MudEye

Anyone know where I can find headers for a 330 engine? Thanks

Oldsmaniac

I would say you dont want headers. 1st I dont know of any off the shelf header for the 67 body and 330 engine. Perhaps Kooks make them and they will be a LOT of money. Unless you have a race car a nice dual exhaust system will be fine on the street. Most headers are 1 3/4 to 2 inch tubes not 3 inch. The collector is around 3 inches. A little noise can be fun at times but to an old guy like me it gets annoying. A 2- 2.25 inch exhaust system fits well and should be all you need for a street unmodified engine. Just my opinion.

oldcutlass

As stated, headers for a small block olds in the early A bodies are quite limited and very expensive. Kooks and American Racing are the only 2 that I know of. There are alternatives with aftermarket manifolds but they don't flow much better than the ones you have. I'd go with a crossover cover and 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 pipes and some good mufflers for a stock engine also.

nsnarsk65cutlass

x3

Chesrown 67 OAI

Wont Headers listed for a 68 350 A-body work fine on a small block in a 66-67 Cutlass with a 330-350 motor?

Oldsmaniac

Tweed I never tried them and it seems there is no listing for them. This is something I want to see for myself someday. I am pretty sure I saw ads from Hooker in the Old car magazines that listed their SB Olds headers as fitting the 67.

oldcutlass

Although I've never tried. I believe others have without success. The difference in frame rails I believe is what interferes with the 68 and up headers working. None of the header manufacturers list the early models as compatible. We know they have BBO headers and they do fit.

edzolz

No they will not work. The 68 chassis is different than the 67 and there is no clearance for headers. That is why the ones available are so expensive. They look like a snake pit.

joe_padavano

The frame on the 64-67 cars is about 1.5" narrower than on the 68-72 cars. Sure, all SBO headers will bolt up to a 330 motor, but clearing the chassis is the problem. If you can weld, get the 68-72 headers and cut and paste to fit, but otherwise you're stuck paying big bucks. Header vendors USED to sell headers for the early cars back in the day, but the demand isn't there any more, so those items are no longer carried.

Chesrown 67 OAI

Thanks for the info Joe. I had assumed that they would fit because when i bought my 67 Cutlass supreme it had a 350 in it with what appeared to be conventional headers on it and i had thought they were just the 68 and later headers. Didnt think they were anuthing special. I still have them hanging on my wall since i put the 400 in the car. They are very conventional looking ( no snake pipes)?? Could it be possible that a set of BBO headers for the 67 may fit on the 350? just curious? I had thought they would hit the lower side of the block?

Oldsmaniac

Tweed check out those headers and let us know what they are!

oldcutlass

x2, there have been many members trying to accomplish this in the past.

Oldsmaniac

I see hooker makes a SB header as well for the Olds engined Omega. I would think these are slimmer for the Omega body/frame?? They are listed for Omega only so I wonder what is different about that frame that would require a special header...

joe_padavano

The Omega/Nova/X-body cars are unibody with a subframe. The 73-74 Omegas are rear-steer and the motor mounts bolt to the front two holes in the side of the block instead of the rear two holes as the A-bodies use.

70cutty

Out of curiosity, would the Hedman shorty headers work on 66-67 A-body with SBO?

jag1886

There is someone on this sight that used 68 up headers, they only fit his car because he moved the engine back to get the first tube that curves down to clear the main cross member.
American racing and Dick miller are the only ones that build headers for these cars and they are expensive but real nice competition stile headers, AR are stainless Dicks are standard old steel and they are similar in price and both need a mini starter.

joe_padavano

Every manufacturer routes header tubes differently for a given application, so the fact that one brand of 350 headers could be made to work doesn't mean that all 350 headers will.

As for the crossmember, it's in exactly the same place relative to the engine on the 64-67 cars as it is on the 68-72 cars. The difference is in the frame WIDTH, nothing else.

MudEye

What is a crossover cover? Also would a good set of back end muffler / tailpipe system open up the exhaust a bit more than the stock 1 muffler setup that I have...... Cause it seems that I'm stuck with no headers to be found.....

I love this 330. It starts up purs like a lion every morning. Idles wonderfully for 108,000. Plenty of power for humiliating rice burners and passing wanabees on the highway. I'm still running " Points "

Will just dual exhaust improve performance in the least? Or in the greater?

Thanks......

redoldsman

Keep the manifolds and find you a good muffler shop. Have them put some duals on it with some nice turbos and you will love it. It won't be any faster but it will sure seem like it. Nice car.

steverw

I think its Thornton that makes a small block version of the big block exaust manifolds. They look pretty nice, those with 2.25 or 2.5 exaust pipes and some good low restriction mufflers would help performance some IMO. Do you have a 4 or 2 barrel carb? 4 barrel would also help IMO. Nothing to big carb wise just a nice built Q jet for the 330. I know there not the same but i did this to my first car a 66 Chevy Impala 283 single ex, 2 barrel and it really woke that car up big time. I was out running alot of 327's with it. I think it would help your 330 a noticeable amount.

oldcutlass

The block off plate looks like this. It blocks off the outlet that feeds the opposite exhaust manifold to run duals. Any muffler shop can also fabricate one inexpensively.

joe_padavano

This is how the factory did dual exhausts on the small block (including the W-31s). The factory block-off plate was heavy stamped steel. Repros are available from all the usual sources.

