Is it worth the extra money?

If not only for the sound then yes to compliment the now much increased exhaust flow..will help with your lower end torue.

A couple of months back MM&FF did a test of 4 different headers on a modded 347. They compared unequal shorties, equal shorties (both 1 5/8" primaries) against 1 5/8" and 1 3/4" long tubes. There wasn't 3 HP difference at peak between any of them. But they showed almost 30 lb-ft more torque at 3000 rpm with the 1 5/8" long tubes. The 1 3/4" also showed more torque compared to the shorties, but not as much as the smaller long tubes.

They didn't show numbers below 3000, but I suspect the strength continued or was even greater down low. If that test is indicative, I'd say the long tubes would be well worth the bottom end gain. Just don't get carried away with too large a primary tube size. Up to 300HP, 1.5" primaries won't hurt your peak, but will help bottom end even more. When you start to move above that level, you probably need 1 5/8ths. Any bigger than that is only for really serious hp levels out of a 302.

Just goes to show you how clueless they are when it comes to most of their tech articles - not only did they not mention the HUGE torque gain down low, they didn't go back and rerun the test at a lower rpm to see what other differences they could uncover. It's beyond me...

they're worth it but i don't think you'll be able to put the headers on and drop it into the car though.

Lay the headers in the engine compartment while you're lowering the engine - once it's down low enough, hook them up - and drop it the rest of the way in. It's done all the time that way.

You don't need a subscription - I usually pick up that kind of stuff while waiting in the mag dept. for my wife to finish shopping at WalMart.

And remember the most important part of my previous post ---"If that test is indicative,..."