I recieved the exhaust manifolds today, from Greg Gessler. Greg ported them and polished the insides, and had them Jet-Hot coated for me. They look very nice, and since they are jet hot coated theres no rusting problems anymore. I gotta say that Greg is really a pretty good guy to work with, and stands behind his word. With any luck I will have these on the car friday, and I will be ready for the trip to the Buick Regionals in St. Louis. Anyone need a set of headers for a 455? :beer Mark Lob
Hey Mark, if it's not too personal, how much did they run you? I'm thinking of doing the same thing. Marc
Just to let you guys know that the cost for Greg's manifolds and the JetHot coating cost me $680.00 .
Here is his website, exhaust porting section. IIRC, for the Level I porting for a BBB, without jet hot coating, it was about $345 exchange. I have the email at work, I can check in the morning if anyone is interested.
Thats pretty close to what I paid as well, and I bought the manifolds from Greg, I also bought his stainless bolt kit so it was a whole package. If your looking to keep your car as original, and yet want to pick up that extra 10-15 hp, this is the ONLY way to go. On the other hand, if all you want is performance and your not concerned with apperance, then look at the headers, as the manifolds are nearly 2 times the price. While they are a fair amount of money, you get what you pay for, a quality product. Mark
Mark, You forgot to add that the ported exhaust manifolds will never drag on the ground either.....:grin: And the "finish" won't tarnish like the chrome either...
Mark, Are you sure it is only 10-15 hp??? Reason I ask is for the money spent seems to me you can get more hp by doing other mods such as Stage1 valves, head porting, hi-compression pistons etc. All of them would cost less than the Gessler manifolds. I would really like to know if someone here has done a dyno test verification of the performance gain.
I quess , that like anything else that we do on these cars to maintain and keep them running, it's all a matter of personal choice. My 455 is brand new and runs plenty fast as it is, I wanted to be rid of the headers, and wanted a quality product that I wont ever have to worry about again. If I wanted more power, sure there are other avenues to pursue. My reasons were to get rid of those low hanging noisy headers, and go back to stock. In my humble opinion, if it cost a few more dollars to do the car right, it's not money wasted. Mark Lob
As a performance value on the typical street car, ported exhaust manifolds don't appear anywhere near the top...headers will give you much more for your money. Ported Manifolds were created out of a need to gain an unseen advantage where manifolds are required...cost and practicality go up and out the window! So consider the goals for your particular combo and make an educated "happy" purchase. :TU: :TU: :TU:
