Headers on V8 conversion

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DartMan48

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This is my first time rebuilding a car and I have a 73 Dodge Dart, originally a slant6 and I put a 360 in it. Put the headers in tonight and the steering shaft hits on the headers. Anyone had this problem before and if so whats the best solution? I put Flow Tech long tubes on it. Thanks
 
What brand headers, and what motor mounts did you use for the conversion?
Most cheap headers require "massaging around the steering box.
 
I put Flow Tech ceramic headers on it and the conversion mounts are Shumacher, not too cheap so I was hoping to not have to do much fab work. Its clear arounf the box, its the square part on the shaft going into the gear box that is hitting and it will not let the car turn at this point.
 
Had a set of the flowtech headers on My dart and the steering coupler interfered with the tubes just as you mentioned. I used a flaming river u-joint which has a slightly smaller profile(round vs. square) for better clearance.The borgeson u-joint is a little less flashy but more affordable.FWIW.Additionally you can sometimes loosen the motor mount bolts at the engine block and move the engine incrementally side to side then tighten the bolts back up once you have clearance.If your cars a '73 and has the spool type mounts you will not have as much movement as the 72 and under biscuit mounts but it's worth a try.watch your torsion bar to header clearance on the passenger side if attempting this.
 
The headers you have are the typical one size fits all header everyone makes and everyone makes them slightly different and often quality control is not there.

In order to clearance headers in the past, a basic baby sledge was employed.

For use on ceramic coated headers, use the hammer to strike a towel wraped (Small pipe, wood block, etc....) item as to not make major marks and chip, gauge the coating.

This may help keep the coating in good shape, but theres no guarantee that it will come out nice, but for surely, I can guarentee it will look like heck without any protection.
 
Is it power steering? I've seen this on PS cars more often than manual. On the 72 and earlier cars you have a little wiggle room to shift the engine over a tiny bit, but a lot of times you need to ding the header like Rumblefish said, or switch to the Borgeson style u-joint like jomoper said.
 
Yes it is power steering, how much do those u-joints go for? I work at Oreillys, I may be able to get one thru the store
 
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