360 degree headers

[Topcat]

20 years ago I was building race motors and had an idea to create a set of headers , in which each cylinder that has already exhausted , would extract the next one to exhaust, instead of only half...Standard headers due to the fact that the four pipes are gathered , in the collector , on each side of the motor , can only due above for 180 deg of motor revolution , these are called 180deg headers ...In order to become 360 deg headers a pipe on each side would need to cross over the the opposite collector.. There was no way to keep pipes the same length and piping under the motor was a nightmare.. I could never figure a way to make them to fit in a car so I never got a chance to try my idea... A few years later I was racing open motor , v8 boats , and again , figuring with the headers above the motor , I would have clearance , to keep pipes equal and crossed ...but never had the time to try the idea out...I believe the indy v8 motors may have also used this idea but i have no facts to back that belief up...

A friend of mine ,of too many years ,who was around during the planning stages of these new headers , has recently sent me this picture From Stahl Headers , a company responsible for many header innovations over the years.. One you might remember is the "tri Y " collector .. there was only two pipes in the collector...There were many others they were always experimenting with odd arrangements...

Any way here is the pic he sent me 360 deg headers ......

We want to contract Kooks Headers here on LI ,to custom make these , to fit his v8 powered kitcar..I may finally get a chance to see how well they work 20 years later...This is the answer I never came up with ... :Bang

 

[MonsterMark]

I don't really understand the principle. I am way into powerboats so the explanation intrigued me, probably as much for show as for go. Would love to see a pic. Also, it may help in my project car of which I will soon be started on the exhaust piping. I got to take a shop class on welding and then pic out the best welder for my projects. I see all these guys on the cable car shows and I am jealous that they can fab up so many things because they can weld. That is one of my priorities in life now. Learning how to weld so I can continue to do the stuff myself.

Look forward to seeing a pic if you can get one up.

 

[unstoppable]

Bryan I took some classes at the local Community College.It went well and I learned a lot.
The only thing that sucked was that they made us take Stick welding first before Mig/ Tig.
So the whole first semester was stick welding which is very dirty and messy.
TIG by comparisson is surgical clean.
My class was one day a week for 5 hours.We just sat in our little booth and burned rod.They pay for all the material so it was nice cause I went through a TON of supplies.
Do yourself a favor and get yourself a good auto darkening helmet.Mine was almost 400 bucks, but it has come down quite a it now.

 

[Topcat]

Thanks Brian or Joey whoever fixed my post.. :ttiwwp:

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

The picture makes sense. That is a really cool idea! I really hope it works out, and keep us posted of how well it works.

 

[Topcat]

Brian..
The boat we raced was a 21 foot Tahiti , a California , Deep V ,lake hull , light candy gold metal flake with orangey candy gold flake trim.Motor was an exposed 427ci Chevy ,10.5 to 1 compression, heads were ported , polished and bowl job with 3 angle valve job.Cam , 6200 rpm , long duration , high lift , Intake tunnel ram manifold duel 650 holleys ,Velocity stacks on the carbs.... Headers were chrome , over the top of the transom with water cooling in the collectors...The first headers we had made had no cooling , and on the first long run they melted , and sagged down , setting the back upholstery on fire...We were running a little lean to.$ 400.00 down the drain .plus new upholstery in twenty minutes..Power was transmitted to a highly modified Berkley Jet drive ..Drive had power angle and boat had power trim tabs..we installed 5 " by 15 " skegs on both sides of the hull in the rear to aid in high speed turning...With a running start the boat was clocked electronically , in a measured mile , at 104 MPH...and we could turn at 70 MPH thats pretty good for a lake hull (roundish in the back)..Trailer was custom made so we could drive the boat on and off the trailer ...By the way the trailer was candy gold with orange pin-stripping and tandem Mickey Thompson Mags with G70 tires on them ...I will post a pic as soon as find them they have been packed since my last move...

 

[Sergmark]

Hi John.
Wow thats wild looking setup. Hope it works out for you. :dancefool

 

[MonsterMark]

Nice Boat John,

My first boat was a '75 Cobra Jet with a 455 Olds and a Berkeley Jet Drive. Man, out of all the boats I have had, that is the one I miss the most. It was by far the most fun. And when you cranked up the Jet-a-vatar, 60 ft rooster tails were great. But I like doing "depth charges" the best at about 30 mph. Full reverse in 1 second and "BOOM", 30 ft high depthcharge. Mine was candy apple red with silver in super heavy metal flake with matching trailer. I couldn't run near as fast as you were running, about 74 was my best but I had a shallow 18 degree v bottom that handled better than a Tahiti, I think. I say I think because I have been in some of the rounded "speed hulls" you talk about and with a jet drive, they are for sheet. I/O different story.

My boat was called JET SET and was the terror on several lakes around us. Out of the hole up to 60, forget it, nothing was going to touch it. Moved up to a deep V cuddy with a 454 Mercruiser Bravo setup called STUFF IT and eventually up to the IMMINENT THUNDER racing team of today.

 

[Topcat]

nice collection Brian
Yes the rounded back was a real challenge after 70 MPH , when turning it slid around , if you weren't careful further around than you wanted..Also a problem , if the boat was not properly trimmed , it would cavitate back and forth on the back of the hull at high speed .We also ran the boat in th LI Sound , not just lakes , and the rough water also made life interesting , we could do no more than about 80 in the Sound . We had a couple of guys flip them in the rough water..When the boat came out of the water the tach would hit 8 grand sometimes higher on a 10 grand tach ... The Skegs we mounted on the hull in the back corrected 90% of the problems ... She could turn on a dime at 50 , at 70 it did not slide any longer,above 70 was much better , still exciting , which took a great deal , of the unnecessary excitement out of my life...I miss that boat and those times..Ill give you 3 guesses what the name of my boat was and my cars too...