Has anyone had any luck or attempted to make their own headers? I work at an Auto shop and do a LOT of exhaust work. So the materials, tools and equiptment are all there. I was thinking of using 1.5" tubing for the runners into a 2.25" pipe. I already have a big piece of 1/4" plate steel for the flange. I was also thinking of doing away with the crossover and having the front and rear pipe meet at a y-pipe and dumping into the 2.5" downpipe. It should help the exhuast flow better that way. I was also thinking of either having the pipes jet-hot coated, or paint them with header paint and wrapping them in header wrap. Any thoughts, tips, or opinions??

im not aware of anyone here, but it would be sweet if you did it

if you want headers that bad, just get a set of pacesetters.....they are cheap, and will work on your car

and speaking of that, you need some mods before headers, you will loose some low end, and you need something to make up that lost power

If I make them myself it wont cost me a dime. I already got everything I need at the shop. I am in the process of doing a full rebuild on the motor. The completed short block is on an engine stand right now, so this would be the best time to make them. I already ported and polished the heads and the lower intake, have a 180 t-stat, and "high flow" cat. I also modded my upper intake slightly and blocked the coolant passages to the trottle body. Im gonna make a CAI for it still and plan on the L67 coil packs, ecm, and ER rockers in the future.

Might as well go with 1-5/8" so you can match the exhaust manifold gasket. 1.5" primaries may block the exhaust port especially if you ported the heads.
(I think I check this out and it was a no go for 1.5". Double check me.)
Do 33" long primaries and make them equal length. For more of a top end screamer, do 30"-31". I ended up with those lengths after a few different calculators, own calculations, and a GN shop.

Excellent info. Thanks for the tips. Any thoughts on heat protection from the headers? I am leaning towards painting them with the thermal header paint and wrapping thme in the header wrap. They say the header wrap lowers underhood temps by 50%

IIRC JetHot ceramic coatings are relatively inexpensive. Something to the tune of $2-300 with shipping back.

Here is one of the best coatings I have seen. I believe Wren uses it.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/2160...itemNo=coating

I know it wasnt a bonneville, but the last time we built a 3800 for Comp Eliminator, we steppedth headers from 1-3/4" to 1-7/8" into a merged collector. In the case of the bonnie, i would step it from 1-5/8" to 1-3/4" into a merged collector with a 2-3/4" outlet. If memory recalls, we ran the smaller tube out 16" before the transition to the larger tube.