Header fitment rant, Doug's

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Ottmundr said:
LOL! I love your redneck jack and block of wood. I have always put the wood on the other end of the jack so I don't mess up all the old road grease that I've been collecting on the bottom of the engine/car.

:poke:
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LOL... you mean the jack that lifted the engine? I used wood between the oil pan and jack... don't need the jack pushing a dent in my oil pan.. and needed some height, that's why the block of wood underneath the jack... LOL
By the way, what's a redneck Jack? A jack bought at Harbor Freight? Arkansas hills??? or wood under the jack... LOL :D :D :D
 
I'm reinstalling a set of Doug's headers in my D/Dart. Just got the driver side in. I shimmed up the driver side 0.250" on one side of the mount and 0.188" on the other. Did this to get enough thread engagement. I have the passenger side shimmed up 0.250". The headers and Schumacher motor mounts are 1999 vintage. My complaint was the tight fit of the header bolts on #5 and #7 ports.

I'm going to try to force the steering column down where it goes through the firewall to get a little more clearance at the coupling. Hoping there is enough play in the slots.

Plan on working on the passenger side tomorrow. That is, as long as it's not too hot in the garage.
 
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yup those dougs should fit like OJ's glove, TIGHT. I installed mine in the car. They didn't fit with old worn motor mounts but after I loosened tranny mounts (rear) lifted engine about 2-3 inches I got them in from the bottom. Then the motor had to sit down on new solid moroso mounts to stay clear. FIXED. But then came the new borgeson power steering box, Ol number one header tube got some heat and a lil whack to clear the steering box. Headers did fit clear but tight with old power steering box though. I do have a 360 which I think may use slightly different motor brackets, but motor should be in same place I thought. Headers can be a head ache.
 
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MOA said:
At this point, this car just makes me laugh.

Absolutely nothing has gone together without modifying it, nothing. ie, everything about this car is a pain in the ***. Hahahaha
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This is known as hotrodding ! Change one thing/ have to change 3 other things !
I ran dougs headers on a 67 hemi belvedere, they were hard to get on, but fit perfect. I run tti`s on my 505" 68 fastback w/ raised port heads and everything is close but clears everywhere . Bought them used and cut 1 and 3 tubes out , drove 1 7/8 ball thru them and re welded back in, to straighten them back out from the previous owner, do not know the exact part# even .
Gaurantee they wouldn`t fit w/ torsion bars tho !
 
MOA said:
How is it that they've been making these headers for years and still haven't revised them to not interfere with the steering?

A body with original 318.

I cut a 1/4" shim to lift up the drivers side, haven't installed it yet so I'm not sure if it will be enough.

Exhaust tube for #3 is a tight bend, why didn't they do the same on #5? It would of fixed this problem. May create a different problem, but I dont think so.

I'm getting tired of things not fitting properly, really frustrating! I'm a retired metal worker, I get my **** right, why can't they? I shouldn't have to be shimming anything on this.

Just a mild rant.....
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I had header clearance issues, shimming, bending, rattling the whole shoot'n match.
Replaced my old sagging motor mounts with a set of Mighty Mounts.
Job over, no more issues
 
RustyRatRod said:
But I have never seen a Chevy guy complain about a 99 dollar set of headers fitting in a 70 small block Camaro.
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I have!
laugh2-gif.gif
Well close. It was a full size Blazer with even more room!
He exchanged it for another set and that set fit.
Cyclone or Blackjack.
 
ddartdude said:
I'm reinstalling a set of Doug's headers in my D/Dart. Just got the driver side in. I shimmed up the driver side 0.250" on one side of the mount and 0.188" on the other. Did this to get enough thread engagement. I have the passenger side shimmed up 0.250". The headers and Schumacher motor mounts are 1999 vintage. My complaint was the tight fit of the header bolts on #5 and #7 ports.

I'm going to try to force the steering column down where it goes through the firewall to get a little more clearance at the coupling. Hoping there is enough play in the slots.

Plan on working on the passenger side tomorrow. That is, as long as it's not too hot in the garage.
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I'm pretty sure there's a couple versions of those headers. The earlier version has more sections. @CPDave knows.
 
MOA said:
I don't have a photo host or I would of been posting pics a long time ago.
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No photo host needed for FABO.
Cut and paste, drop and drag or load with with attachment button.
Even hotlinked photos are now saved on FABO
 
Thanks Mattax. Now, let's see....
 
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Alright, made into the 21st century.

Steering box is still hitting.

More shim.....

Oh, btw, I did title this thread "rant". So some ranting is to be expected.
 
MOA said:
The frustration level is very high, I've got a lot of money tied up in this car, a lot of time, and I've not driven it one block. Going on five years, I'm not wealthy.
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Mine was in the bodyshop for two winters while I kept bringing $1000 dollar bills, as I was able. Then chassis for the third winter, finally the engine.
I ain't wealthy either, but I suspect my frustration tolerance might be higher. Or was, at that time,lol. That was 20 years ago, and the body is now returning to it's former pitiful state.
 
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Cutting out another shim.... This time 3/8ths plate. I don't think I'm going to get this done without denting the headers. Bummer.
 
Hitting here And where the sharpie marks are.
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Those are the factory installed mounts. The engine doesn't sit on the mounts like I would expect, but, I'm getting used to nothing being as I think it should be.
 
Something doesn't look quite right with that dr side mount. Are you using the proper bolts to bolt it to the block? If the bolts are too small, the mount wont place the engine in the correct spot
 
Bolts are snug in the holes, not a lot of movement.

I think I have them on the correct sides, but I've been wrong before.
 
Time to step back from this, I must be doing something wrong.

If the motor mounts are on the wrong side, well, that would certainly be a problem.

I'm pretty sure it's right, they are the original mounts, it's the original engine, original k frame some additional welds, not enough to warp it. I'm a retired tin knocker, spent most of my career welding, it didn't warp.

What could I have put together wrong?

It's not that complicated.... Hmmm
 
replicaracer43 said:
Something doesn't look quite right with that dr side mount. Are you using the proper bolts to bolt it to the block? If the bolts are too small, the mount wont place the engine in the correct spot
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Yeah something doesn’t look right with that mount. I’m not sure what it is, it looks like it’s too far back. Maybe it just looks weird because the mount is sitting back from the edge of the polyloc.
 
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Did they send me the wrong poly loc isolator?

Drivers side mount has 3 mounting holes. Passenger side has 4.

Hole in mount is forward.
 
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