OK back to the original plan to buy a set of headers.
The swap meet specials--guy said they came from an '84 Malibu--hit the frame on the El Camino :-(
...and the old system is already out, of course :(

Anyone tried Flowtech??

I have a set of Flow Techs on my 66 Camino, They clear everything including the clutch linkage. I did have to pull the motor out a ways to slide them in. When I retire these I'm going to look into a set of shorties, if I can find a set that will work with the clutch linkage.

Scrubby :-D

When I finally go to headers, I am going to get street headers(3/4).