Well...I'm not impressed by TTI header quality...

[myk]

And again I have to wonder how same cars with similar setups have different results with header fitment...

[JB400]

40 years difference between quality control definitions.  What was good enough then isn't good enough now.

[Fred]

And again I have to wonder how same cars with similar setups have different results with header fitment...

Are you getting a head ache myk? 

[Cooter]

And again I have to wonder how same cars with similar setups have different results with header fitment...

As I stated almost three years ago, headers rarely fit perfect. I think its not the quality so much as the expectations of the consumer.
If more people had to realize that some modding will be needed when you take a car that has most likely been crashed a time or two, had its frame rails tweaked, etc. And headers are made on a jig. NOT CUSTOM TO YOUR CAR..
There are places that will do that for around $3000...Kooks comes to mind.
I don't expect $250.00 headers to fit , but am surprized when they do. If they don't fit, I send them back and try someone else's brand..

[Ghoste]

I think you guys have nailed it.  Headers rarely fit perfect but as time moves we seem to think they should whereas back when these cars were new, chopping up the inner fenders for fenderwell headers was acceptable.

[70-500-SE-EXPORT]

I have hooker super comps 1 7/8 on a 68 charger 383. I had no fitment problems with the torsion bars, mini starter or steering linkage.

[Ghoste]

I've found the 383 about the easiest to fit. 

[myk]

And again I have to wonder how same cars with similar setups have different results with header fitment...

Are you getting a head ache myk?  

Lol, no bigger or different of a headache than the one that normally comes with this car.  It's all good though.

And again I have to wonder how same cars with similar setups have different results with header fitment...

As I stated almost three years ago, headers rarely fit perfect. I think its not the quality so much as the expectations of the consumer.
If more people had to realize that some modding will be needed when you take a car that has most likely been crashed a time or two, had its frame rails tweaked, etc. And headers are made on a jig. NOT CUSTOM TO YOUR CAR..
There are places that will do that for around $3000...Kooks comes to mind.
I don't expect $250.00 headers to fit , but am surprized when they do. If they don't fit, I send them back and try someone else's brand..

Great.  I wonder if that mini-DOH jump I pulled years ago will affect header fitment on my car.  Maybe I'll just get some HP manifolds...

[Al]

I installed  TTI headers on my 383 some years ago. Once I replaced the old engine mounts by new ones, the headers fitted like a glove. Ok driver side is a tight fit with the stock starter but otherwise no problem.

Unfortunately after 2 years the once brilliant chrome has become quite dull.

[myk]

No ceramic coating, right?

[Chargen69]

I put headman elites on my 383, we only had to dent the tube beside the starter

[mopar0166]

I have hooker comps and they fit tight but are great.  no headers in my opinion are designed to just slip in and out.  it takes work but the work is well worth it

[Ghoste]

Exactly, its a case of form follows function and their function is to route spent gases in the most efficient manner.

[myk]

I put headman elites on my 383, we only had to dent the tube beside the starter

How's your spark plug and wire clearance?

[Kern Dog]

It does piss a person off to spend big $$$ and still have to fight to get the pipes to fit.
If Ma Mopar gave a crap about anyone other than their people on the assembly lines, they wouldn't have put the starter on the left side to share space with the trans linkage, ATF lines, clutch linkage, steeering box, etc. Fitting headers in our cars has never been easy. The 426 HEMI had the advantage of having exhaust ports that did NOT exit parallel to the ground.
It has been discussed and agreed that these cars had a degree of "slop-factor" whan they were new and that tolerances were pretty wide. Ever see the tight crimp on a V8 67-76 A body LH down pipe near the T bar?
I am usually an optimist, but I am slowly becoming a realist. I used to have a rosy picture of how fast I can do something or how easy it will be, but often times that bites me in the ass. I get pissed off when I run into problems that my"positive outlook" never expected. Headers are now included in that list. If they fit without clearancing, I'll chalk that up with hitting a series of green lights on the road....Not something very common, but glad to see it when it happens!

[Ghoste]

It could be worse, try installing a set in a Cobra Jet Ford or a Corvette sometime.

[Kern Dog]

Another thing just occurred to me:
Over the Summer 2013 I decided to replace the K member in the Charger. I had another one from a 70 Belvedere that has been cleaned, welded the seams, added gussets to the steering box mount and a small skidplate added. After installation, the headers now bump against the steering box a bit. Before I had plenty of room.
So here we have 2 interchangeable k members that resulted in different fitment. Today I took the grinder to the raised parts on the steering chuck and tapped dents into the headers. This was the first dimpling I've had to do to my TTI headers. My car was never in a serious wreck, never had any rust up front and my motor mounts are still good.

[myk]

Talk about an eye-opener; I thought that TTi's and their high price made one immune to fitment headaches...so much for that!

[Ghoste]

Was it the headers though or the changes brought on by a difference in stacked tolerances when the K-frame was swapped out?
I think the TTI's are a very high quality item and they make headers exclusively for Chrysler products as opposed to their competitors who try to make soemthing for everyone and many of their Mopar ones are almost like a universal fit.  Yes, TTI are expensive and they will fit likely better than anything else.  Expecting drop in ease and perfection in every install is to not understand the nature of headers in the first place IMO.

[Chargen69]

I put headman elites on my 383, we only had to dent the tube beside the starter

How's your spark plug and wire clearance?

pretty good, we no real problem putting in the plugs, connectors we used angled connectors brought up from the bottom

[MxRacer855]

I think I'm going to go with the tti headers still. I don't have power steering and a small starter so I don't think I should have that big of a problem with fitment...

[myk]

Well, you might NEED a mini-starter with the headers, though.  However like you, I think I'm still going to give headers a try; TTi or maybe Doug's...

[Ghoste]

You'll be fine.  We ran headers for decades before mini starters were invented and we managed.

[myk]

Time to learn something again.  I thought a mini-starter was required due to fitment and survival potential for the starter itself?

My fear is that the mini-starter will not last as long as it should because that's usually my luck with those sorts of components.  What I'll do is mount the mini-starter first, get some running time on it so as to break it in, then pull it out and re-install with the the headers as a pair...

[Ghoste]

Those were two of the drawbacks the TTI's are supposed to alleviate that but in some cases they clearly don't (hence this whole thread).  I've had headers that burned out starters on me all the time and I've had them that didn't touch.  No doubt some of that stacked tolerance thing comes into play with their manufacture as well.  If you already have a mini starter, you're golden, if you don't, well, if it were me personally I'd try it first.  But I came of age when we thought nothing of having to ding headers because almost everyone had to sooner or later.
So, I would think depending on past experiences you will find some who say it can only be done with a ministarter and some who say not a big deal.
Without question the ministarter makes a big difference.