Headman headers from headman or jegs?

[82sbshortbed]

Been looking at getting some headman mid length headers for my c10. P/n 69010. Headman wants $257 for them on their website. I can get the same 69010 set from jegs on eBay for $189. Found that odd but 70 bucks is 70 bucks. Seems buying direct from headman would be cheaper but guess not. Looks like I'll go ahead and save the 70 greenbacks and get them on eBay from jegs.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Did you verify that the seller is the manufacturer and not someone just selling their stuff? It might just be that they’ve had a few specific pallets of them for a while, and they’re marking them down to clear space for new arrivals at the warehouse. Not sure, though.

 

[73c20jim]

Buying from the manufacturer is usually at retail to protect their retail outlets. That is not undercut them.

 

[SDJunkMan]

Buying from the manufacturer is usually at retail to protect their retail outlets. That is not undercut them.

Yeah, I have heard that manufacturers cannot sell below their suggested retail price because that would give them an unfair advantage over the retail outlets that sell their product.

 

[75gmck25]

Summit sells them for $199, and Jegs is currently discounting $10 them to $189, so that appears to be the standard street price. Both places offer free shipping for most items over $100.

The question I have is whether its worth it to move up to a heavy duty set of headers, since my truck rides rough and that may cause more stress. The specs on most headers are:
Standard grade: 18 gauge tubes, 1/4" thick flange
Middle grade (like the 69010) - 16 gauge tubes, 5/16" flange
Heavy duty (Hedman elite) - 14 gauge tubes, 3/8" flange

The price jump from standard to middle grade is not too bad, often about $200 vs. $130 if you don't have any special coating. However, the heavy duty headers run more like $450-600, depending on the coating.

Has anyone run something like the 69010 for a long period of time, so they have experience with how they hold up on a DD truck? I don't want to be messing with them every few weeks because the jolting of the truck is pulling them away from the heads or loosening the collector bolts.

Sorry about hijacking the thread, but I'm going through the same search.

Thanks,

Bruce

 

[82sbshortbed]

Went ahead and took advantage of the sale that jegs had them at this morning. Figured ain't going to get them at a better price. Free shipping should have them here early next week. Then put them on next weekend if the weather permits. Or maybe get on by 830 at night and fire it up like my neighbor running his chainsaw at that time the other night. Yeah I know kinda of a dick,but oh well. I had to listen to that saw for over 20 minutes that night. Lol

 

[SquareRoot]

You must be registered for see images attach

The key to keeping these looking good is preparation. The black coating they come with won't last long. I used the VHT header paint and followed directions to the t. My wife would have shot me if she knew I put them in the oven but I did it while she was away. Bake them in 3 cycles like the directions say. They came out nice and show no signs of fadeing, chipping or scratching.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[82sbshortbed]

Good call on the VHT ceramic paint. Did some research on it reviews were good on on it. Looks easy enough to do. Several different colors too. How many cans did it take you? Looks like 2 would be plenty for a pair of mid length headers. In the videos they baked it in by installing and running the engine. Oven is not a bad idea as long as it doesn't stink up the house. What temp did you bake them at? How long?

 

[shiftpro]

You must be registered for see images attach

The key to keeping these looking good is preparation. The black coating they come with won't last long. I used the VHT header paint and followed directions to the t. My wife would have shot me if she knew I put them in the oven but I did it while she was away. Bake them in 3 cycles like the directions say. They came out nice and show no signs of fadeing, chipping or scratching.

You must be registered for see images attach

You're absolutely correct on that. It does help. But in time even the best prepared work goes rusty. Even ceramic coated headers with enough time and heat cycles and throw in some road salt go for a crap. I try to think of headers as a 'consumable'...

You must have a large oven! Maybe the shorter headers actually fit, corner to corner. My up and coming shop I'm building will hopefully have either and old big commercial oven or I'll weld two ovens together!

 

[spanky55amg]

You're absolutely correct on that. It does help. But in time even the best prepared work goes rusty. Even ceramic coated headers with enough time and heat cycles and throw in some road salt go for a crap. I try to think of headers as a 'consumable'...

You must have a large oven! Maybe the shorter headers actually fit, corner to corner. My up and coming shop I'm building will hopefully have either and old big commercial oven or I'll weld two ovens together!

One good thing about living where we dont use salt. That being said, I have always seen headers has a consumable. Thats why I dont mind using the cheap stuff, but like I said, we dont use salt down here. So I get a few more years out of them.

If its a weekend/sunny day/show car - driver, sure, go ahead and spend the money on some nice coated headers. They will stay nice and clean for a long time.

 

[SquareRoot]

Good call on the VHT ceramic paint. Did some research on it reviews were good on on it. Looks easy enough to do. Several different colors too. How many cans did it take you? Looks like 2 would be plenty for a pair of mid length headers. In the videos they baked it in by installing and running the engine. Oven is not a bad idea as long as it doesn't stink up the house. What temp did you bake them at? How long?

2 cans was plenty. Apply in light coats and let it flash in between. Only 1 header would fit in the oven at a time which was fine because you bake them in three stages. I forget the exact temps but it was like 250-350-500. Bake for 30 minutes and let cool for 30 minutes. This is the preferred method of curing the paint and from experience I can testify it works MUCH better than just running them on your engine. The fumes were non-existent.

 

[82sbshortbed]

The headers should be in early next week. I'll do a post of the process when I paint them so people can see how it comes out and decide if it's something they would like to do. It's definitely much cheaper to do than paying all that money for coated headers if you're a cheap bastard like me. Lol. Yours look good @SquareRoot thanks for the info.

 

[Super-Dave]

The price jump from standard to middle grade is not too bad, often about $200 vs. $130 if you don't have any special coating. However, the heavy duty headers run more like $450-600, depending on the coating.

Has anyone run something like the 69010 for a long period of time, so they have experience with how they hold up on a DD truck? I don't want to be messing with them every few weeks because the jolting of the truck is pulling them away from the heads or loosening the collector bolts.

Sorry about hijacking the thread, but I'm going through the same search.

Thanks,

Bruce

I got a set of Hedman's for my '74 project. The ceramic coating is already pitting and corroding after way, way less than 5K miles. Called Hedman and they said if I wanted them recoated I had to pay shipping both ways and they would decide if the coating failed. Not good CS. I was advised that it would be less expensive to just "get them recoated locally."

As for headers coming loose, I used Remflex gaskets after the Hedman gaskets blew out huge sections in just a couple hundred miles. The Remflex gaskets were recommended by my carb shop that also runs them on their '64 Chevelle drag car. Remflex says tighten once and you never have to tighten again. That has been my experience from day one of using them.

Still mad as hell about the Hedman ceramic coating though. Definitely not worth the extra money in my book.