I'm gonna have a bunch of questions about this Jeep, so I figured to put them in separate posts.

This motor needs a lot of work. I'm tempted to tear out all of the emissions controls and put headers on it. Please comment on whether this is adviseable. Also, what headers are current technology for this motor?

Of course, then there's the carburetor. It has the stock 2bbl. What happens when I start tearing off emissions controls here?
Thanks, Hirsch

Tuning a jeep with stock manifold and cat. and stock carb will be just as difficult as tuning a jeep with headers 4 barrel intake and electronic timing. ALL the basic steps are the same. Now if your emissions stuff has failed, replace it with working stuff. I am not exactly sure what is on your jeep, I suggest you go buy a Chilton and read the first chapter on general information and tune-up. Go through the steps of setting the dwell (if it has points) setting the timing, setting idles, rechecking timing, setting idle mixture.... ETC. ALWAYS give it a good tune-up BEFORE you want to just start removing stuff. You may find that a good tune up eradicates all the little problems it is having. If you want to hotrod the thing, the 304 can make a lot of power, but you'd have money in the pocket by going with a cheaper base platform like a 350.

the only headers i know of are fenderwell exit. i have heddmans and they suck. i'm currently trying to find stock manifolds but they aren't cheap. i'm getting tired of using my flowmasters as rocksliders.

If you decide to go the header route after doing what sunder said, make sure you can find a good header for that engine, as said above, the hedman are a pain, had a set on my scrambler 360 when I first bought it, was one of the first things to go, cheap mounting flanges, etc, never sealed up right, had better luck with stock manifolds,,,,,never needed headers for the jeep, it wasn't a hot rod and didn't do anything for me...

Can anyone tell me what the point of putting headers on a Jeep is? Stock AMC manifolds flow great and run quiet, even the A.I.R. ones.
Why?

http://www.4x4wire.com/tech/josh4x4/exhaust/

SD

Thats what I was getting at with my post too, headers didn't do anything for me but give me issues, the stock manifolds worked like a champ, I don't see the reason in putting headers on a jeep unless you are replacing one of the crappy manifolds on the newer ones that had cracking problems....

Yep, stock manifolds flow soooo well due to the dog leg design of the exhaust port. Why mess with something that's going to leak, add all kinds of heat to the engine compartment, and rust out prematurely (unless you spend $$$ for ceramic coating)?

stock manifolds are expensive. like $300+ at the boneyard. the heddmans are $100. i pitched mine but now i have no manifolds. hoping for some stockers to turn up in somebody's garage for cheap. not likely though. i'll probably end up buying an entire wagoneer again just for a few parts 'cause it'll cost the same.

Stay out of the boneyard, at least that one. It sounds more like a bend-over yard to me! The yards I frequent have lots of Waggies and don't charge more than $10 per manifold.

Find some fellow Jeepers who have parts to sell. Every one of these bulletin boards on the internet have for sale/wanted boards. I just sold a set of smog manifolds for $25.

the active boards around here are pretty much dominated by toyota. and most of the jeeps are tj's. i'm sure i'll find manifolds but jeep parts aren't easy to come by here. i mean, the deals come around. i got a dana 300 for $100 and a waggy 44 rear for free, but those don't come around everyday. what yards have manifolds for $10? any websites? i could get them shipped.