Skull88

I need help on where to grind/shave off the K member for my Doug Headers d3321 because I'm finally gonna drop in a 383 stoker with aluminum heads in my car, got moroso solid motor mounts... and I've searched and can't find a decent picture where to grind/shave off, So I have the engine out and took some pics of the driver and passenger side where the a arm bolt is, of can you show me where its going to rub? if y'all guys could mark where I need to grind that be great, Im looking to drop it in tomorrow, I will post pics if y'all help me out if i get the engine settled in by tomorrow, Thanks

Lurbie

iTrader: (3)

I am interested in any responses you get on this as I will be doing the same in my 89. Would love to see any pics or comments you have as you do this. Are you going to be using fuel injection? I'm also wondering about O2 sensor placement as I'll have to drill and weld a bung into the header, but don't want to put it in the wrong spot. I'm gonna get my headers coated so I want to do it right the first time, but don't want to pay to tow my car to and from an exhaust shop for a mock up before I get them coated. Sorry this doesn't answer your post, but I wanted to encourage you to post up any pics you can take and any comments you find on your install. Good luck with it!

MrBrooks

Having to grind on the Kmember is uzually caused by old saggy motor mounts........
Running a solid mount........you should not have to do any grinding.......

no new tires

What ever you do....FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T "CUT" ANY MATERIAL FROM THE A ARM MOUNTS!!!!

-If you ever in a "hit and run" and get knocked -threw- a fire hydrant (yes the car took that thing OUT OF THE FKING GROUND and it laned 15-20' away) you WILL regret it

--ask me how I know....Some times when I look under their at that horrid sight...I loose sleep...

Skull88

I will be running a carb with a B&M root 144 supercharger I have laying around here,
Be running aluminum heads, all forged and lightweight internals, and those Doug long tube headers

Skull88

I just figured I need to do some grinding cuz on other threads I read stated they need to do some hammer work to there headers to make them fit... but I'm placing moroso solid mounts so then I should be good to go right?

Lurbie

iTrader: (3)

I'm sure you'll go into more detail, but I struggle to see how any collision as violent as that is going to be improved by the 1/8" to 1/4" of material that may need to be clearanced for header fitment.

MrBrooks

All the clearance issues i've seen or read on were due to motor mounts..........while not broken the will over time get soft and allow the motor to settle downward..........a solid mount is not gonna give that.........

I dont know why more people dont run solid mounts...........you get the arguement that "the car is gonna shake"...........not really......
especially if you arent running a huge cam........even then its not like you are in an earthquake or somthin........off idle its a non-issue all together.............
i have been running solid mounts in ALL my street cars for 20odd years.......
no point in leaving ANYTHING on the table..........better to put that energy thru the tans tho the ground than into the mounts........

no new tires

(if I had a good camera I would take a pic)

You have been warned...

SouthSide2

I,d like to see it with a crapy camera.

no new tires

Whos got some AAA batts?

no new tires

(announcer voice from the show "Cops")

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
[Post 1/2]
Post wreck photos and damage report:

Due to it being a "Hit an Run", I have to cover all damages "out of pocket"
The side that hit the fire hydrant








The side he pulled out in front of and hit

My complex is in the back ground, I was ALMOST home when this happen...


Gouge marks in the ground from when he backed up and ran off




WHERE THE FIRE HYDRANT USED TO BE (eventually it was put back)

(no my picture taker for some reason did not take a pic of the actual hydrant laying on the ground....SMH!

DAMAGE REPORT:
Front left tire: severely damaged
Right front tire: punctured and destroyed
Left tie rod: bent
Left SPINDLE: fking broke (the reason why I could not chance the bastard down)
Driver door: damaged (keeping it...)
Driver fender: destroyed
Nose cone: destroyed
Crash bar: destroyed
Honey comb: damage un-known
Chin spoiler: destroyed
Right fender: un-damaged...destroyed
Back right control arm mount: damaged
Mini starter: knocked loose from it own mounting block - destroyed
Wide band sensor: bent nearly in half - destroyed
Right front brakes: damaged - shakes around a certain speed range while braking
Wallet: destroyed
Pride: hurt
Savings: gone
Turn signal housing: damaged possible destroyed
Front wheel alignment: "clown shoe-d" (1 side is about 1" out/the other is about 1.5" out)
Steering wheel alignment: guess...

[post 2/2] showing control arm mount will come on Monday.

Dakota W.

^ Like a rock.

SouthSide2

I have not found the need to grind/cut my k member or A frame, but I would if it help the fit, only to a point. New motor mounts is the best starting point. Minor grinding /cutting maybe. Every car is a bit different, as are headers your set up is sure to be your own.

No tires,
Hole crap! Looks to me like. NO "A" frame could have survived a blow like that. Sorry you had that done to you.

I am a victim of a "hit and run" twice, and an uninsured "jack hole" once, with one pending as of today. Yes my wife was hit today. Girl ran into the back her/my car. This crap is so unfair... really ... I'm flippen pizzed...

So I hope you tell us how it all fits. And how runs and sounds.!

Boom

Bumping this to see if the OP ever got the headers installed and where (if any) he had to cut/grind/clearance.

Lurbie

iTrader: (3)

So it seems every car is different. However, for mine I had to grind some excess weld off of the k-member on the passenger side and because I didn't want to cut material out of that area I dimpled the tube slightly.
I did not have to cut any material off of the control arm brackets.

no new tires

Still been warned...

Boom

I agree with your posts about no grinding the control arm bracket. I want to have headers that just fit, I understand clearancing things if I've made other modifications, but most of these headers don't seem to fit a stock set-up very well either on these cars.

Lurbie

iTrader: (3)

But you never showed us the bracket damage and how that correlates to every bad thing that happened in your life. All you said was that the right bracket was "damaged." Well no ****; you hit a fixed object so hard that it sheared half of your fender off the car before removing said object from its position. Removing a little metal to clearance something didn't cause you to get hit, or cause all of that damage to your car. The problem you had was that some idiot smashed into you, pushing you into a fire hydrant that was strong enough to slice down the side of your car before it too was sheared off its pipe from the speed at which you were traveling over it.

Boom

His picture is in one of the threads I read on here (or there's someone else that had that happen). It did look like there was a pretty significant amount of metal removed prior to the accident for header "clearancing" though.

I'm hoping I won't have as much of an issue putting headers on. My issue to figure out is to either get plain or ceramic coated. Of course I want the coating for its many benefits, but I doin't want to have to be dinging tubes ruining the finish. Bare steel is cheaper (up front) and allows me to massage the tubes where needed and then once they fit I can have them coated, but with as much of a pain as these sound to install, do I want to remove and install them for then once?

Lurbie

iTrader: (3)

If you have a quality coating place local to you, buy them uncoated and have it done after you've fitted them. I had my engine out already, so it was no big deal to drop it in and out a few times to check clearances and modify pipes or the car. IIRC it took 4 or 5 times raising the engine up and down total, then I had them coated locally.

no new tires

All that really matters is post 17

Lurbie

iTrader: (3)

Post 17 Thanks for the pic. Doesn't look like you took much off, but I don't have anything to compare it with. I still think your misfortune was more to do with the collision, less with the modification.