Finally it was time to start building the headers for the Change-Up ’56 Chevy street/strip warrior that’s being transformed from screw-blower to turbocharger. If you’ve never done it, header building is tedious work that takes years of experience to master, and that’s why we called on some pros to help along the way.
“I had never built headers in the past, but had a good idea of what it takes since I’ve been playing with exhaust pipes since I was a kid,” explained project car owner Glenn Hunter. “I wanted to do this right so my first step, and I think the hardest, was picking out the size of the tubing, the tubing grade, and where to buy it from.”
First was the size, remembering that Hunter is admittedly no expert, he hit the web for some research and spoke with some experienced people who pointed him in the right direction. “Turbo headers are generally built differently than regular headers,” continued Hunter. “And I learned that you don’t need really large diameter tubing—just large enough not to mask the exhaust ports on the heads, but not small enough that it will choke the engine in higher horsepower applications. The idea of ‘not so large’ is velocity. There is more velocity with smaller tubing— like water through a garden hose.” …. Read more of this article. Just click on the digital feature below this introduction.
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