HOW MUCH POWER ARE LONG-TUBE HEADERS REALLY WQRTH? JUNKYARD 6.0L LS HEADER TEST!

STOCK LS MANIFOLDS VS HEADERS, STOCK CAM, TRUCK CAM & BLOWER.
DO HEADERS REALLY ADD POWER ON A STOCK 6.0L LS MOTOR? HOW MUCH ARE HEADERS WORTH ON A MILD CAMMED 6.0L? DO TRUCK CAMS RESPOND TO LONG TUBE HEADERS? WHAT ABOUT HEADERS ON A SUPERCHARGED B15 LS? ARE BIGGER HEADERS WORTH ANY EXTRA POWER ON A HIGH-HP, WHIPPLE-SUPERCHARGED LS? CHECK OUT ALL THE DYNO RESULTS AS I TESTED STOCK MANIFOLD VS LONG TUBES WITH A STOCK CAM, THEN THE SAME TEST WITH A MILD, BTR STAGE-3 TRUCK CAM. THE FINAL TEST WAS TO COMPARE 1 3/4 VS 1 7/8 HEADERS ON A WHIPPLE SUPERCHARGED B15 CRATE MOTOR. SOUNDS EXHAUSTING!

[johnnikollaj]

Whenever I hear that bass line, I know I'm in store to learn a thing or two about a thing or two.

[NGG]

those LS factory manifolds actually look like really nice quality castings. Sure makes the old kinked and ugly factory manifolds of the past look bad.

[HGHG-sdht]

Another very nice test Richard, I was looking for such a test for sometime already 🙂 it really helps people to make a smart investment when upgrading their Engines and also helps to understand how to maximize the advantage of Long Tube Headers even further. Great test. Thanks again Richard.

[JC-gwyo]

I saw a test on Nick's Garage with a bone stock 2 four barrel 1970 426 Hemi. The factory rated this engine at 425 Horsepower. On the dyno with factory exhaust manifolds, the 1970 426 Hemi made 500 HP.. By adding only headers, the 426 Hemi made 550 Horsepower.

[gothicpagan.]

100% spot on, the longer the cam duration the bigger the potential gains from the header. Especially noticeable on a street driven motor at low RPM, with the Wrong cam 😆

[Dr_Xyzt]

The lower RPM seems to gain more with headers when you have a cam. I've noticed that a lot of engines run cooler when they go to longtubes.

[sam_i_am]

My work delivery truck is an Isuzu NPR-HD with a well-maintained beast of an LY6. Whether it's 1 stop or 10... all deliveries get done before 2 every day :)

[edspencer]

I've got an example of full tube headers, lightly ported heads, and a stock 2 barrel intake.
This is 9n my 1970 Mercury Cougar, 2 barrel Windsor.
I had a valve job done to them and at the same time I hogged out the EGR bumps from the exhaust ports, blended the bowls and port matched the openings. Put a set of Hooked Super Comp headers on it with dual exhaust to the back. I couldn't afford a new carb and intake set up at the time so I ran what the factory sent.
The set up was scavenging so much the engine developed a bad lean mis at 50 MPH and got worse from there.
I was only 2 miles from home to figure that out. So off comes the top off the carb and I figured to drill out the main jets 0.010" to start. Much better! I still had a hard time coming off the line, like not enough timing. Tipped in 5 degrees on the distributor and now she comes alive! Not an LS story but relatable. A few little things can make a big difference without spending a lot of money.
Good video BTW.

[joshrichards]

I love how smooth ls charts are I test 350 crate motors for a living and they don’t come anywhere near that smooth no matter the combination

[genemounce]

I learnted somethin new, AGAIN. 😎🤙 Appreciate it R.H. saving me money on the daily!

[kennethpowers]

I can answer this question before I even watch your dyno results; the answer is it depends. There are literally some engines that don’t pickup any power at all from aftermarket headers. This being the result of an engine that A) isn’t flow restricted on the exhaust side of things and/or B) has a decent factory setup that promotes scavenging. As far as boosted applications from what I’ve seen over the years it matters far more what is in front of the compressor wheel than what feeds the turbine wheel. More often than not I’ve changed boost pressure more with inlet piping than the exhaust setup, and typically see changes in spool rate with exhaust modifications rather than changes in overall total boost pressure. When I have seen gains on built NA engines from header changes, it’s not usually from flow it’s from the effects of scavenging. I know this because I rarely see a power difference from a change in primary diameter, and I have literally bashed and bent/Pryed on headers to make them fit off the wall swap applications to the point where I 100% know I diminished the inner diameter of the tube somewhat, and power did not change.

[guy]

been doing cars all my life.. you have some of the best videos on you-tube...

[mikelawler]

I love that you show the dyno results in the graph and not just top numbers. I'm really curious how short, medium, and long tube headers compare throughout the rpm range since everyone else only shows numbers and I prefer the low to mid rpm range for 2 builds I have going. A Jeep YJ and a daily driver 56 Bel Air, both getting 5.3 LS swaps.

[lazyhoundracing]

I'm one of the other guys but you can't deny the beauty of the LS.

[Low]

I just got a Holden VF v8 (Chevy SS) with an l77. This is relevant to me. Excellent

[jasoncunningham]

Ok guys what did we learn from this little adventure?... Doing this trumps all uncoolness into supreme coolness! Love it! Peace..

[milojanis]

You make great videos, Richard. That said, it may help to make a comparison list, in addition to the graphs. For
Stock manifold Hp Hp w/LTs
415hp 432
Don't have room on phone screen to elaborate. You provide great info, but there's so much, it's hard to keep it all straight. But I'm subscribed, and I like 👍 👌!

[sombra]

I once had a 92 Mustang LX with JBA 1 1/2 inch shorties, K&N filter and silencer removed, Flowmasters, and bumped up timing. It ran decent while still pretty stock and reliable. Then I drove an 88-89 convertible with long tubes and possibly a larger throttle body. I think the cats were also missing. That car ran really strong. I didn’t see much else over stock. Led me to believe the long tubes worked better than the shorties.

[captainboose]

Might have to grab a set of Header for my Hemi Ram and 6.1 Challenger, good stuff

[brucebeamer]

Was investigating cams for my 5.7 challenger and I think it was motor trend had you as an Expert on cams and intake/ exhaust 👍👍