A-body Heddman headers install w/ B engine.

[flyboy01]

I got the headers this afternoon after arguing with Fedex all day, they said that they tried to deliver them yesterday at 6:40am, and that I was not home. I told them they need to take their heads out of their asses and think about what they were saying. 6:40am? WTF! I think it was a lazy driver that did not feel like delivering them and made that entry first thing that morning. Oh well, I got them late this afternoon.

I fit the headers to the car with the engine out and they seem to clear all the major parts, might need a few small dimples, but all looks good so far. I will try to get the block and trans fit in tomorrow with the mods made for the schumacher sb/bb spool mounts.

[68snewpy]

Flyboy,
I've been following this post for awhile hoping to use the same setup you are.  I'm putting a 383 in my 74 Duster and want to keep the power steering with the hedmans.  I'm surprised nobody has any info on this combo yet.  My fingers are crossed, good luck!

[flyboy01]

I test fit the headers in the car without the engine in it, they seem to clear everything, even the power steering, but I'm sure that they will need a few dimples here and there. I have my mockup 400 engine ready to go in it tomorrow to test fit everything, but I still need my manual steering box.










I also started cleaning up the engine bay, I stripped out everything. I first sprayed down everything with Gunk, scrubbed for a while to try to clean off all the years, I dod not have any scrob brushes, so I hosed everything down with oven cleaner and I am going to continue cleaning tomorrow.

[flyboy01]

I spent the weekend cleaning things up. Its amazing how stubborn 40 years of power steering fluid and dirt can be. I finally got it scrubbed up, I used engine cleaner, oven cleaner, Purple Power, Brakleen, and a bucket of hot soapy water and a scotchbrite pad (worked best).












I cut down the driver's side spool mount to work with the Schumaker mounts and re-drilled the holes. Hopefully I can get the engine test fit in this week.

[mopar_eric]

Lookin good dude..

Pull your steering column it'll make life a LOT easier :-P

[flyboy01]

Um....What collumn? (look at the pics again) 

[mopar_eric]

Thats what I get for opening my mouth first thing in the AM ....

Looks good dude!

[flyboy01]

I was totally amazed athow much splatter and slag there was from the welding on the K-member, I kept trying to scrub off the stuff, then I realized what it was. The welds look real strong, and there was no rust anywhere except for the surface rust. The fenders look rust, but it really is just light surface rust with hardly and pitting.As soon as I get the engine in, I will get the headers fit in, then yank it all and start sanding. It should only take a day for that.

[qkcuda]

Things will be a lot easier if you pull out the torsion bars, install the headers, and then try and slide the torsion bars back in to check where you need to ding the drivers side tubes.  You are lucky, with the late model steering linkage you shouldn't have any clearance issues there.

[damopars]

Looks good, hope you get those headers in with out 
I had no luck with them on my car. Maybe if you go in from under the car.

[flyboy01]

I think the reason they do seem to have the clearance is that the car has a 73+ K frame. I have heard about fit issues and that these tend to be in early K-frame cars, and the late steering linkage seems to clear everything with an abundant amount of room. As a matter of fact, I think there is enough room under there for a huge sump. I will know for sure in a few days how they fit. Honestly, it is so easy to pull and engine, I don't know why people try to install headers with the engine it. It took 2 people about 30 min to pull the engine and trans as one unit.

[kzinge1]

Good luck with the Heddman's. I couldn't make them work. Too much dimpling (or should I saw crushing) of the pipes around the steering box and the column. I would have ended up with two pipes that were less than 1 1/2". Passenger side was a great fit though.

[68_Val_Sedan]

Looking good Fly ... I'm always amazed at how many runs there are in a factory engine bay ... keep the pics flowing

[flyboy01]

OMG yes! Drip and runs galore! I scraped off all the seam sealer that was dripped all over, it could fill up a quart cup. There is one run that if you measured the edge along the drip, it would be 2 feet long!

Overall, there are no rust holes anywhere, there are only a few extra screw holes (maybe 6) and one dent in the pass inner that looks like someone threw a 1/2 ratchet at the car (I could understand  ). I am  not going to go nuts filling holes and patching screw holes, I will probably weld up 6 holes, knock out the small dent, and thats it. Just primer and paint.

[68snewpy]

If it's not too much of a PITA could you try mocking up the power steering box when you test fit the engine.  I need to order some headers and I'm caught between the Hedmans and Schumachers. 

