New Yorker 440 Exhaust Questions

77newyorker440

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Hello Everyone, its been a while since I have posted on here, I had a few questions for you all.

I own a 1977 New Yorker Brougham with the 440 and I was wondering if yall had any exhaust suggestions. My plan so far is to put headers on and just do dual straight pipes all the way back or have them come out right before the rear tires, so they don't have to be bent over the axle (Due to cost). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find headers that fit the New Yorker, except one pair of shorty Sanderson headers that I do not want to use. I am looking for long tube headers, so far I have found these (Hooker 5903HKR Competition Full Length Header, Painted ) Hooker Headers Part NO 5903HKR, but it says the are made for B and E bodies. Could they fit a New Yorker, and do you guys know of any other headers I could use. The reason this is so important is that the stock exhaust manifold it has are run right next to the valve covers and have warped them due to the heat, causing an oil leak. Please add a comment below if you all have any comments, concerns, or suggestions. Also, I just had my 15th birthday, so I'm almost old enough to get my license.

Thanks,
77newyorker440
 
When I was 18 I had a 78 440 New yorker. I put the exhaust out right in front of the rear tire, glass packs and factory manifolds. That car ran well and sounded great.

Put it out the side. You will love it.

Don't worry about headers. Replace the gaskets. It much less of a headache.
 
The valve cover leak you describe is most probably due to a degraded gasket rather than "warping" of the cover itself. A somewhat common situation on police 440s, but not on street cars, typically. Chrysler released a pure silicone valve cover gasket for police applications, orange in color, to help combat the rh valve cover side leaks. They are still availabble from other vendors.

Under what driving conditions do the gaskets become sub-optimal? Long highway drives, or long periods of idling? Perhaps a bit richer carb calibration in those conditions might decrease the heat?

Remember that long-tube headers, on any vehicle, will have much-increased exposure to road "situations" which can cause dents/bends in them. They can be more trouble than they're worth, I suspect.

Have you mesured the factory pipes under your car? I suspect you'll discover that the single exhaust system is about 2.5" pipe and muffler outlet diameter. Also, by that model year, the normal exhaust manifolds had an enlarged internal cross-section, compared to the earlier versions. Not as good as the factory HP manifolds, but better than the earlier standard exhaust manifolds.

Does your car still have the factory fan shroud and a working fan clutch? End result is a good air flow over the engine when it's running.

In many cases, the rh side manifold will cross with the B/E-body part, or be close enough it can be used on a C-body. BUT the lh side can be where the issues are due to differences in location of steering components and such.

Check your state's rules about exhaust system "Exit Points".

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
 
Your New Yorker is NOT a race car! Forget the headers, Forget the straight pipes and forget the pipes exiting out of the side-they sound like ****!!!!! Listen to a Viper with side exhaust and then listen to one that has rear exits. You be the judge. I worked with a guy that had a 69 Vette 427 that had the factory side exhaust and it sounded like hell. Put dual exhaust on it with big quiet mufflers and put Nitrous on it if you think you need to go fast. The headers, straight pipes and loud side exit exhaust will only get you tickets and trouble! Be smart!
If you are a city dweller and don't get out on the highway much, get some 3.55 gears for your rearend. That will get your land yacht up to speed quicker than headers will. Get an earlier Thermoquad, get it rebuilt by someone that knows them. You and your friends won't need your big *** stereo, Because you will be listening to that Thermoquad HOWL..
 
Groundhog's day.
WINCE.GIF
 
Side exit or ending at the rear end well greatly increase the noise inside and the reverberation inside fyi.
Personally don't know which headers fit a formal, but I'm a supporter of them unlike a lot of these grumpy old men :drama::D
 
I've been through the headers phase (on B bodies in my youth) and the burnt wires, rust out and exhaust leaks that came with them.

I've been a stock manifold guy since and never had an issue. The most cost effective easy button here is a new set of valve cover gaskets.

That being said, if you continue down this road...Formals are by and large ignored by the aftermarket so any foray into headers will be somewhat ground breaking...as mentioned you'll probably wind up bashing the hell out of a set of B Body headers to make them work (did mention leaks?).
I can't remember ever seeing a Formal with headers.

I think that the TTI Tri-Y look like they stand a good chance of fitting a Formal...but run the duals out the back...you won't be sorry you did.
 
The valve cover leak you describe is most probably due to a degraded gasket rather than "warping" of the cover itself. A somewhat common situation on police 440s, but not on street cars, typically. Chrysler released a pure silicone valve cover gasket for police applications, orange in color, to help combat the rh valve cover side leaks. They are still availabble from other vendors.

Under what driving conditions do the gaskets become sub-optimal? Long highway drives, or long periods of idling? Perhaps a bit richer carb calibration in those conditions might decrease the heat?

Remember that long-tube headers, on any vehicle, will have much-increased exposure to road "situations" which can cause dents/bends in them. They can be more trouble than they're worth, I suspect.

Have you mesured the factory pipes under your car? I suspect you'll discover that the single exhaust system is about 2.5" pipe and muffler outlet diameter. Also, by that model year, the normal exhaust manifolds had an enlarged internal cross-section, compared to the earlier versions. Not as good as the factory HP manifolds, but better than the earlier standard exhaust manifolds.

Does your car still have the factory fan shroud and a working fan clutch? End result is a good air flow over the engine when it's running.

In many cases, the rh side manifold will cross with the B/E-body part, or be close enough it can be used on a C-body. BUT the lh side can be where the issues are due to differences in location of steering components and such.

Check your state's rules about exhaust system "Exit Points".

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
Thanks CBODY67,
The car has not gotten many different driving settings so far, since I have only owned it for three months. My dad and I were mostly seeing the oil smoke when the car was idling or had been running for a while. The system has lessened to a degree, since we replaced the water pump, fan clutch (and it does have the factory fan shroud), radiator, hoses, and thermostat after we had an overheating incident which ended with a plume of oil smoke, but now, the engine never runs above the halfway point on the temp gauge. Currently, my dad and I have been cleaning the area before we go on any longer rides (15 minutes or more), in order to reduce the risk of an oil fire. I think you are correct about the gaskets breaking, not the valve covers, I misspoke earlier, but the benefit of headers is that they would not run right next to the valve covers, meaning a longer life for the valve cover gaskets. You are correct though, putting in the headers would be really tough, especially on the driver side with the steering box. I think the car has the 2.5 inch exhaust, but it needs to have new pipes because it all rusted off after the catalytic converter (under the front passenger footwell) which will allow it to pass inspection. I looked into it, and I don't believe my state has any laws on where the exhaust exits the vehicle. Below I put a picture of the valve covers and you can see the darker part that is wet with oil.
Thanks again for all the suggestions and help,
77newyorker440

20200707_175957.jpg
 
MEV races his NewYorker with exhaust manifolds and hit mid to low 12 second 1/4 miles.
 
Old guys were kids once too.
We’ve been “there and done that” as you say.
 
All I'm saying is you can make good power with exhaust manifolds.
Have fun kids and I mean it!
 
Here is what the current exhaust note sounds like with the stock exhaust manifolds and the catalytic converter, so my goal is also not to lose this sound:
 
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