My $0.02 about S&S:
I bought their header for my Type 3 motor. In order to install it I would've needed to remove the lower engine cooling tin and thermostat -- uhm NO! I called and asked if they had a correct version for street cars. The "president" and "lead engineer" (one person) told me that their header was for street and race cars alike and that the cooling tin and engine thermostat was unnecessary (I was completely unimpressed). I [politely] explained to him why the cooling tin and thermostat (and thus engine temp. regulating system) was necessary but he insisted he was right and that "many cars in California and Arizona don't run with them". I [politely] informed him that not all cars live in the warmer regions of the US and that I lived in Oregon where is was QUITE a bit cooler. I also [politely] informed him that even a performance engine needs to get up to operating temp to run well. I am familiar with the engine and the basic physics surrounding it. He insisted he was right and that he wouldn't change the design.
So I took what I had and extended the J-tubes so the exhaust would cross under the cooling tin. Works fine, now that I re-engineered
I would recommend S&S for their collectors ONLY (the merge piece of the exhaust) and recommend a muffler shop to produce a real header that fed into the S&S collector. The "president" was a self-important tool.