big block to go in ashley's zephyr

[mygasser]

that's one side made. we cut the centre pipe of the joined 3 free so we could fully weld round them all then with as much ground neat as possible we final welded them together as a set of 4. we used the mild steel collector as it's longer giving room for a 2.5" outlet to the exhaust system. we'll cut some blanking plates for the bottom of the outlets that ash' can remove at the track (or all the time, lol).
neil.

[mopar_mark]

Headers are a strange thing to fab for me, never sure how I’m going to do it, then I decide, then half way through I find a better idea, then again I will make another change. I’m generally happy at the end

As you say, once the steering side is done, the other side always seems a breeze

[mygasser]

the worst ones i ever had to make were for my 65 dart that i fitted with a 440/727. the early A bodies are narrower in the engine bay so it was easiest to go with fenderwell headers. the primaries were about 36" long, lol. they took me nearly 40 hours to make.
neil.

[mygasser]

i'd forgot to mention when fully welding the header it's (now) 2 piece flange was bolted to one of the new header flanges we didn't use so it wasn't a complete waste, lol. once cooled down it was unbolted and had kept it's alignment.
neil.

[mygasser]

we bolted the header back in place after cutting a 2.5" hole to the inside of the collector. then using a short bend from said hole pointing back and up (slightly) we could re-use the 2.5" 2 bolt flanges from the last setup to join the header back to the exhaust system. with the bits all tacked together it was removed for the last time to be fully welded and painted. some cans of vht in white are on the way from amazon, they will be here either wednesday or thursday which'll give us time to make the passenger's side header.
it'll soon be time for a fire up and cam bed in.
neil.

[mygasser]

that was a good day, we got probably 3/4 of the n/s header tacked together.
neil.

[mygasser]

we got the last pipe sections tacked in place and removed the header to be fully welded. as with the other one we removed two pipes at the flange so we could weld all round them and have decent access to do the same on the other two. we then ground the welds and refitted the last two tubes. lastly before a second mock up was to add the collector. then we fitted it back onto the engine so the side exit running to the exhaust system could be made up again using the flanges from the last setup. that's now tacked in place ready to come off 'again' to be fully welded and painted. oh, the white vht paint arrived today so we should be able to get them both painted and baked tomorrow. i hang the headers collector down and jam my heat gun in there so the pipes get preheated before applying the paint. it seems to give a longer lasting finish, i've not had any flaky paint since doing them this way.
neil.

[mygasser]

that's them both done then. next job's fitting them with clean gloves on, lol.
neil.

[mygasser]

all ready for the fire up later on.
neil.

[mygasser]

cam bed in completed, we just have to tweak the timing and carb today before a test drive.
neil.

[mygasser]

2 steps forward and 1 step back.... ggrrrrrrrrr . today it started fine, the idle mixture screws needed almost 2 turns out to get a decent idle. the timing was at it's best so didn't need changing. then a quick blip of the throttle and it started tapping followed quickly by loud popping through the carb. we removed the rocker covers and spun it over checking for correct valve opening which seemed good 'til we saw one of the exhaust valves was barely opening, doh! once the rockers, pushrods and inlet were removed we tried to get the offending lifter out which only wanted to come so far. with some levering from underneath and wiggling with pliers it finally came out. the bottom is worn badly hence the tight removal but worse the cam lobe is fubared too.
it's no good as it is so we just ordered a (one up from stock) 428 cobra jet cam and lifters from rock auto which should be here tuesday next week. here we go again
neil.

[Stu Twin]

Hope you didn't get any oil on those headers!

[mygasser]

Hope you didn't get any oil on those headers!

they have a few grubby marks, lol. nothing we can't fix with a bit of card behind and a quick sniff from the 1/2 a can we have left
neil.

[Stu Twin]

We had some headers coated with the white aluminium spray years ago. Not a good combo with K&N breathers. Now that was a PITA. Not easily touched up.

[mygasser]

that was quick as usual from rock auto, the cam, lifters, lube and gaskets arrived today (3-4 days early).
neil.