After some research into headers and exhaust and whatnot, I’ve got a few options and I wanted some opinions on what people thought would be best. I know that headers are a bit of a pain to deal with, and I’ve heard of the tight clearances and stuff, which is why I was hoping to get opinions to see whats best. My car is a '70 Base Cougar, 351C Floor shifted FMX, Powersteering and Powerbrakes, All powersteering is stock.
Headers
First off I’ve got these:
https://www.jegs.com/i/Hooker-Headers/520/6913-1/10002/-1
I saw these and noticed they even talked about getting a bracket for the power steering (https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/30781/10002/-1). I have a set of hooker headers on my Javelin and they seem fine, they hang down quite low and the bottoms of them have been smashed flat. My main concern is just having full length headers and there’s a greater chance of them interfering or not fitting I would think.
https://www.stang-aholics.com/i-24187709-69-73-mustang-351-cleveland-shorty-headers.html
These were suggested in my first thread here and no one seemed to have experience with them. They say 69-73 Mustang, wasn’t sure if there was less clearance between the shock towers and engine in the cougars, but I don’t mind doing shorty headers if they help get around fitment issues with the power steering.
https://www.jegs.com/i/Patriot-Exhaust/737/H8407/10002/-1
Saw these, same concerns as the others, they use a different Power steering bracket than the one posted above, and I did notice that WCCC has an H-pipe for these specifically it seems.
https://www.jegs.com/i/Hedman/500/88320/10002/-1
Lastly I saw these, since they are the ones that seem to pop-up most when I was looking for 70 Cougar headers. I don’t like that they’re not painted with heat resistant paint, so there would be more work on my end, and they are long so I was unsure about fitment with power steering.
My other question is considering the H-pipe, and where I should get it from. I’ve seen the kit on WCCC that has the whole dual exhaust setup with the H-pipe, and then they have the Scott Drake H-pipe on its own and I was wondering if that would be the route to go. I’ve never dealt with exhaust and I figure when I take it to a shop they’ll have to do some bending a modifying but obviously I’d prefer it to be as close as I can get before modifying.
And for the end, I was wondering just where to get a good dual exhaust setup, pipes and all. I saw the OEM style kit on WCCC as mentioned above and knowing that it is meant for the car and from a trusted source is great, but I haven’t heard the stock dual exhaust setup since I’ve not seen any other cougars around. My other option was this one shop that popped up and seemed to make sure not to rope in cougar and mustang exhaust in the same area. (http://www.customexhaust.net/purchasecougarexhaust.html) They have a set that is everything down from the H-pipe, either 2&1/4" or 2&1/2" mid pipes to fit the H-pipe, and it comes with Flowmasters, however like I said I’ve got no experience with exhaust. I’m not going for a very loud or specific sound, just a fairly basic meaty classic sound. It also seems like a good idea to buy that power steering bracket from above no matter what I get, if it helps get it more open for the headers.
Any other options or advice is greatly appreciated, I still have my 2V Manifolds, however 1 of them has a crack and being a welder, I would rather not have to deal with or pay to fix rusty cracked cast iron. Thanks!