im looking for a set of ceramic or nickel coated headers for a 385 fastburn i will be purchasing. what do you guy recommend? i was told i couldnt go wrong with a nice(but a bit pricey) set of hooker super competition or Hedman headers? or are there better one's for my money? :confused:

I like the way the Hedman's fit better than the Hookers. I know lots of people that have had a lot of trouble getting the Hookers to fit. I use the Hedmans and they fit nice on my 383 / automatic 68 Camaro.

ps. Thorley's are supposed to be VERY nice but they cost too . . . Stahl makes a good header too.

I have Hooker Supercomps on my FB 385. I like certain aspects of the fit - they have excellent clearance around the angle plugs, plug boots and around the power steering box. They had to be dimpled to clear the pitman arm, and the driver's side header hangs perilously low. If I had it to do over again I'd have at least shopped around a bit. Overall fit I'd rate as "fair".

The FB head has a large "D" shaped exhaust port and you need a header that wont cover part of it up if you want to take full advantage of the design. 1 5/8" headers "as a rule" will occlude part of the port - you'll most likely need a 1 3/4" header. I think there's an Olds dealer (PACE?) that stocks a Heddman shorty specifically designeed for the FB heads.

I have a set of Thorley's on my 383 with Canfield heads. I haven't dropped the motor in yet but they seem to hug the block pretty well. I do have a slight clearance problem with two plugs. I have yet to find a shorty plug with a 3/4 inch reach that will work for me. Any suggestions out there? I originally purchased the Dynomax headers and they do not work with angle plug heads so I had to return them.

im going to be dropping the 385 fastburn into my 67 camaro rs. sounds like the hedman headers are the way to go. anyone have problems with clearance or anything like that?