[flyboy01]

I am curious myself, so I will try it. One condition, you need to come over and clean all the grime off my PS box, I just cleaned the K-member. 

[qkcuda]

Not wanting to burst your bubble, but the headers snake around the standard steering box like they were made for it, but with only fractions of an inch of clearance.  I don't think there is a hope with the power steering box.

[CARR68]

Great work with your project and keeping other members totally updated. I am also at the point where will  it be Schumakers, TTI, or give the Hedman's  a try.

[68snewpy]

I am curious myself, so I will try it. One condition, you need to come over and clean all the grime off my PS box, I just cleaned the K-member. 

No problem but I'll be awhile getting there from Canada.

Not wanting to burst your bubble, but the headers snake around the standard steering box like they were made for it, but with only fractions of an inch of clearance. I don't think there is a hope with the power steering box.

From this pic, it kinda looks like the extra length of the PS box will be OK.  In fact the coupler might be far enough up the shaft that clearance may be improved at that point. 

Just hanging onto my false optimism.

[nightrider]

Sorry I haven't gotten the pics... damn charger is lost for my camera... BAH!

I am using your picture to highlight the dings... the red are must dings for the steering box(manual) and coupler, the bottom one is for the drivers side torsion bar.

Then blue circles are where you might possible have to ding to clear the cotter pin for the centerlink and the lil bung on the ministarter. The passenger side should not require any.... maybe a lil ding for the centerlink there as well...

[nightrider]

Oh yeah, the steering box actually clears without dings on the #3 cylinder pipe, but it still has to be dinged to compensate for engine torsion when throttling... unless you are using solid mounts... i gave mine 1/4" clearances in the red spots just to make sure they wont rattle when i giv'er the juice! Those red circles are about the size of the 'dings' you'll need to make too....

[flyboy01]

Whats the ding on the floor for? I was hoping I could leave the garage floor unmodified.

[bigtimeauto]

Whats the ding on the floor for? I was hoping I could leave the garage floor unmodified.

Good eye's! I'll bet that's where you put the wheel on the engine stand so it doesn't move.

[nightrider]

Whats the ding on the floor for? I was hoping I could leave the garage floor unmodified.

Thats so my beer won't tip over  

[flyboy01]

What I did Easter Sunday!

Sorta reminds you of Superman with these colors. The first step was just trying to get this thing in all by myself. It was a handful.




First test fitting of the headers on the drivers side, I will have to make a dent for the torsion bar and it looks like the starter to clear. I used a yellow metal marking crayon to mark the headers.




This tube cleared the firewall with plenty of room.


I made the first clearance for the torsion bar, not enough, gotta do it some more.


I made a dent to clear the starter, but after clearancing the torsion bar, the header shifter position a little and this one ended up not being needed, guess it will keep the starter a little cooler.


Need to clearance it a little more, a piece of paper gets hung up in here.


The firewall clearance did not change


Passenger side cleared the torsion bar fine, I might put a light ding in here to get a little extra clearance.


Good clearance to the right fender, no problems at all.


This one is a little bit more of an issue, The idler arm hits on both tubes, I am going to raise the engine slightly on this side and ding both tubes.



Another view under the pass side header, good clearance to the fender. The number 6 tube hits the back endge of the block and the trans pan rail, I need to clearance both those areas so I can be sure the header is in the right place and I dont have any header leaks.


Another thing I checked, the brake booster clears everything easily, even the valve cover with the clain under it. I will stay with power brakes now.


I still need the Manual steering box and I need to install the collumn to check the rest of the clearances. I am considering cutting the #3 tube and rewelding it for torsion bar clearance. Can you mig weld tubes or do you have to tig weld them?

[nightrider]

Great job! Pretty much where I said the dings need to be made... although the only difference is that you are using an old style starter instead of a mini-starter...

BTW you never took a shot of where you had to ding the floor? :p 

[flyboy01]

I tried to do it with my head, but the floor won. 

[kzinge1]

Make sure you slide that steering column in to clearance the pipes around it. That's where I had the most trouble. Looks good so far though.
Good Luck.

[mopar_eric]

Pretty sure mig is the way to go there. If you have a tig it may be better but I would think it'd be alot harder.

Looks like mine.... cept mine are on their second repainting :-) I have a few spots that could use a bit more clearance but hey they're in the car so I'm fine to let them clearance themselves while I 

[jamesdart]

mig will be fine. some times you can get away with cutting a ring out of a tube and closing it up with a ratchet strap and rewelding it, an alternative to dings.