[sick472]

Wecome to the forums Alex!

You have asked a question that may very well verge on asking for opinions rather than facts. There are just too many variable to consider and I'm no fine toothed gear head...so I'll give you my opinions...

Headers are just loud. I'm getting older and cell usage in a car back in the day was non-existant...so I want my ride to be on the quiet side. For a cruiser that you do not intend to squeeze all the HP out of, go with quiet, solid, affordable, mani's. Get your wallet out and buy some higher performance mani's, give them a poor man's port job and bolt them on and forget about them. I have had two vehicles with headers, cheaper ones I am sure, and they both require bolt tightening on a yearly basis to avoid pinging leaks and some of the bolts are next to impossible to torque down sufficiently due to the tight area the headers have created that the bolts lives in.

If you want your truck to sound more rugged (louder) and the image is worth your money and you don't mind a little extra maintenance then headers suit your truck. They can certainly up the HP too in conjunction with the intake and carb. The rule..."you get what you pay for" certainly applies.

I can't say what the gas mileage will do, at 10 to 15 mpg with these old trucks there's not much to hope for.