Doug Thorley Headers with SB Trick Flow Heads

[Bodyperson]

Weird to some maybe ,but it sucks to me. If indeed there is something going on with the TFS heads that would explane this mess. If anyone has put those heads on with Dougs and have not had problems. please post here with some pictures. No header should fit this bad and be sold. I know of 3 people here who has put TFS heads on and all of us have major problems. Don't you think that is weird?

So why the heavy weenie on the header manufacturer now? I thought the discussion was about TF. This thread is 3 months old. It's time you took the bull by the horns and do the research yourself. I have a handfull of stock mopar v8 engines laying around myself. Well..all of my engines are stock unfortunately. You are kind of in a good situation to be in. Do the work man. Figure it out. I'd be there to wrench with ya in a heartbeat with some stock stuff. Make it happen. Let us know. If you can prove something, you should get your money back. Do some measuring. It isn't that hard to build some comparative tools.

 

[yellow rose]

Weird to some maybe ,but it sucks to me. If indeed there is something going on with the TFS heads that would explane this mess. If anyone has put those heads on with Dougs and have not had problems. please post here with some pictures. No header should fit this bad and be sold. I know of 3 people here who has put TFS heads on and all of us have major problems. Don't you think that is weird?

I'm pretty sure @lead69 has used Dougs headers with TF heads. If I'm correct, I've seen them on the car and they fit pretty well.

 

[lead69]

I'm pretty sure @lead69 has used Dougs headers with TF heads. If I'm correct, I've seen them on the car and they fit pretty well.

Yes, I have tfs heads and dougs and no problems. I have had dougs headers that fit like crap in the past though and more than one set but to be fair I have had a few headers fit like crap including the summit headers. Had those on my duster and went to cheap hooker headers and they fit much better, I then put on dougs and they fit the best, back to back to back so it was a direct comparison. When it comes to headers I think it depends on how bad the jig is and the dude using it that day. I would think if there was a problem with the tfs heads it would be common knowledge by now, I know of a few guys running them with no issues.

 

[lead69]

I think I had posted in this thread about the stacking of fitment issues these cars have. I have had a few and every one had headers/small blocks and everyone had its own issues big and/or small.

 

[Dennis Hilliard]

Lets think about this a bit, I here that the motor may not be centered,well when the header tubes are jamed up against the t/bars that will not matter. The t/bar are connected to the lower control arms then onto the cross member on the body. Those points are a given, if the K member is off one side to the other it won't make a difference. The mounting points for the t/bars are a given. If the header tubes are hitting the bars there going to hit no matter.So that leaves one of 2 things, the headers are off or the exhaust port on the head has changed. I can understand the motor off center thing with the header hitting steering parts but not the t/bars.

 

[yellow rose]

Lets think about this a bit, I here that the motor may not be centered,well when the header tubes are jamed up against the t/bars that will not matter. The t/bar are connected to the lower control arms then onto the cross member on the body. Those points are a given, if the K member is off one side to the other it won't make a difference. The mounting points for the t/bars are a given. If the header tubes are hitting the bars there going to hit no matter.So that leaves one of 2 things, the headers are off or the exhaust port on the head has changed. I can understand the motor off center thing with the header hitting steering parts but not the t/bars.

The engine should not be centered. If forget the exact amount but IIRC its .750 or so.

I was told it was done to make the starter fit, but I can't verify that.

If you measure the chassis you'll see the T bars are centered in the chassis but the engine isn't.

 

[Dennis Hilliard]

The engine should not be centered. If forget the exact amount but IIRC its .750 or so.

I was told it was done to make the starter fit, but I can't verify that.

If you measure the chassis you'll see the T bars are centered in the chassis but the engine isn't.

I understand that, the t/bar mounting points are a giving, you can't shift the motor from side to side in the K member enough to make a difference as fare as header clearence. Both sides on my car were jamed tight, I am sure the Kmember in not bent.So I can only come to the conclusion and that is what I said above.

 

[Dennis Hilliard]

Hey Dennis... im going thru the same thing... the Trick Flow heads have to be wider... i have only 3 1/4 from the head to the inner fender on the passenger side... the Dougs header measures 4 1/8 wide at the flange to the outside of the bend. I measured my engine centerline from the crank to the frame and it spot on. Im at a standstill with this i cant return them because they have been “massaged” so im thinking of cutting them and making them the width that i need...

Have you tryed to put them in yet? Cutting them is allot of work. I made mine work but had to geat them up some. Still hitting alittle on the drivers side t/bar. I do believe that the head is not the same as stock. Do you still have the stock heads you could try and measure

 

[Dragnut]

Have you tryed to put them in yet? Cutting them is allot of work. I made mine work but had to geat them up some. Still hitting alittle on the drivers side t/bar. I do believe that the head is not the same as stock. Do you still have the stock heads you could try and measure

Yes I have put the passenger side in but had to dent them to get it in there, it just barely fits in there and thats with out the gasket...Soooo...I have a buddy that does good exhaust work and i am going to have him cut the bends and make them tighter to fit. It is really messed up to have to do this to a brand new header but the only other option is to start over with a different set. I dont have Tbars, i am running a coil over setup on my Dart so that is not a problem, just the inner fender part. I havent even gotten over to the drivers side yet but there is alot more side room over there.

 

[Dennis Hilliard]

Good luck on your project.

 

[lead69]

Did you ever try a different set of headers?, if not it's all just speculation. Until you try a different set you will not know for sure, next thing you know people are saying the tfs heads don't fit right (maybe they don't) but the only way to know for sure is to test on your car. If I post pictures it really doesn't help a thing other than to show I am not a liar lol. I had the same dougs headers in the same car with a 318 and stock heads and now with a stroked 360 with tfs heads and the engine sits in the same spot as well as the headers to chassis clearance is the same. If all the guys you mentioned have dougs headers I would be seriously looking at those, but again unless you guys are all in the same garage taking the same measurements how do any of you know whats actually wrong with the individual cars?. I get the frustration but if you are going to give up and beat the headers until they fit then there is no point in posting anymore because nobody including you will ever really know what is wrong in the first place.

 

[lead69]

I should say none of the above post is meant to be condescending at all, just the fact that if you don't find out for sure what the problem is it does nothing to help you or others.

 

[TripleL]

I feel your pain needed to modify tubes 5&7 paid $650 coated than to get them repaired paid another $600 after all was done. Criminal ,see bottom of headers had to massage them for torsion bar clearance tube 7 was hitting steering column and no matter what I did it just wouldn’t fit cut half way down 5-7 tubes and swapped them around ,it gave me the room.I'm not sure how much power your gaining with that last tube almost beat shut.

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[Dragnut]

Good luck on your project.

Thanks Dennis