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DartVadar

DartVadar

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I was under my car installing headers and some other stuff and noticed this hole on the bottom of my block just beside the oil pan. Does it have to be blocked off? Or just leave it? It seems to go pretty deep, no idea what it's for.

The engine is an 81 LA 360, in my dart don't know if the year makes a difference.
 

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I believe that those are machine locating holes for machining the block. No need to cover or plug them, leave them as is....
 
Also I got my trans cooler lines installed and they run pretty close to the headers, I think they touch at one point. Is this bad? Because they are metal I could probably bend them to get some clearance.

And I got the cooler lines attached to the trans, but can left and right be mixed up? Don't want to have them opposite of where they should be.
 
There is a long and a short, but possible 2 equal length lines if its an aftermarket. You want them far enough from the header not to allow them to heat it, you ARE trying to cool (to an extent). Bend and wire tie or support so they dont touch header. You dont want them bouncing off the header or anything esle and abrade a hole in them. Hot pressurized trans fluid spraying on a hot header is no good. If you got 2 equal lengths, run the front nipple to the pass side rad spud, it doesnt matter which way the fluid circulates in the bottom of the trans.
 
pishta said:
There is a long and a short, but possible 2 equal length lines if its an aftermarket. You want them far enough from the header not to allow them to heat it, you ARE trying to cool (to an extent). Bend and wire tie or support so they dont touch header. You dont want them bouncing off the header or anything esle and abrade a hole in them. Hot pressurized trans fluid spraying on a hot header is no good. If you got 2 equal lengths, run the front nipple to the pass side rad spud, it doesnt matter which way the fluid circulates in the bottom of the trans.
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They are different lengths im pretty sure, I found that I could really only get them to fit one way. How much clearance should I have from the headers? just enough so they don't hit? Because I can bend them out of the way pretty easily.
 
DartVadar said:
They are different lengths im pretty sure, I found that I could really only get them to fit one way. How much clearance should I have from the headers? just enough so they don't hit? Because I can bend them out of the way pretty easily.
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Get them as far away as you can. Heat kills auto transmissions. You might even look into some shielding.
 
Man, I would be going for at least an inch AND adding a shield if anywhere close (not a black one); the radiaint heat from the headers when heated up is quite intense and if you are cruising slow around town for a long time on a hot day, the heat transfer would be a concern to me. Air flow will help some. Support is a must, IMO.

Pishta's comment on oil on a hot header are spot on; in our rally racing, the prime cause of fires is oil of some sort on a hot exhaust/header/turbo; they can be hard to put out and will start in an instant.
 
dano said:
Get them as far away as you can. Heat kills auto transmissions. You might even look into some shielding.
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I will see how far I can get them. And shielding wouldn't be a bad idea. How hard would that be to do, can I wrap the cooler lines?
 
So I just took a quick look and they hit in two places, one spot I can easily get more clearance, and the one in the pic is touching but I think I can bend the lines a bit for more clearance as well. But I think I want to run some heat shields. What would be some good ones to use? and do they just slip over the cooler lines?
 

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Got any header wrap laying around?
I'd wrap those pipes instead of messing with the line that you probably won't make much difference with.
If they crossed the exhaust at a 90 I wouldn't worry too much about it, but since they run parallel to each other that far I would be REALLY concerned about it.
 
TrailBeast said:
Got any header wrap laying around?
I'd wrap those pipes instead of messing with the line that you probably won't make much difference with.
If they crossed the exhaust at a 90 I wouldn't worry too much about it, but since they run parallel to each other that far I would be REALLY concerned about it.
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Pretty sure I do have some header wrap somewhere. But would that solve the problem enough? Like you said they do run in parallel for quite a bit. Should I bend the lines away and wrap? think that will be safe.
 
bOb shingler said:
check and see if there are clamps over on the frame to snap the lines in.
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I did miss one, so I had to bend the line a bit to get it there. I think it goes there, it's in the same place as the speedometer cable holder clip, but it seems like there is took for two things. That gave some more clearance. I can get about 2 inches in the place shown in the picture and then I can play around and bend the line by the collector for more clearance.

But is it bad to be be bending the lines? Doesn't that weaken them?
 
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