Here's the thread about the work on the heads https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=164673 .

This is about the headers and intake manifold.

Here's why the headers needed work - the primary openings matched the gaskets (as-received on right).

 

First, add material to the outside of the flange (since I know many of you are craftsman at joining two metals using heat & filler metal, I won't refer to this as "welding").

 

This is how much material needs to be removed from the inside - and why material has to be added to the outside.

 

Oh, my - Where's the gasket going to seal????

 

Okay, add some material around the port, do a bunch of grinding and filing, we're getting closer.

I did a lot of grinding, filling holes, more grinding, more filling, etc. I won't bore you with all those steps.

 

Why not "welding?"

 

Wouldn't it be nice if the paint would stay looking like this?

In a few days, the intake manifold (I hope).

 

I didn't want to insult people who have earned the title "Welder".

 

Whatever fills your hole...

Damn. Those are some wicked-thin flanges. I hope it holds for you.

If you run into real trouble, I know there are some headers that will work, but I bet they're pricey. I was at a builder/machine shop a couple days back checking out an align bore. While he was on the phone I was examining a Merlin BBC build. I swear the exhaust ports were 2" tall and 3" long (ovals). He had headers to fit. Actually, they were just head tubes, about 30" long. I'm sure they can get more flanges and make up anything. Then again, you probably can, too.

If you really want to preserve the finish, once they are proven to work, you could have them coated.

 

I get it now.
Good luck with the headers.

 

Chevy High Performance mag has been doing a series on a 454 crate motor. For their dyno runs, they've been using a set of Hedman 1-3/4" headers, very similar to these. The main difference is right at the flanges - the flange opening is square, just like the head exhaust ports, but the primary tubes were expanded out to the flange shape prior to welding. Why didn't they do that to mine????

They've exhibited over 500 HP with those headers. I'm not in that territory yet, but with the matching, should be able to support a bunch more power than before.

My purpose in posting here is to caution those who are pursuing high performance mods to look very carefully at their headers. If/when the headers come off the Camaro, I'm going to go through the same process - because I know they aren't "right", either. That "If/when" will probably be when a 350/383 goes in...

I didn't show a picture of the #5 tube - it had to be "modified" to clear the steering gear. That "mod" is why I haven't pursued coating this set (although I've seen a '55 out here with a 427/4-speed in the 12's - at this altitude, driven to the track, with #3 and #5 smashed down more than mine). But, the choices for this engine/chassis combo are limited, the other one I've considered having 1-7/8" primaries. Until I get into higher power/RPM levels, those headers would probably hurt me. So, for now, I'll stick with paint and smaller tubes.

 

Which "thinness" were you referring to?

 

A shot installed again.

 

And finally got to the intake manifold.

Here's what they looked like compared to the gasket.

 

As I hogged out all that material, I kept asking myself, "Why did they leave them like this? Does Weiand know something I don't know about flow into the intake ports?"

Then I remembered the two most dreaded words in BBC performance - "peanut heads". Weiand has to make sure their manifold fits those guy's heads, too, so if I don't like it, I can fix it, right?

 

Okay, I'm not going to make any guys with Brodix heads & intakes jealous, but they aren't going to drive 400 miles one-way to their 30th high school reunion in their race car Memorial Day weekend, either.

Gotta love dual plane manifolds, huh?

 

Terrific work, Tim!

 

Mainly, the perimeter width, not the actualy thickness of the flange. As long as you can get a gasket in there to seal it up and not blow out, you should be good.

Nice job on the trimming and details. We're crossing our fingers, and hoping the seat back springs will survive the rework...

 

There's actually more sealing width there now than there was before, with the mis-match Hedman gave me.

Great, one more upgrade expense I didn't think about...

I learned a little about machining aluminum, and lost just a wee bit of respect for Standard Abrasives. They said to use their stone, but as I figured, that gummed up immediately. My carbide burr would do the same - I had seen something recently about using a single cut burr on aluminum, so I spent an hour looking for one of them. Still smeared full - spent as much time digging the cutter clean as I did making chips. I kept saying to myself, "How do machine shops keep their cutters clean?" How do machine shops keep their cutters... Cutters have what pouring over them? Cutting oil! After that first squirt of AMSOIL 5W30, never a smeared-up burr again - even the double cut. Duh...!

The surface the carbide burr left was just about right, so left them like that and didn't bother with the sand rolls.

 

Doing my heads was a real learning experience, too

But I am truly glad I did them myself. Now everytime my foot gets a little heavy, there is a VERY noticeable extra force sucking me back in the old bucket seat

 

Actually, most production machining is being done with dry ceramic cutters, air/vapor-blast on either ceramics, carbide, or HSS, or water soluble synthetic or oil coolant mixes at about 3-5% concentrations with either a flood or through-tool cooling and flushing. Mineral oil and animal fats are sometimes used on slow-rate machining or on dirty operations like castings, but aluminum and dry cut indexable ceramic tooling makes for a very fine surface finish and no tool loading. I'd be very wary of using ceramics in a hand-held grinder or something with a relatively uncontrolled feed rate, however. The ceramic inserts can break easily.

