference would their might be?

Also, any recommendation on headers that have better low clearance than others if there is such a thing

Thanks

I recommend you make sure you get all the rice out of the heads before installing them. Hop sing packs them for the slow boat ride from china and occasionally makes some fried rice when he is hungry.

Call, thanks big chief! I needed to get something for now and have waited quite a while for some Edelbrock heads now. I’m going to register for one of them will end up with the Edelbrock at one more and up with a speed master.

Also, I understand in every port of the Speedmaster heads, you can pull out a slip of paper with a fortune and winning lottery numbers just like a fortune cookie lol! ????

Hopefully the Edelbrock’s arrive first, but these are supposed to ship before the end of this week

People just don't understand how bad it is since we sold out to CCP China.
Its not just edelbrock.
Every USA manufacturer that needs aluminum to produce products is on a big backlog.
Most if not all out scrap metals are going overseas before any USA manufacture even has a chance to get any.

We didn't sell out to China, our manufacturers moved there to take advantage of no labor laws and no environmental laws, top US brass screwed over their own people and nation, imagine if we were at war, we won WWII because we had the manufacturing and raw materials, what these "top brass" want is a lowering of US workers to that level, no benefits, no vacation, no holidays, etc, class warfare.

I'm not sure about the heads thing, I would stay clear away from Chinese heads and if that's where Edelbrocks come from now, well forget it. Find some #16 heads if you want D port and have them machined, 670, 97, 997, 96, 62 all great heads.

I bought the RA Restorations RA exhaust manifolds and I can tell you WOW, these are way better that headers, most people don't realize that with headers you lose low and mid torque and some HP, most headers are made for drag racing and WOT. The Pontiac RA exhaust manifolds are great for all, before this I went from the 067 cam to the 068 in a WZ block with 16 heads, nice jump, the RA exhaust gave me more POW than the 068 cam did. I am running a full exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers, also the CI exhaust are a great heat sink and allow more flow so there's less heat trapped in the crossover under the intake manifold and I am running 10F cooler.

The only issue is when you go to the factory RA headers you need the angled oil filter mount, a standard oil filter will be tight, switch to the Bosch 3423, its smaller and easier to change.

Chester,
I think the comment was more towards the Speedmaster heads i received, and I understand the issues and do respect others' opinions and beliefs.

Not sure where Edelbrock come from but very long lead times. I have just been tired of looking at months away for parts. I have some Edelbrock on order as well but not even sure when they will come in.

The speed Master was $1,148.00 for the set on sale black Friday, kind of an impulse buy. I have some 62 heads but i believe they are later model than the ones that were originally on my 400. My builder "misplaced" the 62 heads that were originally on my engine, a 1968 400.

I also have a 1969 428 out of a Grand Prix that i am going to get rebuilt XF Block #62 Heads

I would love the Manifolds you mentioned but the heads I bought are I believe ovals; do they make for ovals?

Thanks
Bernie

Yes they do

https://www.ramairrestoration.com/pontiac/factory-headers/d-port-head.html

I actually called them a few weeks back, they have D ports for sure, but they did not have ovals, either i explained it wrong or they gave me the wrong info.
I am going to call them again this morning

okay, i just got off the phone with them. for the 69 Firebird the long branch units are needed and they do Not make them for round port heads. And they do not know any way I can get them

Sorry to hear that, it seems that these places list them but then on the listing they all say "out of stock".

It was proven long ago that the factory round port heads offer no gains over the D ports, why the factory did this is beyond me, it just made things more complicated.

My second choice were the Sanderson headers, I liked them because they're shorty headers, check them out.

https://www.sandersonheaders.com/sanderson-pf1-pontiac-389-400-header-set.html?category_id=967

There's really no market for Pontiac parts anymore so companies are not going to take up room on their shelves for something they may sell 2 of in a whole year.

Sadly

Thanks,
I looked them up as suggested, it appears they do have them, howevre3 under applications it does list 67-69 Firebird, however under steering it says stock, so not sure if it works with Power steering but will call in the AM to check

I believe you are correct!!!

Called Sanderson, They mentioned the headers would work with the stock power steering.
Issue as I remembered about 10 years ago, I had a new power steering unit Buit by a company called Lee Power Steering. I had a 2.5 Turn to turn ration unit put in.
I have a call in to Lee to see if the box size is different from the stock gear box in size.

Okay, the gear box from Lee is the Saginaw 800 which is the same as the factory unit so should be no fitment issues!

I have the HO/RA Long Branch cast iron exhaust manifolds.. Ram Air Restoration makes the best.RAR manifolds He had some delivery issues due to foundry problems but now they are back in stock.

Hi All, I’m new to group. Currently I am having to pull the engine out of my Firebird 400 to replace the main rear seal.

I was thinking of upgrading my damaged exhaust manifolds: cracked, missing part, and probably warped since I can detect a leak after replacing gaskets. I found a guy on Instagram that sell Pontiac parts and I was thinking about buying a used pair of non matching ram air manifolds for 600 dollars with shipping from Tennessee to California.

I saw on this thread that there is a company that sells reproductions exhaust manifold, I only see the long branch manifold for 67-69 Firebirds, are these are only option ? Thank you ????????

The company posted above is the one that makes and sells the RA/HO manifolds. What year Firebird are you talking about? RAR covers pretty much all options. The 1967-69 'long branch' manifolds will fit all 1967, 68, 69 Firebirds with any Pontiac V-8 engine, even the 301. They will also fit the 1961-70 'B' body 'big cars' like the Bonneville. This is because these models have the steering box behind the axle, close to the firewall. The second gen Firebirds and 1968-70 GTO will use the ones that dump towards the rear. These 2nd gen models have the steering box ahead of the axle. These will also fit 1978-88 'G' body cars like Grand Prix and LeMans. Seems to me for $600 you can buy brand new manifolds for less. I have seen original manifolds with severe cracks in the internal dividers. The re-pops are made of much better metal and come with a warranty. See this site for more info: Ram Air Restoration

Nice discussion ugly. To clarify, only long branch fit FGFs. Prior to the Ram Air Restoration long branch repops, there was another source. I got a pair of those around 20 years ago from classic industries and they’ve been great although not as close of a copy visually, supposedly. My point is I’ve heard there are long waits on long branch repops. If the RAR one’s aren’t readily available the other ones are fine.

That long wait was due to the foundry that RAR was using. They have since contracted with another foundry and the manifolds are available again right away. I actually have no personal experience with any of the re-pops other than seeing how friends used them on their cars. I have an original set of RA/HO manifolds that came on a 1967 400 HO parts car. The other set I have came from a 1968 RA 400 Firebird. The parts were in Sloatsburg NY and the guy also had a real RA hood with all the RA ductwork and air cleaner. He wanted $400 for either the intake or the exhaust. I went with the exhaust because my buddy and I felt that was the most bang for the buck on our '68 Firebirds. He warned us that we would 'never see this for sale again'. He sure was right about that. I was determined to save up and go back for that RA hood but with two small children at the time it was not viable. Still kicking myself in the butt for that. But the hood seals and foam parts were shot. Back then there were no re-pop parts, OEM stuff was super hard to get, and expensive. We used the two exhaust sets on two 1968 cars for many years and still have them to this day.