Chesrown 67 OAI

The only thing i can tell you is that my when i bought my 67 Cutlass supreme it had a 1970 350 engine in it with headers that fit perfectly. They werent expensive stainless either. They looked like an ordinary set of headers and i jung them on a peghook wall when i put the 400 motor in the car, The car also had a real nice custom exhaust system built onto the end of the header collercots, I cut them off and fitted them to the new headers,. I believe i still have those headers? I have 2 sets hanging here and they look identical and i think one of them is suppose to be for a BBO? I cant visually see any difference. Maybe this set was purchased enough years ago when someone still made em for the 67 330? I have inspected both sets for some numbers or ID but there is none. Both sets have the exact same flange. And also i had a standard starter on that motor too, not a mini? There is a possibility that both these sets here are for BBO and that i may have sold those small block headers at Carlisle 2 years ago --- I just cant remember? Anyway, if that was the case, someone got a real bargain because i probably sold them for $50.00 because I knew that i would never be needing them for my 67. UGH!!
So is there anyway i can tell if these i have here are for a big block or a small block by looking at them? Will the Big block ones hit the side of the block if you try to put them on a small block? I could try that? I have a 350 block here that i could stick a head on to try that?

oldcutlass

I would think that they would hang lower if they were BBO headers.

joe_padavano

We've had this discussion before. MOST BBO headers will hit the crossmember, oil filter, motor mounts, etc when installed on an SBO. I can't say that ALL BBO headers will do this because as I noted above, all header manufacturers route their pipes differently. As a rule, however, header manufacturers have taken advantage of the BBO's taller deck height in routing header pipes, especially since BBO headers typically use larger diameter primary tubes.

Dave Siltman

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I installed Hooker Headers for a ' 67 442 (400cu in) in a '64 f85 with a 330. I just tried to buy a '65 Cutlass with the same combo. They fit and don't hit. (I'm not trying to sound like Johnny Cochran) They do hang about 1-1.5 inches lower than they would with a 400 engine.
Tweed, maybe what you have are Hookers. Only an Olds addict would even notice that they hang a wee bit. I can't speak for other brands but the Hookers for the '65-'67 442 DO work.
I think Kooks does offer the correct application; overkill for most street engines. The Kooks are some darn good units, but save your lunch money.

tmaleck

Has anyone tried the cheapie headers from ebay? They claim to fit 64 to 67 small block Cutlass.

Tim

MudEye

Eric... and Joe.... Forgive My ignorance. Block off plate? Will these installed allow Me to run headers for My 330? I'm in headers 101 class here!
Also Dave.... Any idea what model The hookman headers were?
A side note.... I am seeing the benefits of ceramic coated headers , Heat dispersion etc.... Sanderson says that this header will fit on a 330 .. ( The sales rep) o351 model (for a 350....) On the Sanderson website . Imput?.....Thanks

MudEye

Wow! A B-24 and a P-51 Mustang! Is this Mobile Alabama?

Beautiful Car.

MudEye

Have a stock 4 Barrel Q-Jet

DoubleV

My 2 cents on headers; the performance to pita ratio for your application isn't worth it. A nice true dual exhaust off the manifolds will work nicely for you.

L69

X2 on the kooks Dave. I did try a few sets of cheapo flowtechs on 66-67 4 speed big blocks and they need very minor tweaking, tiny dents that would prob barely hinder performance compared to stock manifolds. I believe the SBO in 66-67 body will fit as well but like u said maybe hang a bit lower. For 125 but it's worth a shot..

MudEye

Hey Double....
Is this really true? I'm only asking because I've read that a good header system will add 25-50 H.P. Depending of course on exhaust flow as you have stated. If there is no performance gain from headers for this engine then I will just put a nice set of dual exhaust. Thanks.

MudEye

Your imput..... On these.......

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Oldsmobile-3...p2054897.l5660
Thanks...

Octania

1978, assembling my '67 Cutlass with a 330. "what, no listings for '67 330? Well, give me the Black Jack units for cheap for a '68- how different can they be?"

Different enough.
It's not just frame width. Front pipe LH side hit on the upper a-arm mount. It looked like I could remove that pipe so, not to be deterred, I did. bought a bunch of small curved sections at the store and swapped #1 with #5 or something by going up and over. Plus I had Manual Trans linkage to deal with. RH fit just fine. Normal starter. ONLY the one pipe move had to be done.

TOTAL PITA, took a week of trial fits and welding . Sold the pair years later at homecoming, and the buyer wanted to know was I SURE they fit a SB in a '67. I said, yes, because I MADE them fit.

oldcutlass

It does not say what car models they fit. You need to call or email them to verify application. If they don't know, don't assume.

Magna86

Those are for a trans am according to the ad. But I do know that the stainless chinese ebay headers work on the Olds SBO in the 64-67. They fit with little issue and require a Rob MC mini starter. Open up the holes in the flange a bit to the outside as they are alittle close together and slight dimple maybe needed on one or two tubes but definitely nothing to affect performance. These are them

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OLDSMOBILE-R.../151418579539?

oldcutlass

The company that makes them is Trans Am. Magna86, the headers listed above say they are not compatible with a 67 and 330 engine if you do a check.

Magna86

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oldcutlass

Is that your 66?