Header is rubbing frame - 70 Duster

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giggy

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Ever since day one of my 340 installation into a 1970 Duster, the left (drivers) header is making contact with the frame. They are TTI headers and fit excellent everywhere else. I have no other clearance issues or contact points. I tried to shim the engine at the motor mounts, but no change. I tried to heat the header tube and pry it away from the frame but that was a hopeless task.

The only thing I can see is the car has had some damage before I owned it on the right hand front. The small piece of frame that extends on the right side is kinked and bent inward. That is the opposite side of the problem, but the impact that caused that damage may have pushed the k-frame or bent it.

I am not sure what the heck is the cause, but has anyone had this problem, or what would you do to correct it. The car drives straight as an arrow and everything else lines up ok.

Are there some measurements I can take to see if the k-frame bent with the motor in?
 
Really hate to hear that......when I put my TTI's on my 340, they also fit like a glove (kinda like an OJ glove). I think that when sitting the engine into the compartment, I had to place a small shim under the engine mount bolt to raise it up about 1/4" to help in getting just a little more clearence on them. Don't know if this will help you or not with your current situation or not but it was a quick easy fix for me. Maybe it will help you.
Good Luck.
Greg..........mtn_jake
 
I had the same problem you described and I tried everything you and mtn_jake have tried. Like yours all the measurements were correct on mine, and I thought maybe I had frame damage. My fix was to use a Dremel with a small cutoff wheel and cut a slot on the framerail bottom at the interference point, then two vertical slots at the ends of my first slot. I then pushed this steel flap that I made into the framerail and welded the seams shut. This created a solid clearance notch and plenty of room for that header tube. Try thinking of an envelope flap beinging inserted into the envelope for a second. This worked for me on a '72 Swinger but you may not want to do this on a rare or expensive car though. This would be extremely hard for 99.99% of Mopar folks to notice when the welds are smoothed and painted.
Bob
 
That beats the situation I had on a set of 'cheap' headers (before the TTI's) when the garage man put my headers on and had to nearly collapse one of the tubes to clear the steering sector on my Duster.....what a 'crappy looking mess' that was......!!
Hope you get the situation fixed on your Duster.
greg........mtn_jake
 
gerty said:
I had the same problem you described and I tried everything you and mtn_jake have tried. Like yours all the measurements were correct on mine, and I thought maybe I had frame damage. My fix was to use a Dremel with a small cutoff wheel and cut a slot on the framerail bottom at the interference point, then two vertical slots at the ends of my first slot. I then pushed this steel flap that I made into the framerail and welded the seams shut. This created a solid clearance notch and plenty of room for that header tube. Try thinking of an envelope flap beinging inserted into the envelope for a second. This worked for me on a '72 Swinger but you may not want to do this on a rare or expensive car though. This would be extremely hard for 99.99% of Mopar folks to notice when the welds are smoothed and painted.
Bob
Click to expand...


I thought of that and was worried about weakening the frame, but welding it shut never entered my pea brain! I think that may be the fix I am looking for.

Did you do this with the headers on or off? I could probably just loosen the motor mount and jack the engine up to give me more clearance.
 
Sorry to hear your having some problems Giggy. That seems to be the only problem "I" didn't have in my re-build and TTI install. There sure isn't much room for error. I sure hope you get some good imput to fix your problem.
Good Luck.
 
giggy said:
I thought of that and was worried about weakening the frame, but welding it shut never entered my pea brain! I think that may be the fix I am looking for.

Did you do this with the headers on or off? I could probably just loosen the motor mount and jack the engine up to give me more clearance.
Click to expand...

The headers were still bolted up when I made the "adjustment". I had those things on and off so much I just could not bring myself to unbolt them again. It's tight working around the tube. Might have been better to mark where the clearance was needed, unbolt them and pull the tube out of the way before cutting the slits.
Bob
 
gerty said:
The headers were still bolted up when I made the "adjustment". I had those things on and off so much I just could not bring myself to unbolt them again. It's tight working around the tube. Might have been better to mark where the clearance was needed, unbolt them and pull the tube out of the way before cutting the slits.
Bob
Click to expand...

Gonna give it a go this weekend...cut it up first and find a welder later.

Wish me luck...
 
Well thanks gerty. It worked out well. I have about 3/16" clearance. I need to weld it shut now, but that is another story. Thanks!!
 
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