I posted this question on another BB but of course didn't get the answer?

Need a set of headers for my '65 Chevelle Convertible....small block chevy...auto...no air.

Narrowed it down to Hedmann's...but I don't know if I need to go with shorties or if full length will still be OK. Car is stock on the rear and about 1/2 - 3/4" drop in the front.

Anyone have any similar experience?

I had the full length Hedman headers on my 65 and we had to beat the hell out of them to clear things. I was not happy with the fit! I bought the shorty coated ones last month with the 3/4" flange. Talk about a great fit. Like a glove. And with the thick flange you can really tighten them up so no leaks. Just my 2 cents.

I have full length hookers on mine. I didn't have to ding anything and they actually install pretty easy. The only problem is the drivers side hangs lower than the other

I went with coated shorty Patriots (Hedman knockoffs) on a 69. The #5 cylinder exhaust contacts the steering shaft. I called Patriot (Pertronix bought it, I think they used to be called Thunderbird) and I'm waiting to see what they want to do.

Installation was a snap.

Even with the shorties I've got a ground clearance issue. The driver's side hangs down further than the passenger side. We took a recip saw to the street adapter, or whatever that thing is called that bolts to the actual header and cut off a good 2 to 3 inches. Even with that, the driver's side hangs down far enough that I have to take some speed bumps slowly.

BTW, the coated headers do reduce underhood temp.

Not headmans! I had to cut off part of the lower control arm mount, ding the floor pan and grind of part of they tranny!

Now I am in trouble...I've got one post "fits like a glove" and one post "cut, grind and ding".

wickster, Here is how the hookers went in. The right or passenger side can go in from the top if the starter is not installed or maybe if you have a mini starter. No dings, scratches nothing. The drivers side or left went in from the bottom. This is with the oil filter not installed. Again no dings. My 65 has power steering and brakes if you are concerned about them interfering. You have to have the car jacked up fairly high to slide it in from the bottom here. My only real complaints are the drivers side hangs down lower than I would like and maybe #6 plug is a little tough to get at, not impossible but a bit of a pain. Now if you have an aftermarket oil pan with a kickout at the bottom that may affect the install, not 100% sure. I guess there are better quality headers out there that might fit better but you probably pay well for them

Hope this is some help

Im sure he is talking about the full length hedmans! I agree that the fit with them suck. With the shorty hedmans they fit well. I did not have to remove the spark plugs to install them. If your doing this I had to cut off part of the lower control arm mount, ding the floor pan and grind of part of they tranny! with shortys your in trouble.

I ran standard hookers in my old 65 and I had to ding one header tube for steering column clearance. other than that, they fit fine.

yeah again, hooker comps in my
65 sbc. no mod. had to remove the starter to get that side in. no big deal. work great, fit great, seal nicely, sound awesome. no ground clearance issues at stock height. go with the hookers!

I had Hedmans on my 64 and didnt have to ding or dent anything, spark plug access was good also.

So I ended up buying the Hedman shorties (68600)..they fit great...but my question is this....

The collector flange doesn't look like a traditional header flange that I have seen....the end of the collector has a bulge in it and it looks like to the 3" to 2 1/2" reducer slips over top it.

Kind of hard to explain...I can post a picture...just not sure if this is correct or not?