Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich
Much as I like and respect Jere, I'm not at all convinced his opinions on steps and merge collectors are completely correct.
In fact, when I pressed Jere a little further, he admitted that step headers were worth some power. Ours are one step, 2" to 2-1/8". They were in fact quicker and faster than the Hooker 2-1/8" headers. Even when the Hookers, which were too big and too short, had a set of Mark's merge collectors on them. Later, after some testing and data crunching, Jere and I discussed a set of two step headers, 1-7/8" to 2" to 2-1/8", and a set of merge collectors. Development on that combination stopped before they were built.
Jere's main thoughts on stepped headers, and merge collectors, were for the most part along the lines that few would ever do what was necessary to see what he told me he felt were possible 2-3% gains. As such, he felt for 95% of his customers they were not worth the extra money. The truth is, Jere is probably right. As Billy said, and I agree, for the vast majority of racers, a basic set of single diameter headers with regular collectors, properly sized, will be all they can ever use. They will never do the development necessary to take advantage of anything else.
Now, the flip side of that is that 3% on a 650HP engine is almost 20HP. Well worth the upcharge Jere was asking for two step (three diameter) 4 into 1 headers.
I spoke at length with Jere's head fabricator, who actually runs the new business, and makes genuine Jere Stahl pattern headers. He told me that he would not make single diameter headers anymore, they would at least be one step, for both performance and ease of fabrication. Odds are, my next set will be built there, and they will be two step, or three diameter headers. They will get a set of merge collectors.
I've also talked to Larry Meaux (mostly by email and private message), who developed the PipeMax software that many of us use. Larry said that even some of the most well funded racers, even after seeing what the right size and lengths of primaries and collectors did for their expensive race engines would not spend much more time and money testing cams, and especially not on merge collectors. Larry has in fact expressed the same thing Jere, Billy and I have said. Most racers either cannot or will not do what is necessary to make the higher end headers and collectors work, and will see no gains. Larry has spent a couple of decades on the dyno and the track learning about this stuff, and then writing software to quantify it.
I've spoken with Calvin Elston many times, He is a very sharp individual, and a great fabricator who makes a top shelf product. They are absolute automotive artwork, no doubt. That said, his headers are more than twice what Jere was getting for his, and few people would make the effort and spend the money to see the gains they potentially have. A set of 4-2-1 headers requires even more camshaft development than a set of step headers with merge collectors. Calvin quoted me over $3500 for a set 4-5 years ago, and I know it might take 3-4 cams to take full advantage of them. At a bare minimum, that's $1400-$1600 worth of cams, and 2-3 days ($1800) worth of dyno time. For the vast majority of racers, that's just plain out of reach, and out of the question.
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