i'm about ready to kill someone. passenger side went in OK although theres absolutely no clearance to tighten the bolts on the heads. huge pain in the a$$. the drivers side is, im convinced, impossible to get the bolts in at the back of the engine. wtf am i missing? am i gonna be forced to take the brake booster off?
hooker super comps
jrskblx125
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yeah i have a small block so you would think it wouldnt be a big issue. i wonder if they make magnetic sockets??? thatd eliminate the need for tape and make things a lot easier. ill probably do the tape thing so i dont fudge around and waste time. appreciate the help!
i also noticed the collectors are sitting a little higher then the back half of the system. i may try and gently bend them down a scoach. its on both sides too. these headers suck lol
)
i also noticed the collectors are sitting a little higher then the back half of the system. i may try and gently bend them down a scoach. its on both sides too. these headers suck lol
)Well, I've never heard anyone complain about header collectors being too high unless they were hitting the floors. High & tight is usually a good thing for header collectors for allowing some good ground clearence. Maybe you can see if you can adjust the height of the muffler pipes and mufflers to be up a little higher.Or you can see if the engine is tilted forward, (or not enough rearward). If a stack of washers were used on the transmission mounting bolts at the tail shaft of the trans, then you can remove them, and that will in turn lower the header collectors by pointing them downward a little bit. I say that, because I used washers as spacers to make the transmission tail in my car sit up higher in order to adjust the proper front U-joint angle.yeah i have a small block so you would think it wouldnt be a big issue. i wonder if they make magnetic sockets??? thatd eliminate the need for tape and make things a lot easier. ill probably do the tape thing so i dont fudge around and waste time. appreciate the help!
i also noticed the collectors are sitting a little higher then the back half of the system. i may try and gently bend them down a scoach. its on both sides too. these headers suck lol
You can spot this quickly by looking at how far away the uppermost point of the front U-joint/slip-yoke assembly is to the floor tunnel. If there's a good 2 or 3" than it's already pretty low, and you wouldn't want to bring it any lower anyway. But if there's only about 1" clearence, then someone might have used spacers (washers) on the transmission mount bolts to bring it up higher. In that case, you can just get a floor jack under the trans, loosen the bolts, and remove the washers, and that will in turn lower your header collectors. And with SBC engines, you usually have plenty of room between the distributor and the firewall anyway. Unlike with BBC engines.
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well the problem is the crossmember where the headers mate to the rest of the exhaust. it appears they sit too high with respect to the cross member, and in turn wont mount to the exhaust pipes. option b would always include a BFH though. as for the transmission mount spacing, thats not the case for me.
Hmmm, I've only heard of that problem with 3" and 3.5" exhaust when using the stock crossmember. I have 3.5" exhaust with a TH400 trans, so I went with these crossmembers. They provide more room for exhaust. It's either that, or you'll have to try and modify your stock transmission crossmember, but even if you do, you'll never get it to provide the clearence that these do.....
http://www.summitracing.com/search/...d/Summit-Racing/Make/CHEVROLET/Model/CHEVELLE/?keyword=Transmission+crossmember
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yeah those dynatechs look awesome. down the road maybe ill get some better headers. i gotta get the motor running still hahah. waiting on a water pump pulley. and im sure other stuff once i get closer to the endddd!
X's2
On my 72 with a/c & pwr brakes, I put car on jack stands and install both headers up thru the bottem, dont have to but I dont like scratchin/beating stuff up. That and starting the bolts as ****** mentioned, I BARELY START the hardest ones FIRST, this allows enough room for me to pull header away from the head for enough primary tube clearance.
In aviation all my 1/4" universal/wiggle joints are taped or have a piece of tape shoved in the end of the socket..cyanoacrylate(super glue!) works wonders for this too!!!
BTW..Im running the Hooker Super Comps too and I like em..1 3/4"...
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306 Posts
I have these in both of our 70 chevelles. One with a 350 and other is a 377. I take them off and put them back on almost every year since we are always taking the motor out every winter changing something to get more HP. Once you get it down its not so bad. You have the jack the front of the car WAY up in the air. I am using the stock crossmember also and have no issues there. You just have to have the right bend in the exhaust to clear it. Nothing major just slight bend down. These super comp headers make excellent power and are hard to beat IMHO.
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yeah i have them in and everything. its the final bolt on the drivers side thats giving me a hell of a time. it appears that the dimple where the bolt is supposed to clear doesnt exist. i cant even start it with my fingers. i have a way to get up in there now with my hands. i kneel on my motor and the inner wheel well, and fish my arm under the brake booster. unfortunately its all useless because the frickin thing wont catch due to the dimple not being there.
If you are certain that a dimple is supposed to be there, and needs to be there, then you'll have to get the ball peen hammer out along with a 2 by 4 piece of wood. Either that, or a small piece of pipe, and a giamt C-clamp. That would probably do more of a neet job.yeah i have them in and everything. its the final bolt on the drivers side thats giving me a hell of a time. it appears that the dimple where the bolt is supposed to clear doesnt exist. i cant even start it with my fingers. i have a way to get up in there now with my hands. i kneel on my motor and the inner wheel well, and fish my arm under the brake booster. unfortunately its all useless because the frickin thing wont catch due to the dimple not being there.
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i cant even get a 1/4" sized socket around the head of the bolt, which is a smaller head bolt then typical bolts. 3/8 thread with a 7/16 head. i may just try an allen wrench bolt. those are more slimline and hopefully dont need a washer.
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That doesn't mean anything. Many sets of headers don't fit. I have had to put headers on with a socket, box wrench and open end wrench. Whatever fits each bolt is what you use. Before tightening any bolt, get them all started, then tighten them up. Use the socket on the ones you can, then go to box wrench, then start getting 1/8 turns on the others with the open end wrench. The joy of headers.:thumbsup:
Now where have I heard that before in this thread???
Good luck.
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well guys. i have accomplished my mission! my clearance holes on the flange were off oh so minimally but enough to screw me up pretty good. i ended up removing all bolts, leaving the front one VERY loose. then i spent about an hour of incredibly patient and painful trial and error. finally, it worked. and then i tightened it up with a baby 7/16" wrench. then snugged it best i could with a normal 7/16. i plan on never changing these things again. thanks for all the help, as well as the realization that never in my life will i do headers myself again!
LOL...yeah you will. :yes: A lot of guys say that.."Never again" l
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haha ... oh yeah the gaskets... hopefully they last long enough to sell them lol... or i can use the ones that came in my felpro gasket kit that go over the bolts and not around them like the one pieces. either way... onto the fuel pump! which i dont have, nor do i have the actuating shaft thing.
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NEVER is a long time!
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