My car is manual steering and 904 . My #3 tube is about 1/2 away from pan. Can't get a finger between them. My engine mount bisquits are about 1.25 inch thick . don't know what the application was, they were given to me. They are about double the thickness of the cheap India mounts that were on there, which I have have been told are typically thinner than stock. I welded plates along the side to make them solid. The aftermarket trans dipstick is very close to the firewall. I had to jack the DS header over to get the torsion bar in. It is very close to the torsion bar and I may tweak it a little more. I have added absolutely no dents to the headers. The car is not yet fully assembled.
Header fitment rant, Doug's
- Thread starter MOA
- Start date
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Less than a lot and more than a little? I've never worried about it, it wasn't an interference issue. So probably at least a 1/2" or more.
I'll see if I can look at it tomorrow. Now that I've gone hydraulic I don't have a z-bar stuffed in there anymore so I may be able to check it without getting under the car. I have a Milodon road race pan, but the kick-outs are ahead of anywhere the #3 tube should be so I should have a relevant reference point to measure from.
Alright, you got me. The #3 tube is only about a 1/4" off the pan on my car. Kinda looks like more than that, but a 1/4" drive extension won't fit between the pan and the header so it's less than .315"(diameter of the extension). Looks like the part of the pan closest to the header should be the same as a standard pan too.
#3 header tube looking back toward the starter
#3 looking forward from the tight spot
#3 and the starter terminals. Main connections are on top of the block at the top of the picture. Lower wire is undamaged after ~20k miles, has a good 1/2" of clearance to #3.
#3 header tube looking back toward the starter
#3 looking forward from the tight spot
#3 and the starter terminals. Main connections are on top of the block at the top of the picture. Lower wire is undamaged after ~20k miles, has a good 1/2" of clearance to #3.
famous bob
mopar misfit
I wrap or insulate the offending part or recieveing part when things are that close---
And yet 20k miles later there's not even any discoloration. Almost like it's completely fine just like it is.
yellow rose
Overnight Sensation
ive got tubes that close or closer. As long as it doesn't touch, it's good to go.
famous bob
mopar misfit
MY no.1 and 2 header tubes melt valve cover gaskets. I wrapped those two tubes and even have gasket gaurds on the covers themselves , along w/ the burn proof gaskets from hughs . Almost works !
yellow rose
Overnight Sensation
LOL. The exhaust is pretty hot up there. I can imagine the valve cover gaskets don't like all that heat there.
famous bob
mopar misfit
Think the raised port heads contribute to that too !
Thanks Blu. That's what I needed to see. Mine would need to come over 3/8" or so for .3125 clearance. The first header is almost touching the starter wire, the second one gives more clearance but not enough.
Inertia
Well-Known Member
Just got the 3rd header, tried it, it's worse fit than the 2nd one that I sent back. Big gap between #3 tube and pan, right on top of starter connection.. If they all fit in the same place and had the same problem, fine, something is wrong with my set up. That's not what happened.
I'm not going disparage Doug's, the rep I worked with did everything he could.
Nothing further to add here. Except that this had held up my car being finished and I'm extremely pissed. A TTI drivers side would cost me $400. I checked. My patience with this is over, no longer give a ****.
I'm not going disparage Doug's, the rep I worked with did everything he could.
Nothing further to add here. Except that this had held up my car being finished and I'm extremely pissed. A TTI drivers side would cost me $400. I checked. My patience with this is over, no longer give a ****.
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mopowers
Well-Known Member
Sounds like it's time for manifolds.
I'm not sure why your #3 tube would interfere with your starter connection. Shouldn't even be close. You are using a mini starter, correct? Dougs instructions state that you must use a mini starter. I would never buy coated headers. IMO, It's best to buy them uncoated, fit them to the car, modify if necessary and then send them out to be coated. I bought mine in bare steel and shot them with VHT. Here are pics of the starter when the engine was on my run stand.
famous bob
mopar misfit
Yes
Mopar87
Well-Known Member
After reading this entire thread,I am glad that I will be putting the front suspension and crossmember from a 90's dakota under my 73 scamp.The rack and pinion steering is way out of the way and I ditch the torsion bars.Granted I will be using a set of 1.75 longtube headers off a ram pickup so that will probably have its own set of challenges but nothing like this. Anything more than minor dimpling and I would start cutting and welding tubes so they fit better.
So, you’re doing 10x the amount of work to make your scamp handle like a truck so you don’t have to dimple some headers? Except you’ll probably have to custom make your headers. Thinking truck headers will bolt right up in your scamp with a Dakota crossmember is beyond wishful thinking.
There’s a dozen people in this thread that posted they had no issues at all with their headers. And one that had a terrible time for a still undetermined reason. Seems like you’re cherry picking the answer you want to hear to justify a decision you’ve already made.
DrCharles
Well-Known Member
I just read this entire thread... wonder how the OP (MOA) is making out. It's been nearly a month since his last post.
It surprises me that anyone has this much trouble fitting A-body headers on a small-block. I didn't even have to ding my Hedman B-body headers nearly that bad to fit my 451 in the '72...
It surprises me that anyone has this much trouble fitting A-body headers on a small-block. I didn't even have to ding my Hedman B-body headers nearly that bad to fit my 451 in the '72...
NC Engine Builder
Grumpy Old Man
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The common denominator in this thread is one particular car, with various headers that none of which fit. Seems pretty logical that it's not the headers fault.
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