Are SSI w/heat, same as plain header?

I am in the process of pulling my 2.7L engine and tranny to rebuild the tranny. (Hitting second is like winning the lottery). I am starting to order parts for the project. The engine has a completely rusted set of Burst headers and muffler. I pulled the exhaust off with no broken studs - wahoo. I do not have a heating system in the car. I will use the car as a daily driver when finished. I am trying to figure cost benefit of installing a complete heating system, vs. chilling in the winter with just headers. Can anyone say if there is a performance difference between SSI's with a heater shroud, vs. just headers? I am thinking a on a set of SSI's with a Monty exhaust. If I decide on the SSI's with the heat exchangers, I will then need to spend mucho denaro on a heater motor, tins and so forth. So, I may stick to just chill'n and a good set of headers.

Any thoughts?

[echrisconnor]

If you're using this car as a daily driver in Colorado you'll need a heating system. From a performance perspective, the SSIs are the same as headers (and as a header are better than most). The only disadvantage of a full SSI vs. a header is a few pounds of sheet metal. You can probably source the rest of the heater blower, vents, hoses, etc. used for pretty cheap. Your biggest cost will be the SSIs and a new muffler.

I run just headers on my car here in Colorado, but it's a summer driver. The only heat I have now is through the removed engine sound pad and back seat insulation. So the whole back firewall makes for a pretty good radiant heater. It's no substitute for a defroster though.

Oky, doky then.

Thanks for the input.