Well i recently installed a Holley 97 GPH electric fuel pump. I have a vapor lock problem. The fuel heats up so hot that it shuts the car off and u can see steam coming from the carb. I do have an exhaust leak at the header collector and i think this could be the problem but i'm not sure. Also, the engine compartment gets extremely hot and I'm not sure how to get it cooler. I'm running about 8degrees advance at idle with Autolite 26 spark plugs. The exhaust leak seems to be directed toward the steel fuel line.

 

Yeah that just might maybe have something to do with it.

 

Yeah, but anytime I run my car on the street in town and the temp gauge starts reading 180 I know I'll have a "flat spot" if I stand on it, and my full tube header collertors don't leak. These cars just have limited space to run things and that's one of the bad deals with the fuel line is it passes near the exhaust and as it sits in the line it gets hot, and we all know these cars don't let ANY heat escape anywhere, especially under the hood. Before next season I'm gonna try the cool-can and see if that helps with my in town excursions, plus I don't know if the 3" cowl on my bird is gonna help or hurt the heating problems, I've heard they make it worse, but we'll see for ourself.

 

Where did u get your full length headers and what year bird?..I've been looking for a set of full length headers for some time now and i have been unable to locate them.

 

was your car a V6 or fuel injected car. if it was the fuel line run up the driver side about an 1/2 an inch from the header. this will casue the fuel to heat up a lot. u have to run the fuel line the same way the carburated cars ranem, on the pasangers side frame rail. i hope this is the solution to your problem

 

Picked mine up out of Jegs pn 500-68460 for $105.99, they work but hind sight save your coin untilyou can afford the Hooker Super Comps, part number 520-2210 for $385.00. The heddmans don't hang far enough below the car to easily hook up true duals, I have them, but they make a bend down right off the collectors, then a 90 out towards the rocker panel, then another 90 shooting back, then I have the Super Flows (Flow Master generic brand) mounted directly under the rear seat floor pan that has been beaten up to allow for more clearance. The center line of the collector is even with the tranny pan mounting surface and only about 2 1/2-3" away hence the tight bends, I have 2.5" exhaust with an H pipe, the kicker was , my last race of the season after it was done I made a TT with open headers, figured the mess of bends was killing my times, I ran the exact time I always ran, plus I melted the useless speedo cable and it's real close to the gas line. So if nothing else I know my ugly exhaust system is at least doing it's job. The Hookers drop down below the tranny pan and offers more exhaust routing options. Oh yeah, I got an 86 bird with a 355cid, th 350, and 3.42 posi-4.11 by next season in a ford 9". Go to the drag racing forum and look for pic of the blue bumber bandit.

 

Well my car was a carbed 305 and i blew it up at the beginning of the summer so i put the 350 in it. The fuel line is running down the passanger side of the car but it seems to me like its kind of close to the exhaust. It seems different from the 305 in relation to the location of the hedders to the frame rail. Also, my underhood temp is amazingly hot. I don't know if this is from the plugs i'm running or what but i no matter what i do i cant seem to redce the tmp by much. Does that header wrap stuff work?.. I've seen it advertised but i was wondering if it works as good as the package says.

Did you have to do any mods as far as the starter or bellhousing?..I have read someone say that they had to buy a mini starter and bend the side of their bellhousing in a touch to get the hedders to clear everything

 

I originally had one of my sponsors install the headers, they had to pull the motor mount bolts and jack up the motor to get them in, that was when I first got the car and it had the 305 and all the garbage emissions that came with it. When I blew that I did the cut everything that was unneccesary to make the car function in primitve form, then when we installed the new 355 I noticed they had to cut some of the A arm mount for clearance, but after the cleansing of garbage it has plenty of clearance and would'nt have needed to be cut, as far as the tranny goes I myself cut off the driver side ear that the dust cover bolts onto so the header would slip up in from underneath, then when I install the new 350 tranny I just cut both ears off cause I never run a dust cover anyways and the tranny more less jumpes into it's new home. Ground clearance is an issue with a full tank of fuel and a passenger, but I only have 26" tall tires for the street. This winter when I tear into it hard core I'll be installing 28" tires all the way around, so next year shouldn't be a problem.