I bought some eBay stainless long tubes for my '95 5.8 truck. Left side was great. Right side angled right into the starter. So bad I had to mill the mounting flange at an angle to make it fit. Not a feat most folks are prepared or able to do.
That said, grandson has a '96 5.0 truck and was just bouncing to put the same headers on it. I warned him we might face similar issues but he went ahead and bought them. We put them on one weekend and they fit like a glove. Not one problem. So we stand at 50/50 getting a set that fits I guess.

 

My "old" headers predate E-Bay, we called them "swap meet headers", same thing! The flanges were thin and after about 100 miles they started leaking so I double gasketed them...That bent the flanges! Still they worked with just a slight leak. Fast forward to the refresh I did a year ago, I had to mill the exhaust side of the head, it was gnarly. Not that big of a deal since 2 header bolts broke off on that side, (I blame the cheap headers.) The swap meet headers got replaced with a set of Doug's ceramics, the flanges are monsters, and they fit like a glove, no tweaks required and it's a Cleveland, which is a way tougher fit. If the budget would have allowed way back then, I would have dropped the bucks on good headers, but I knew back then I keep things I buy forever. It's your call, and your wallet, the Doug's were about $750, money well spent for me.

 

GypsyR, Thanks for the feedback. Please share your thoughts on header build quality and durability.
The combination I'm planning for my '66 fasbk is an 1986 302 block, AFR Enforcer heads and a T5 transmission. I'll be using the Malwood under-dash Hydraulic master cylinder pedal with their hydraulic throw out bearing. This will eliminate the Z-bar and external clutch fork linkage at the bell housing. I should be able to run the thin braided hydraulic cable to the throw out bearing to clear header heat. I'll use the manual factory steering (at least initially). I'm hoping this configuration will eliminate header interference fit issues.
Lastly, I could use a '91 -'93 starter incorporating the gear reduction. I understand these may be smaller than the starter that came stock in a '66 Stang. I need to research this further before I'm convinced these 91-93 starters help with header clearance.
I read in the forum here some folks complained of interference fit between ebay headers and their shock towers in gen 1 Stangs while others found no problem clearing shock towers. Before I'd conclude that's an issue with the ebay headers fitting into a gen 1 Stang, I'd want to know the shock towers are in their factory position. IMO installing a Monte Carlo bar, pushing shock towers to fit the bar as needed, helps get and keep shock towers in the intended factory location. When installing a Monte Carlo bar on my '66 6 cyl convt., which was very rusted before the restoration, I found the shock towers had leaned in over an inch. I'm making the assumption the after market Monte Carlo bar is produced with the factory correct dimensions.

 

GypsyR, Thanks for the feedback. Please share your thoughts on header build quality and durability.

I can only vouch for the headers I had hands on. Quality is better than any Hedman's I've had and better than some Hookers I've seen. On par with some FPA and BBK shorties I've put on.

Thickest flanges I've ever seen on a header. Hence I gave no second thought to milling an angle into one of mine. There was a ton of metal left, more than any Blackjack flange I've ever seen. If my set had fit like my grandson's did I would have had no complaints at all. I've had a set of pretty expensive Hookers fit so terribly there was no help for them. Hooker was kind enough to swap them for another set which did fit though. That was some years ago but at the time we thought Hooker was the top of the line. Some headers fit, some don't, and quite frankly I'm at a loss as to why.

 

IMHO, I think of headers as an integral part of the build. Their fit and finish should match the rest of the build, that is, if you're seeking a quality build with lasting performance. My money would be spent on ceramic coated Tri-Ys for the street. There have been many issues with eBay headers and the JIG quality used to mock and well. I've been running the same ceramic coated headers since the late 90s. The vendor quality of most suppliers, except for Doug, FPA etc., has declined since. JBA shorties, repro HPOs and Patriot brands seem to be popular.
Just be aware and choose carefully.

 

I bought 2 sets of try-y's off Amazon for under $100 a few years ago, couldn't be happier. The flanges are very thick, the fit was good on both sets, 2 different cars. A little more spark plug boot clearance on the left front would be nice though. I cut the flanges off and welded on v-bands. I used thick paper gaskets I had and they leaked after a while, so I used the steel gaskets that came with them and no more problems. Nice high tight fit, good clearance with T-5 and external slave cylinder.

 

Matter, thx for sharing. What year Stang are you referring to? I'm thinking on a manual trans gen 1 car using a hydraulic throw out bearing, I'd be good. Not sure if AFR heads will provide more plug clearance or perhaps less. I've emailed DNA to learn the specific flange thickness their using. I'll level the flange mounting surface before installing. That's something I I'd check even on expensive headers.

 

That's very nice work. However, consider the work you did to make them work for you. Way beyond the capabilities of many.

 

I bet those eBay Tri-Y's are made in the same factory as the Scott Drake version...

 

Matter, thx for sharing. What year Stang are you referring to? I'm thinking on a manual trans gen 1 car using a hydraulic throw out bearing, I'd be good. Not sure if AFR heads will provide more plug clearance or perhaps less. I've emailed DNA to learn the specific flange thickness their using. I'll level the flange mounting surface before installing. That's something I I'd check even on expensive headers.

The car in the pic is a 68 and the other is a 67. I only wish I had realized the plug was close before I had them mounted as It would have been easy to give it a little clearance at that time. The flanges on these are about 3/8 inch thick. Way nicer welds than the Hedman's I took off.

That's very nice work. However, consider the work you did to make them work for you. Way beyond the capabilities of many.

Actually, only thing special I did was change the collector flange and I could have easily used the 3 bolt flange it came with as they even included a matching 3 bolt flange and stub pipe.

 

I bought a set off eBay about 3 years ago, same DNA Motoring brand. They're really nice, way nicer than many of the $300+ headers I've used over the years. Real 3xx series tubing, head flanges are thick (10mm IIRC), no issues with bolt clearance or anything like that. You really can't go wrong with them, just buy the lowest price ones listed with free shipping.

 

I put a set of those tri-ys in my car over 2 years ago. Fit fine. Only issue was the spark plug clearance on number 5. A couple of blows of a hammer cleared that up. For a little over 100 seemed well worth it.

Forgot to add that I used smaller head Arp bolts since the ones that came with it seemed to big and would have required more denting

 

Coincidentally, I had the same clearance issue with mine purchased all those years ago from Mustang Unlimited. I was running Windsor Jr heads. When I shifted to TFS TWs, 15 years ago, the spark angles had changed and no longer needed the “ding” at # 5. The ARP bolts are still a blessing, though.

 

Great input all. Thanks. The 1st gen stangs may present more clearance challenges than the 67 and later models. I'm going to give them a try but it will be quite some time before my project will be at a point where I'll find out about fitment issues. I'll remember to share when I get to that point.

 

Got a set of eBay stainless midlength headers for my '96 F250 7.5L/460. They clunked around my parts storage until I overheated the truck and took out a head gasket.
Tore it down and threw on new cylinder heads and did a bunch of other work. The headers themselves fit great, with the usual hard to get a tool on bolts, until it was time to install the crossover Y pipe. It was the wrong angle and was way short. A little bit of redneck engineering (cracked a cold one and stared at it) I ended up cutting the crossover pipe in half and added a coupler piece so I could adjust the angle and make up for the three or four inches it was short.