To those of us with early Fairlane's or Meteor's we know that headers that actually fit are expensive. This goes back many years but I wanted headers and could not afford them. I found an unknown brand that I removed from a 67 Mustang. I paid 35 dollars. As many have found, they did not fit. I had my first mig welder and also an oxy acetylene torch so I figured I could make it work.
I think after 15 years or so I may be able to do a better job today but these actually worked quite well on a mild 289. Money is tight so a budget header may be needed today and here it is. They do not need to be perfect, they need to work. They will slide in under the car without doing any thing else.
I bought a couple "U" and "J" bends and went to work. They were Mustang headers that may fit a little different than some Fairlane headers. I would look for 66 on up Fairlane headers if you want a cheap thrill. Useful tools could be... aviation snips, angle grinder, reciprocating saw,and patience. There are some helpful tubing posts on this Ford Muscle site.
I had to guess and figure out what may work. I hope this will give some an idea what will work and where you may start. Practice on scrap tubing but don't be afraid to try. This is the reason to give on why you need a new mig welder. "Look at all the money I saved"
Had to modify my hedmans for -66 stang also with the non-original brakebooster. Modifying on of the tubes was actually a lot easier than I would have thought.
earlier I tried to make 289 hader work with 351 in an early stang. That was doomed effort...
when I pull the headers off this next time Im going to grind away some of the flange. Im having issues getting to head bolts to re-tq them down. IIRC Im not able to get to like 3 bolts on either side. What a pain.
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