TTI 1 7/8 Headers hitting oil pan

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Walker434

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I have TTI 1 7/8 race headers and just installed new engine in my 71 Dart. It has a milidon road race oil pan and one header tube is resting on the top of the kick out.

Any tips on getting clearance without removing engine or headers? This is on the drivers side and this header was a nightmare to install. It's only touching on one small portion. Thought about a flat blade screwdriver and hammer but I'm afraid of damaging the oil pan. Thanks in advance for any helpful tips or tricks.

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You might have some luck with a C-clamp..? But taking them off might be the best option. I have tti's on my Duster and they were brutal to fit correctly
 
Any time the tubes get that big it's hard to make them fit. Double check engine placement. If you can move the engine a bit in the K frame you may find some room.

Good, HP making headers are always a PITA. Cheap headers that fit nice usually lose power.
 
if it were me, i would pull the pan, cut out the kickout and reweld it some

almost seems like the only way to deal with it...unless you want to try to reshape the headers

thats the problem with aftermarket parts, they might fit perfectly on their own, but when you put them together they dont always play nice
 
You’re going to have to drop the pan or the header to fix that. I don’t think you’ll have any luck at all solving that without removing one or the other. You may try loosening the header up and seeing if you can move it a little on the studs, but that looks tight and you may not buy enough clearance that way. Shifting the engine in the mounts won’t help at all, both the pan and the header are bolted to the engine.

I’d dimple the header before I messed with the oil pan too. There are dyno tests out there showing that dimpling the headers has pretty much no effect on horsepower output. If you section the pan you’ll have to make sure it doesn’t mess with any of the baffles or trap doors that pan has. Not to mention if there’s oil in it now you’ll have to do a lot of cleaning to pull off the weld you’ll need.

I have a set of Doug’s headers on my 340 with a Milodon road race pan. The fit is definitely tight, but they cleared the pan ok. They’re 1 5/8” though.
 
if it were me, i would pull the pan, cut out the kickout and reweld it some

almost seems like the only way to deal with it...unless you want to try to reshape the headers

thats the problem with aftermarket parts, they might fit perfectly on their own, but when you put them together they dont always play nice
My sentiments exactly^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I bought an old funny alum. funny car , 7 qt pan, and had to do the same thing , only to the front /to clear my aftermarket front end. Still a ***** to get off , but do able.
 
I feel your Pain. 1 7/8 headers in an A body biggest mistake of my life. Never Ever Ever will I do that again. Had mine out a couple of times and they have flat spots all over them to make them fit. For TTI to say they fit out of the box is absoloute crap and I installed mine as per the letter of TTI instructions using all there suggested parts.
 
Not applicable to your situation, BUT: My one-each Hedman header of the nominal size (1-5/8") didn't fit with my Milodon pan without some 'persuasion' to the header with a hammer.

It is also true that my Milodon pan is not shaped like yours.

It's maybe not JUST the 1-7/8" part of the equation that's a problem.
 
I've made a decision. I'm going to try to C clamp the header tube as close to the oil pan as possible. Hopefully this will give a little clearance so I can get a tire spoon (like the one shown) in there and beet the **** out of it with a hammer. If I damage the oil pan oh well, it was going to have to be modified anyway. If not, it might work and I win!

Am I crazy or not?

Motion_Pro_Spoon_Type_Tire_Iron.jpg
 
I feel your Pain. 1 7/8 headers in an A body biggest mistake of my life. Never Ever Ever will I do that again. Had mine out a couple of times and they have flat spots all over them to make them fit. For TTI to say they fit out of the box is absoloute crap and I installed mine as per the letter of TTI instructions using all there suggested parts.


I've used multiple sets of Hooker 5303 headers (can't even buy them any more) and they all fit well. You can't have power steering. They are a PITA to install but they fit well, you can get to all the spark plugs and they make power.
 
if you gonna bash on it, warm it up as much as you can to make the metal a bit more pliable
 
Drop the pan and ball peen the header and pan
 
Yeah that's the plan. Heat it up with the torch first. Currently no oil in the pan so don't have to worry about that.

But....there WAS oil in the pan? I would be less concerned with heating a pan full of oil than one empty and full of fumes. Liquid gasoline will quench a match.

Have some extinguishers on hand! Stick a shop vac on a valve cover hole prior to lighting it up with a torch. Maybe just use a heat gun?

If you get a bit of space between the two, how about gluing a piece of gasket material (something relatively hard and thick) to the pan at that point; kind of a heat shield.

I did that. The 'effectiveness' may have only been in my head...but I did feel better about it.

It's all about 'feelings', right?
 
I have 1 7/8 race W2s and the Kevco 6qt pan... fits great.
I would hammer a wedge in between the pan and pipe ... slow taper wedge.. Then heat up the pipe and use a heavy rubber mallet to whack the pipe against the wedge. Might work without anialating the pipe
 
This is why I drop my car on the Motor/trany/ Kmember assembly. You can mock everything up out of the car and it takes about 15-20 minutes to get it bolted in.
AND you dong scar up your paint.
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take the pan off, cut out the interference, fit a new piece of metal, tig weld it . that's hot rodding .
 
I've made a decision. I'm going to try to C clamp the header tube as close to the oil pan as possible. Hopefully this will give a little clearance so I can get a tire spoon (like the one shown) in there and beet the **** out of it with a hammer. If I damage the oil pan oh well, it was going to have to be modified anyway. If not, it might work and I win!

Am I crazy or not?

View attachment 1715321387

You’re crazy.

Drop the pan and dimple the headers. Doing what you describe is gonna damage everything.

Chasing oil leaks from the pan damage is going to be an even bigger pain than the interference you have now.
 
He will have to pull headers to get the pan off. And pull the engine to get the headers off.
For those that have never installed an engine assembly from below it really is the easiest way once you figure it out.
 
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