Screwup after screwup... what to do?

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MopaR&D

MopaR&D

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I'm frantically trying to get my Duster back together as quickly as possible before school starts next week and I keep running into issues. I swapped the 318 for a built 360 and hit a snag with the exhaust manifolds. I got a big-outlet Dakota manifold for the right side and an old '68-70 340 manifold for the left. I thought I got a good deal because the 340 piece was brazed up at some point to fix a crack on the outlet neck. Well as I went to bolt it up the extra material hit the head and prevented it from seating. I spent hours grinding away material till it fit, only to find I broke through to the crack:banghead::banghead::banghead::violent1::violent1::violent1:. I made the mistake of putting a thin layer of JB-Weld over the crack because I thought it might hold together temporarily but just read that it will most likely boil/burn off and make a mess.:tard:

Here's the problem... I need a fix that will let the car drive on the highway to where I live an hour away. Looking on eBay there's a '72-74 manifold for $200 but I really don't feel like spending that much unless there's no reasonably effective 'band-aid'; any of you guys know of another place to find manifolds? I found a high-temp alternative to JB called "Thermosteel", anybody used this before? Once I get it up there I will bring it into the lab on campus and see if it can be welded or at worst case get some headers.
 
well cheap summit headers are like 150 or so but i have no idea if they fit...
 
depending on the size and location of the crack, you may be able to use the manifold to get home. A crack may leak a bit but it may not be a huge deal and at least get you home so you can figure out what you want to do as a permanent solution.
 
Won't the Dakota manifolds work on both sides? Regardless, why not use the old 318 manifold until you find another suitable manifold? You'll lose some power, but it's not going to hurt anything and it'll get you on the road now.
 
Summit headers are 119 bucks. Buy some and quit screwin up. lol
 
Well, now you know why it was such a good deal...
I agree with "drive it cracked" until you can get a suitable replacement. Or, just use the 318 left side for now. You need it to run. You don't need it race ready. I'll also second the cheapie headers for a longer term solution.
 
Find a good welder and have it welded up. Call around and get someone who knows how to weld cast iron. Should be good to go.
 
those cheapy junky *** A body headers are the way to for a good fix.mine dont scrape,they dont burn wires,they dont leak and the paint has yet to burn off. they can be somewhat of a b*tch to get on ,but they were worth the hassle (at least for me).drive it with the cracked manifold until you get situated.it wont hurt anything.
 
I'm frantically trying to get my Duster back together as quickly as possible
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sounds like your biggest problem right there. can't rush this stuff or you run into problems like your having..

and i agree. run the 318 manifold or a cheapie header for now..
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
I'm frantically trying to get my Duster back together as quickly as possible before school starts next week and I keep running into issues.

LOL I like your animations. I feel the frustration. I highly recommend you dont go with any cheap headers if your in a hurry and dont want any more issues. The drivers side header is a nightmare to install. You'll be in for a lot more :banghead:

I put them on my car last summer, with engine and tranny out of the car, and it took 2 days of knuckle busting, swearing, bending, removing parts - suspension. I will never buy them again. Next time I will get Doug's headers. They are expensive but I hear they actually fit
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73AbodEE said:
those cheapy junky *** A body headers are the way to for a good fix.mine dont scrape,they dont burn wires,they dont leak and the paint has yet to burn off.
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Same thing here!
I do admit they can be a challenge getting on. Getting those old manifolds off was a PITA for me, much easier to get to the header bolts IMHO.


I don't know what your budget is but there is a set of shorty headers that work. would be easier to put on than the full headers as you don't need to take the drag link off.

Here is a link to those:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HED-78500/

Here is some info on them as well as pictures:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=117019

and here is a link straight to some good pictures showing exhaust routing on page 5:
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showpost.php?p=1437563&postcount=121

If you can't afford those or don't have the time go find a welder locally cant be too much to get it fixed.
 
Thank you SO much guys... The crack is on the neck facing towards the cylinder head. I will just run it as-is for now and see how it goes. I feel like it won't be able to be welded for the same reason I had to grind it down before, the extra material will hit the head and keep the manifold from seating properly on the flange.

I was considering getting a set of cheapo headers but I don't have any experience with them and I figured they would be more of a pain to install. I'll probably do that after I move the car up to Denver and find a place to store and work on it.

EDIT: SirDan I didn't read through the whole thread on those shorty headers but it doesn't look like they'll fit with power steering which is what I have... what ones do you guys know will fit with PS?
 
Why not unbolt the manifold and trade a friend a case of beer to weld it up?

