455 transplanted into 72 Cutlass Supreme convertible with Hooker headers .

Car is lowered either 1 or 2" and has 18" wheels .

Ground clearance is SCARCE ......approx 2"or so from collector to the floor .

I am wanting more clearance. IF the car is on 2" drop springs I will go to 1" drop springs. Spindles are stock ride height location.

I have researched full long tube header choices here and cant really get a solid picture or decision on which ones offer best clearance.

I read that the ARH full stainless models are excellent, have good clearance and need small starter and are crazy $$ at $1100.

I have seen Doug's for around $750 and have heard good things but dont know how much clearance they offer.

I have read Flowtechs are very cheap and work decently . No idea how low they hang.

Hedmans are pretty good and about same as Dougs price , no idea how low .

Mondello are very good no idea on price and how low they hang.

Please post pics if you have them and tell me what YOU think and WHY.

Thanks in advance.....

 

Hookers are known to hang lower than other headers on cutlass. Flowtech's are chinese copy of Hookers, so they will hang low as well.
I have bought Doug's to use with my 455 and had nothing but trouble trying to fit them in, they just wouldn't fit and I had to return them.
Right now I'm running ARH which I had to modify to get them to fit. If I was shopping for headers again I would go with DMR headers which are old Kooks design.

Stay away from Mondello.

 

Thanks 70cutty.....just the kind of advice I was looking for. Totally forgot about Dick Miller ......Do you know if the DMR's require a small starter?

Does Kooks still make theirs? I am guessing not.....

Had not read any fitment issues with ARH ......hmmm.....

 

DMR does require a mini starter, same with ARH.

 

Well, that's your problem. You need to put TIRES on those wheels...

OK, seriously, WHEEL diameter is irrelevant. TIRE diameter, which you didn't tell us, is what affects ride height. Many 18" tires are actually shorter than the original tires on these cars. What is your tire size?

And headers WILL reduce ground clearance. There's only so much room to run the pipes. Lowering the car and using low profile tires makes this worse. Plan on living with it or going back to manifolds.

 

Joe....Thanks , I forgot to put that in there......

Front wheels are 18x8's I think with 245/35's I believe....I want to say total diameter is around 26" . I will get an exact measurement when home this PM.

I am hoping the car is on a 2" drop spring (seems to be with the rocker panel measuring around 7.75" from ground behind the front wheel) in which case I will go to a 1" matching Hotchkis front spring ....don't know what the spring is currently in front (rate?, brand?), has Hotchkis 1" drop in rear. This should get me an inch and more importantly , match springs front and rear (Hotchkis complete setup).

Next , the headers are several inches below the pan , they really hang low. Pics I have seen for ARH's dont seem to hang nearly as low. I am hoping DMR's are similar . Hopefully this will give me another 1-2".

Car has full size starter on it.

Given all this , IF I can gain 2+ inches clearance , I will be happy. Currently I have only TWO inches .....ridiculous ........

I want to eventually go to an SSII or SSIII style wheel (maybe in a 17 or 18" ) to get a more factory stock look along with clearance for larger front rotors/calipers, currently have 11" single caliper discs (aftermarket) up front that will clear the stock 14" rally wheels.

 

And THAT's the problem.

245/35-18s are only 24.75" in diameter. That's Honda-sized. The original tires on this car were over 26" in diameter. Simply changing to 245/45-18s raises the car 1" (the tires are 2" taller on the diameter, 1" on the radius). The taller sidewalls also make it a little less likely that you'll destroy your expensive rims on a pothole.

 

GREAT point , Joe.....I didn't realize that would make as large a change, thanks. Car has 20x9's in back with 265/30's I think , back of car seems rather high......previous owner liked the raked stance , I really prefer more of a stock look . Taller sidewalls will definitely offer better ride compliance and "anti pot hole" properties , as you mentioned.

 

If they really are 265/30-20, those are only 26.25" in diameter. The 245/35-18s are 24.75. My suggested 245/45-18s are 26.68.

The problem with large rims like this is that most of the available low profile tires are much smaller in diameter than the original tires on 1960s-70s cars. The A-body cars look best with 26-27" diameter tires, in my opinion, at least at stock ride height.

 

Out of town for a bit .....sorry.....Front tires are 245/40/18's and rears are 265/35/20's . So I looked those up and the fronts should be ~25.72" . If I go up to a 245/45 I would gain approx. 1" in overall diameter or approx. .5" ride height .

Hopefully the front springs are 2" drop and by going to the Hotchkis (to match the rear ) 1" drop I will gain another inch, totaling 1.5".

Though small this might just be enough to make it reasonably drivable for now. Wonder what 245/50's would look like up front?

Really want to go to a 17" SSII or III style wheel with more sidewall but would prefer to do the heads/cam first......its only $$$, ha.