EDIT: I've skipped sanding rolls and use a shop roll in a fly-cut type spindle. Burrs do tend to produce a very nice finish, and I only sand the exhaust ports and runners, and maybe a little chamber cleanup around areas that aren't that accesible to a conical burr.

 

Actually Standard Abrasives says to use oil on aluminum just for that reason from there website::::

If you are working with aluminum heads or intake manifolds, regardless of the type of abrasive, use a more gentle touch than you would if you were working cast iron. Because aluminum is softer than iron, it abrades faster. If you use the same grinder pressure you would with iron, before you know it, you will have shaved off too much material. Additionally, under most conditions, the abrasive tool will "load- up" with caked on aluminum as you work. Spraying the tool frequently with a light lubricant, such as WD-40, reduces this problem.

ROTFLMAO....

 

The instructions that came with the new Deluxe porting kit I got a couple of months ago did not. I printed out their instructions from the website a couple of years ago, now I'll have to pull them out and see if that's what they said then.

 

Not laughing at you..laughing with you!

 

I managed to get it started up this afternoon. After fixing little things like a fuel line I didn't tighten after getting distracted, distributor one tooth off (twice), and plugs that didn't want to spark, took it out for a drive.

Now, I realize I haven't driven it for several months, but it definately felt GOOD! No problems with low-end (turned the tires easily on the one stalled take-off I did), really crisp throttle response, seemed to get to the 1-2 shift very quickly. Got some tuning to do still, seems a little lean with the jets I had in last fall.

A little header tick, can't really hear it inside the car, will see if it gets annoying enough to pull them off again. Paint hardly smoked at all, looks good after a half-dozen starts.

I don't think the seat back is in any danger, but will be nice to see what it does when Bandimere opens up. I missed the test & tunes (unless I play hookey Wednesday, and I'm sitting in for my on-vacation boss this week - that probably wouldn't look good), weather forecast doesn't look too favorable, either.

 

Sounds good...Im anxious to see your results....without looking up....what kind of paint did you use for your headers? Any special way you prepared them?

 

The paint is from Summit, DEI 1500 degree aluminum, I think it was called. I sandblasted and wiped with Acryliclean (laquer thinner) prior to painting. They wouldn't fit in the oven, so I spent about an hour per side with a couple of propane torches "curing" them.

 

I remember car craft said if you can install the headers without them getting scratched, you could bake them letting the engine idle for 10-15 minutes.

 

I dunno... they would likely still get too hot and burn it off before it cured. When I baked my headers, it was something like an hour at 450* or something (last winter, cant remember now). The headers would get way past that in no time on a running engine.

Your handiwork is pretty impressive Five7. Wanna do mine now?

 

Having this 16-month-old post come up again is encouraging in that it shows that Mr. Button is being used...

I oven baked the headers on the Camaro, but the y-pipe wouldn't fit in the oven. So, I did an "engine-cure" on the pipe. The paint is lasting much better on the headers. The BBC headers, with the propane torch cure, are doing okay.

Not sure how impressive the handiwork really is. There's a good amount of ticking going on under the hood, some day I need to pull them back off and re-do the flange sealing surfaces. The ideal would be to build up the welds and have the flanges milled. For now, though, the car runs right at the 13.00-sec minimum NHRA ET Sportsman dial-in limit at sea level, so I don't have a lot of incentive to make it any faster.

FWIW, in the interim, the seat backs have been replaced, too...

 

I had the exact same problem w/some headers I installed on my friends Jeep J-10 that I put a 401 in. The flange mating surface on the headers was a friggin joke. I fought w/them for ever (variety of gaskets, TONS of hight temp RTV, stacking gastkets etc) and there was just no way they were going to seal as un even as they were.

Out of utter frustration, I threw them in the vise, took the mig and went around and around and around the primary tube, building up a ~3/32 - 1/8" high spot. Then I took the 8" hand grinder and laid it onto the built-up flang, as flat as I could, and ground until it the grinder had hit all points (eliminating the high spots). Bolted them on and no more leaks. That was about 4 years ago, and they still don't leak. It's pathetic though, that they SELL HEADERS that are built that poorly. I'd never buy or deal w/Hedman again.

 

To reply to TA12sec ... yeah my auto shop teacher in high school told me i could do that. Only dont run the car for much longer then it takes to get to normal operating temp. Heh i did my header install during my english and math classes over a couple of days... Anyways 2 years down the road they're still black, no rust no bubbling...