Cast Iron can be a bit of a PITA to weld, but if it's done right, you're only out a cheap case of booze (what, $12? or so for a 24 pack) for a repaired manifold vs a set of headers.
 
and for the record,i put my junky long tube hooker headers on in less than two hours in the dirt with the motor in the car and a 20 dollar walmart floor jack.all you need is a 10 dollar pickle fork and a hammer.it was relatively easy from the bottom of the car. patience is your best friend. and if you remove the oil filter before you put the passenger side on and install a short PH43 after ,it makes things a little easier.
 
I just bought a pair of the uncoated shorty Hedmans, I really like the way they fit in the pictures of jerry6's car in the link. I would already be ahead because these manifolds need the downpipes fab'd anyway and I'd save the price of getting them made a second time. I'll just bolt these on and use flex tubing so I can at least start the new engine and make sure it runs well before the headers arrive in a week. Thanks again guys if it wasn't for this site I would be dead in the water...
 
Loosen up the motor mounts on each side and jack the motor up about 4-6 inches. The drivers side header is harder than the passengers side. Separate the steering linkage on the drivers side and you should be good to go. A mini starter from a 90's era Dakota is always a great alternative to the larger stock starter. I ended up using two threaded studs instead of the bolts to hang the starter from. I found it was much easier to bolt the starter up.
 
dustermaniac said:
Loosen up the motor mounts on each side and jack the motor up about 4-6 inches. The drivers side header is harder than the passengers side. Separate the steering linkage on the drivers side and you should be good to go. A mini starter from a 90's era Dakota is always a great alternative to the larger stock starter. I ended up using two threaded studs instead of the bolts to hang the starter from. I found it was much easier to bolt the starter up.
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Good to know thanks... My bellhousing already has two studs for the starter. So I just have to disconnect the pitman arm from the steering box? And do the headers go in from above or below the car?
 
73AbodEE said:
and for the record,i put my junky long tube hooker headers on in less than two hours in the dirt with the motor in the car and a 20 dollar walmart floor jack.all you need is a 10 dollar pickle fork and a hammer.it was relatively easy from the bottom of the car. patience is your best friend. and if you remove the oil filter before you put the passenger side on and install a short PH43 after ,it makes things a little easier.
Click to expand...

I agree they are not that bad and use the short oil filter.
 
If you bought those headman shorties you should not need to disconnect any steering linkage. I went with the cheap long headers and that took me 3 very leisurely days, that is also including installing manual steering and fabbing an idler pulley for the engine. I think with the shorties it will be a piece of cake to get them on. down pipes could be a slight pain i suppose, but you can use jerry6's as reference.
 
I always used to think the real way to fix the ground dragging problem was to weld a set of caster wheels to the bottom of the K frame! Preferably "borrowed" off a large dumpster....
Once a long time ago (1983-84), I bought a set of used headers from a guy's trunk.. he'd had them on his 70 Duster. I took them home and took the steering apart on my 72 318 Duster and put them on.. and put the steering back together. Imagine my surprise when the steering didn't go through them!

And... you would have had to drag the frame rails on the ground to smash them. I have no idea what brand they were.. they had 1 5/8 tubes, and 2.5 inch collectors.. only bad thing about them. The other feature that was wierd about them was that they had a slip fit tube on the passenger side where they really didn't need help... makes me wonder if these weren't Casler's or one of the other defunct brands.

Now it just so happens that 20 years later a buddy gave me another set of these 2.5 inch collector headers.. with that same wierd right side tube.. and they are hanging on my garage wall. I think they are the same things. I'll venture out into the icebox and take some pics for you guys tomorrow.

These things were a vast improvement over the stock 318 manifolds.. using my street racing dyno of the time.. I picked up 3 car lengths worth of power over the stock manifolds and single exhaust the car came with.
The muffler shop put 2.5 inch pipes (maybe 2 1/4) with Firebird application resonators instead of mufflers.. loud as hell but it sure made power!

My buddy with the 78 Camaro LT.. that already had a bigger engine, a shift kit and several other "advantages" was pissed when I could stay even with him.. he no longer enjoyed the 3 length advantage! So he had to go get headers too.. and then I beat him by 2! Hello lean mixture... a shelled engine soon followed.. but I digress.


If it turned out these are the same things I used to have, maybe they could be used as a master. Not as good as set of TTI's or Dougs, but I bet they could be made for a lot less... and improved with a set of 3" collectors too..

Stay tuned.

Alan
 
You've come this far...work it out. Unless you have a thumping 360 your horsepower gain will be ABOUT 20 horsepower with a set of headers. Not to mention the low hanging tube that many a body guys ding or crush. It is such a problem that Summit now offers a drivers side only new header. Are you prepared to raise your torsion bars which will change the stance of your car to provide clearance? To minimize crunching the tube you could install a "skid plate".....
 
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