so, i recently took care of a bummer of an oil leak... I ended up replacing the valve cover gaskets and after replacing the gaskets still had problems.  Upon further inspection i realized that the previous owner of the car "repaired" cracks in the original valve covers and did a terrible job.  They still had a few small cracks that the original owner missed along with the seal groove being filled with jb weld i am assuming.  I just installed a different set of valve covers.

so, the real question.  After a good time of oil leaking on to the exhaust i am looking for something to replace the old and gross looking original headers.  I am not totally looking for something to give me more power but looking for something that will just look better..... just for now.  So, i have found a few fairly priced but they do not have a plug for the pipe circled in the picture and also do not have the raised rail above.  I honestly do not know what the significance of the raised bar or assembly is on top of the original header or the pipe going across the passenger side valve cover into the exhaust are.... what do i do about the pipe in the photo? PLEASE GO EASY ON ME.

This car was something that was my fathers baby.  My father and I worked on this car from the time i was 13 up until a year and a half ago when he passed away.  I love this car but have a limited knowledge of the car. 

thanks guys!