R model/drag headers

[TLea]

 I am having some R model headers made and they will be as accurate as we possibly can get them.  My hunch is they will be not discernible from original.  We are using an original set as a pattern and have one of the top custom header manufacturers in the country doing them.
If anyone is interested please contact me as the more we have made the better the price will be. Please do not ask me at this point what they will cost as I don't know but just contact me to say that you're interested and I will get a price based on the projected number.  Email me directly at  Restore@TimLea.com

[SFM5S000]

Hello Tim,
Are these the Belanger four into one headers? Lemme know.
Thanks,
~Earl J

p.s. Ignor that I have the pics labled as road race headers...

[shelbydoug]

Aren't those the Hooker equal length headers? Those are 1-5/8" od tubes?

The Belangers would have an ID tag welded to them that say Belanger I think?

In fact I am very sure they are an earlier set of the Hooker "equal length" headers. The driver side is spot on although the passenger side looks a little strange.

Those things are VERY difficult to get installed compared to the "standard" comp headers that they make.

Hooker says they are good for a 5% hp increase over the standard BUT the tubes are too small AND the collectors are a little low where the flange is.

Phil had posted really good pictures of an original set of Belangers he has. No word on how they fit or if they make better power though?

You want 1-3/4" od tubes for the race headers especially if you went to a stroker.

I'd like to see what Tim is making.

[gt350shelb]

Aren't those the Hooker equal length headers? Those are 1-5/8" od tubes?

The Belengers would have an ID tag welded to them that say Belenger I think?

they dont look like the ones i have / i vote hooker  esp with the ground clearance issues

[98SVT - was 06GT]

Didn't Belanger weld a little tag on all their headers with their name on them?

[gt350hr]

   Earl,
      Yours do appear to be Bellangers and they are different than the Doug's  sourced headers Shelby used. The passenger side header is the giveaway. look at the old catalog photos and you will see what I mean.
    Hooker was not "comercially" selling headers until '67 and their offering was far different looking than Doug's or Bellangers. Headers are like finger prints , every brand looks different in one way or another.

[SFM5S000]

Randy,
I know the set I have are in fact Belangers. The photos I posted are the ones I have back at my home in California. I'm presently at my other house in NY. I want to have mine duplicated. One of my future projects... see you at SAAC43.
Earl

[gt350shelb]

In fact I am very sure they are an earlier set of the Hooker "equal length" headers. The driver side is spot on although the passenger side looks a little strange.

Those things are VERY difficult to get installed compared to the "standard" comp headers that they make.

Hooker says they are good for a 5% hp increase over the standard BUT the tubes are too small AND the collectors are a little low where the flange is.

Phil had posted really good pictures of an original set of Belangers he has. No word on how they fit or if they make better power though?

I'd like to see what Tim is making.

The ones I have Fit like  no header  set I have ever installed  they  went in with 2 very small modifications   1st was dimple near  the zbar , and the 2nd was I  cut the collector flange off the left side and  rotated  it so that the flat side was down   and the top  did not hit the  trans cross member .  when you look under the car  from the side the  bottom of collectors is only about 3/8 of an inch below the frame rails.   nice and  tidy 

[shelbydoug]

In fact I am very sure they are an earlier set of the Hooker "equal length" headers. The driver side is spot on although the passenger side looks a little strange.

Those things are VERY difficult to get installed compared to the "standard" comp headers that they make.

Hooker says they are good for a 5% hp increase over the standard BUT the tubes are too small AND the collectors are a little low where the flange is.

Phil had posted really good pictures of an original set of Belangers he has. No word on how they fit or if they make better power though?

I'd like to see what Tim is making.

The ones I have Fit like  no header  set I have ever installed  they  went in with 2 very small modifications   1st was dimple near  the zbar , and the 2nd was I  cut the collector flange off the left side and  rotated  it so that the flat side was down   and the top  did not hit the  trans cross member .  when you look under the car  from the side the  bottom of collectors is only about 3/8 of an inch below the frame rails.   nice and  tidy 

Those are the Belanger's? show us some pics.

What size tubes are they?

The Hookers actually fit well and the collectors could be cut and raised up. It's only the angling of them down that causes the issue.

I went back to the JBA's. They fixed the issue with #5/pitman arm and I went back with them primarily because of the bigger tubes but they do fit very well with no clearancing needed.

The collector is almost one full tube higher off the ground then the Hookers and they fit right in the notches is the crossmember. They were a bit pricey though. 

I wound up making my own z-bar. It was simpler that way since an original needed to be reinforced all over the place anyway.

One problem solved. Now just the 500 to angst about.


The R's didn't come with tri-y's?

[TLea]

. I'd like to see what Tim is making.

Authentic R model/drag car SA headers. Making them better isn't important. Making them accurate is

[shelbydoug]

. I'd like to see what Tim is making.

Authentic R model/drag car SA headers. Making them better isn't important. Making them accurate is

I don't know what those look like. Rich Leuchner had a factory drag car. I only saw the car once. I was never allowed to get within 20 feet of it.

[65shelby]

Belanger R-Model Headers.... Wow, haven't seen these discussed in a long time.
As I understand, they came from SA on the last 10 or so R-Models in the final batch.
I bought an original set from Corey Lawson back at SAAC 31, that were from either 5R535 or at least in the used parts that came back from Peru.
They were rough and identical to the ones shown above.... uncanny to be honest. Have the numbers '636' stamped into the flanges.
I thought about having some duplicated with Brent Galloway as a spare for 5R534, but never materialized.
I since found an NOS set a few years later, which I believe to be a later set made in the late 60's or early 70's, but they're exact.
Story goes, they were purchased originally for a '67 Ranchero project I believe, but didn't fit properly.
So were never installed and became garage art until I spotted them on either eBay or Craigs List.
They were painted Hugger Orange so definitely flew under the radar!

Mark

[6s2020]

These are the Belenger race headers that have been on the Shelby race prepped R-model engine (engine is from last batch of r-models 5R540) that has been in 6S2020 since the 60s.
sorry about poor photo, it is a photo of a photo on my old phone which i can't get off.
if it has not loaded here , go to cars for sale and look for 6S2020

It did not load....
this ongoing problem will deter many from this site.


http://www.saacforum.com/index.php?topic=444.0

[shelbydoug]

Sounds like there are three versions of these headers? The Belangers that I saw all had Belanger id tags on them.

How many sets have you worked on Phil?

[TLea]

Just to be clear there are several variations made depending on which bending machine used at what time. We have several original sets here and although they are same shape there are slightly different manufacturing techniques. The headers made for SAI were predominately made by Dougs (Thorley)
I'm sure Randy can elaborate a lot more than I.
They are in process, as you can imagine its kind of a big deal as we are trying to make them exact and that requires special tooling. There were some made maybe 20 years ago and although they were decent the collectors had incorrect tube draw on collectors and flanges were incorrect shape
I should have fairly accurate pricing in a couple weeks