Best headers for '79 T/A w/400

I have a '79 10th annv T/A with the 400 pontiac.
It had headers already on it when I got it 20yrs ago and they are shot.
Does anyone have a suggestion on what brand fits best?  
I know I want ceramic coating, no matter what brand I end up with.
Thanks  

I can't offer any first hand experience with a 400 TA, but in general Hooker and Hedman are good products, stay away from cheapies.
Steve  
A little help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

Stock 400 exhaust manifolds. When I took the headers off my '79 Silver Anniversary
and put back on the factory manifolds everything improved. I had room to work on the engine without burning off my arm, some of the header pipes come halfway smashed off to fit, the whole engine compartment gets hotter, and most importantly, they are way overrated in terms of increased performance. In all out racing applications headers give a slight advantage.  

If your putting them back on because thats what is there now then go with the ceramic coating for sure.I have had Hedman headers on mine for 15 years and have not had any problems with them. You do have to look at you exhaust system as a whole. If the rest of your exhaust is stock after the Headers then listen to Brazil and put on the stock manifolds. Running from the 3 inch collector down to the 1.5 inch stock pipes and restrictive muffler will give you no performance advantage and the backpressure will make the headers real warm. I installed a 2.5 inch dual system with high flow cats and mufflers. The performance gain was excellent and I didn't get another jump in performance that big until I installed aluminum heads a few years ago. I am now looking at a 3 inch system from pypes along with a crossover to get her to breath a little more.Gotta have a winter project.The final problem is installing the headers themself. Not a fun job on a pontiac!!! Be prepared to partially pull the engine to get them in.Lots of fun getting a couple of the center header bolts started as well. I guess its up to you. The gains I saw were well worth it but I run the strip alot and enjoy the power. If you have a tenth anniversary TA and just want to cruise it and show it save yourself the headaches and put the stock logs back on. Much Easier way to go.  

Ditto to CR.

Also, if you do go with the new (definantly ceramic) headers, there's a stupid little thing I did that I could have avoided if I was watching closer. The engine has to be lifted quite a bit, and I bent my distributor against the firewall. And yeah, those center bolts are hell to get to - mine were allen wrench bolts and I had to use every little fancy twistable tool in my box to get them torqued down.

They also make a wrap thing to reduce the heat, but I've never tried them.  

Think Ram Air exhaust manifolds. Both Hooker and Hedman did not come close to fitting my car and Ram Air 2 1/2" fit perfect and with their down pipes and Flow Master pipes everything is good. Flow Master mufflers are too loud for this old man. I used the Dynomax super turbos, the long ones, and when you put your foot it the sound is great.  

1-3/4" Headman's would be a great choice. Do not buy headers with a factory ceramic coating. The coating is very thin/cheep, and burns off. In fact just breaking in a camshaft for 20min will burn off the coating.

A must is to take them in to a shop for ceramic coating. It looks better, emits less heat so you do not heat soak the starter, makes more power by holding heat, and will last. Just shine them up with some scotch bright to look like new even after 20 years. It is best to fit them in the car first to correct any clearance problems before they are coated.

For Headmans, you the only clearance issue should be having to grind down the end of the lower control are rear bolt as they are too long and will hit the header tube. Not sure about hookers.

You do have to lift the engine to get any header into a Pontiac.

Make sure you use anitsieze coating like Felpro Grey on the header bolts, and only use stailess bolts.  

That anti sieze coating is really REALLY important! The heat will make even the best stainless steel bolts nearly impossible to tighten or remove.  

Want to ask...any idea how much horsepower can be gained by using headers. I know this can vary per engine build etc, but is there a ballpark number or estimate in general? Reason I ask is that I plan on putting in a 455 w/ 6x-4 heads, pretty aggressive cam. shooting for 9.5 comp ratio. Won't be a drag car, just a weekend toy. I like the idea of the the Ram Air manifolds I've seen in Ames Performance. Much like a stock manifold, it seems like they would be easier to work with for the same reasons others in this thread have mentioned about headers vs log style manifolds. Would the Ram Air style manifolds be the best of both worlds?