Best mid-length header for 331 with afr 205\'s in a 66 mustang

Why not consider a drop bracket if it broadens your choices for headers?

Call Ford Powertrain (http://www.FordPowertrain.com) -- they should have what you need. Beautiful headers too.

You can order 3" wide or 2" wide bolt pattern -- I would highly recommend the 3" pattern.

Either " mustangs and fast fords" or 5.0 mag (Icant remember which) did a dyno test with shortys,equal length shortys and long tube headers and there was only 7-10 hp difference between all of them.

Its not all about max hp. The car is not a race car, street car with good power. Do not want full length because of ground clearence. Will not buy the bracket for the power steering because it looks like ****.

7-10 hp less with shorty's or mid lengths is fine by me. So who out there has a good set of mid length headers?

Do afr 205 take a special bolt pattern vs. other 302 heads?

ok i aggree, But then why the 205s?? Why not 165s or 185s?
Just didnt think anyone was using the bigger heads that wasnt looking for max HP.
Just my thoughts

Check with George at Accufab. They have some designs that aren't listed for early Mustangs.

http://www.accufabracing.com/exhaust.htm

I use a drop bracket on mine w/ some tri-ys and you don't even see it. I don't know what the big deal is if it opens up your choices especially if it is going to be a street car and those 205s seem awfully big for something you won't take to the track. By the way, I'm making about 500 horsepower with my setup and it's a streetcar, so I'll take the drop bracket anyday if I can have power steering and headers that don't hang down.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: blown68 on 3/10/06 10:06pm ]</font>

Do afr 205 take a special bolt pattern vs. other 302 heads?

Click to expand...

They are a different port than standard but offer 2" and 3" spread. Stan @ Ford Powertrain makes the correct flanges and headers. Have you called him?

dougsheaders.com

Be sure to find out if the headers are made for AFR205 ports or standard Ford ports since they are different. Trust me -- I run AFR205's

What clearance issues are you talking about with long tubes with a drop bracket? Long tubes are available that are no lower than your oil pan. AFR 205's are designed with exhaust port exits that are basically the same as dart heads. They are a gasket match to a 1487 fel pro gasket. So is FPA headers. Its really that easy!

Dennis111,

I'd love to see more pics of your headers, can you post some pics of the primaries and how much clearance you have in your engine bay??

Thank You

On 2006-03-15 14:51, CometGT1974 wrote:
Dennis111,

I'd love to see more pics of your headers, can you post some pics of the primaries and how much clearance you have in your engine bay??

Thank You

Click to expand...

I would love to post more pics, but my older camera pretty much sucks when taking such a "busy" picture at close range.

I will say that clearances with the shock towers are tight. There is barely enough room for the wider 351w and 1 3/4" primary tubes. I needed to massage the shock tower mildly primarily on the passenger side and I needed to grind a little off the scattershield next to the starter (which is quite common with the Lakewood with any brand header. Putting the Z-bar into position was an act of standing on my head-under the car. I didn't know that fingers can bend that way. Anyways, it fits nicely once installed.

I actually had worse clearances with my previous Tubular Automotive 1 1/2" header so I am very satisfied with the minor inconvienances of this install.