Headers
After doing some reading I found that headers give the car a little more power, a deeper sound, and are easier to find then a 50 year old exhaust manifold. There are two types of headers, Long tubes and Shroties. The long tubes go all the way under the car, while Shorties stub out to beside the engine/transmission. They also come in two coatings, black and shinny ceramic. Ceramic is about 2x the cost of black. I had decided to go with black shorties as they would be easier to put on and cost less.
Well then one day I saw this.. HALF OFF shinny ceramic long tube headers that fit the Maverick. So I got them.
I have to admit they do look kinda awesome bolted to that cleaned up engine.
unfortunately these headers go in from the bottom. I had to make some “lift blocks” for my jack stands and jack to get the car up in the air high enough. Then I had to unbolt the drivers side engine mount, lift it up a bit then slide the headers in from the bottom. The passenger side seemed to slide up after some wiggle and cussing without unbolting the engine.
As you can see, its a very tight fit. I was able to get all the spark plugs in, but not all the header bolts. I will let the exhaust shop deal with that when I get an exhaust put on. I am leaning toward side pipes.