Headers, 455, 77 442

[slims 69]

We will be starting the engine swap in our 77 442 in a couple of weeks. There doesn't appear to be any headers for this model listed in the various catalogs. What Headers are you guys using? Has anyone tried M & J's new455 "A" Body headers from American Racing? I was told that they would fit. Thanks.:o

[7hurst4]

This thread should help you. Good luck with the engine swap.
http://www.73-77olds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2058&highlight=headers

[slims 69]

This thread should help you. Good luck with the engine swap.
http://www.73-77olds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2058&highlight=headers

Thanks for the info.:)

[Doug Blake]

Those M&J are the one's i plan on getting for my black 77 442 after i can get a paying job again where i could afford to!

I asked Smitty back in July about fitment in 73-77's and his response was: "They were designed with that in mind. I'll be installing a set on a '74 Cutlass hard top in the next week or two. Just waiting on the car to arrive from the customer."
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q194/Blue44deuce/442/IMG_2465.jpg?SSImageQuality=Full
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q194/Blue44deuce/442/IMG_2464.jpg?SSImageQuality=Full

you can see these ain't no generic store bought headers!!

[slims 69]

Those M&J are the one's i plan on getting for my black 77 442 after i can get a paying job again where i could afford to!

I asked Smitty back in July about fitment in 73-77's and his response was: "They were designed with that in mind. I'll be installing a set on a '74 Cutlass hard top in the next week or two. Just waiting on the car to arrive from the customer."
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q194/Blue44deuce/442/IMG_2465.jpg?SSImageQuality=Full
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q194/Blue44deuce/442/IMG_2464.jpg?SSImageQuality=Full

you can see these ain't no generic store bought headers!!

Those are the ones that I'm leaning toward also. When I e-mailed M & J a couple of weeks ago I got the same response regarding the customers car. Awesome looking headers.

[W451973]

Those M&J are the one's i plan on getting for my black 77 442 after i can get a paying job again where i could afford to!

I asked Smitty back in July about fitment in 73-77's and his response was: "They were designed with that in mind. I'll be installing a set on a '74 Cutlass hard top in the next week or two. Just waiting on the car to arrive from the customer."
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q194/Blue44deuce/442/IMG_2465.jpg?SSImageQuality=Full
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q194/Blue44deuce/442/IMG_2464.jpg?SSImageQuality=Full

you can see these ain't no generic store bought headers!!


What size tubes ? Are these the old Kooks pattern or a new one ? I hope these are a new design because I test fit two different sets of 1-7/8 on my 75 Supreme race car for Kooks and Smitty, a few years back. The drivers side for a 68-72 fit, passengers did not. The passenger side for a 64-67 fit with some denting of the firewall, the drivers did not fit. Kooks said they would not make any new ones or missmatch a set. Here is the car I tried them on. It had modified Hooker 1-7/8 super comps on it.

http://www.73-77olds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92

[slims 69]

I'm not 100% positive, but I think that this is a new design. That's the way I interpert the M & J web site info.

[Doug Blake]

These are a brand new design from Nick at American Racing Headers (http://www.americanracingheaders.com/), and sold only through M&J (http://www.mjproformance.com/) for $695. Either 1-7/8" x 3", or 2" x 3-1/2", and the only starter that'll work/fit is the Powermaster #9510 $218, just like the Kook's.

Dick Miller (http://dickmillerracing.com/store/page8.html) is making/selling the former Kooks headers for $693. He bought the rights, and jig's, and changed the fit so they are supposed to fit better, and also work in both auto/stick cars.

Kooks demanded that 100 pairs of headers per year be sold off each Olds jig or they would scrap the project. That's 400 pairs a year since there were 4 jigs. The day that Nick Phillipedes left Kooks they made up their mind to not fill these quotas by refusing to sell to a WD they thought was a friend of Nicks (who sold a lot of headers off of each jig) and telling another WD they could no longer be a WD. They actually refused to fill a large order for Olds headers. That left one WD selling Olds headers and he could not sell that many headers by himself.

[slims 69]

Little update here. I received an e-mail from Smitty stating that he had finished installing the headers on the customers 74. He sent me several pix also. Everything fit perfect. I'm pretty sure that this is the way I'm gonng when then the time comes.:)

[black_bishop]

wow 695 for a set of headers. i personally couldnt justify it

[W451973]

Yah, I saw this last week.

http://72.22.90.30/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=62958&sid=bacddcc63cea2f6854c1f52eae92ed59

I'm glad to hear Nick and Mark took the time to design and put some effort into the 73-77. When I test fit the Kooks for them, Nick made it clear it wasn't worth the effort at the time. That price may seem a little high to most but it really depends on what you use your car for. Sure you can buy 3 sets of the cheapies for that but you'll probably have to replace them as many times to make them last as long as a "quality" set. Not to mention the performance difference. So they're not for everybody.