DIY Headers

So, why not just buy a commercial set, cut out the offending tube/s and reroute them. Hellava lot easier than try to cobble your own set.

 

Norman, have you considered searching for Mustang parts?

You may have good luck finding what you are looking for and may find that these parts will fit without major massaging.

 

Yeah but! Tweaking those ceramic coated parts damages the protecting coating on the inside as well. Premature ending. We've got extreme cold, roadsalt and lately hot, humid weather, so the muffler business up here is very well fed. I'd like to help their diet, and keep prices lower.

 

Under the hood, with AC is one tough piece of plumbing. Mustangs with an I6 and AC, have to give up the AC with the commerical pipes.

By staying with what the trade calls "Shorty headers" I can hook into a single exhaust system, and not need a different tranny crossmember. The old KISS principal. The government can KISS my retail sales tax amounts, as well as other parts.

 

So how much would those plates and cones and collectors cost, and if possible, their weight?

 

Wonder what it would take to get the 300 I6 in there.

mike

 

Have a look! One guy is actually doing it.
http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=71408

 

Negligible really, I am happy to donate these parts in good spirit just to keep the show on the road. I have already had a couple of forum members here go out of their way for me so I am just as happy to pay it forward! It would only be a matter of organising postage anywhere from Florida en-route to California.

No Mustang here either, our version of this engine was built at the Ford engine plant in Geelong just outside of Melbourne in Victoria, and was built to power our Aussie Falcons (yes the same ones that featured in Mad Max!) after Ford pulled the pin on the equivalent US model in the early 70's, but it did also power the odd British styled Cortina which was modified by Ford for Australian conditions to take this engine. A twin overhead cam version still powers the current Falcon today and is still made in Geelong until Ford pull all of their manufacturing out of Australia in 2016.

Cheers Mike

 

I built a set of headers for my '67 Mercury Commuter for the 429 swap. I'm an amateur (and it shows in places) but I was very pleased with how they turned out.

If you check out my build blog in my signature, I have a couple of pictures. I can give you a few pointers as a DIY'er if you are interested. Just let me know.

Good luck!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ff7QP_jL4_A/T942phGCKAI/AAAAAAAAAOE/f7aveYbkkak/s1600/P1010016.jpg

 

Very generous. I appreciate it. I'll Private Mail (PM) you my address, etc.

If you send it from Florida to Canada, the simplest way is via the US Postal Service, which will hand off the package to our Canada Post. They'll ask for a description and value for Duty Customs purposes when you go with the package. Put a fair value, but mark it as a personal gift. On my end, I might pay a few dollars or nothing, depending on the postal service agent, here in Canada.
http://about.usps.com/

The other advantage, is that I'll be able to track it, once you send me the tracking number, from Canada, or via the USPS Tracking Service:
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction!input.action

And from Canada's Tracking system:
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/default.jsf?LOCALE=en

The same can be done with packages To and From Mexico:
http://www.sepomex.gob.mx/ServiciosLinea/Paginas/cemsmexpost.aspx

My wife sends stuff to her family every Christmas, and on Birthdays (5 sisters, 3 brothers, and 12 nieces and nephews!) Never missed a package.

On one of our other Fox-body sites (Four-Eyed-Pride), there's a New Zealander fan, who knows more about our I6 Fox cars, than most of us do. I just found one of his posts with the kind of Header setup he's looking for. Its a 200 CID I6 in a 1980 Mustang. The Header is barely fastened, for the picture trial. He's also on the FordSix site:

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthr...e-2v-Classics-Inlines-80-Notch-Mustang-member




One of his posts at the Fordsix site:
http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=71331&p=547683&hilit=xctasy#p547683

Once again, thanks.:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

PM coming at you in a moment.

 

PM Sent

 

Dad always said to ask the man that built the Ark, and here you are! What a beautiful project, all except the missing ending. You gotta post how she runs on the street, and of course, her elegant finale, please...

Yeah! I sure could use some tips. I saw the comments about 'tuning' them up to fit in there, and the issues getting around the obstacles. At least I won't have any DS issues to deal with.

 

Thanks for the kind words. It's coming along, but slowly with the winter we have been facing up here.

The first and best advice I would give is approach them like the saying on how to eat an elephant: one bite at a time. I had them on and off the car numerous times testing the fit with most every piece, and it was a time consuming process. Approach it with patience.

As far as technical help, spend some time planning your header route. In my case I have 2" primaries, so I picked up a couple of the flexible aluminum heat riser tubes that were the same size as the pipe I was using, bent it to shape, and matched it up to the pre-bent pipe I purchased in the kit from Speedway Motors.

If I did them again, I would follow a tip I read to purchase solid swap meet headers with bends and slice them up to use to build your headers. Cheaper than buying the pre-bent pipe, and all mandrel bent.

Next, get a roll of aluminum duct tape and use it for mocking up pipes. Leave small gaps so you can tack up the pipe after you get it fit just right. This helped tons because I would hang the headers, bend my heat riser to fit, match it to existing pre-bent pipe, and then tape it in place. If I couldn't remove the header without bumping the pipe, I would mark it with a permanent marker in two places and the align the marks for the tack weld once I had it back out.

Once I had the first pipe almost complete, I set the collector up on a box under the car where I wanted it to sit when installed. Having a target to aim at made routing the pipes easier to work out.

Once I had all of the pipes to the collector, use a large hose clamp to draw them in tight for taking them together.

Finally, to get a good seat where the pipes enter the collector, I cheated. I just tacked the collector in place and then cut it off a couple of inches down so I could weld everything up from the inside. MUCH easier that way, and when you're done, you just weld the collector back together. I decided early on that I would leave all of my welds proud rather than spend the time and effort grinding them flush. No mistaking them as home made, and lots of bragging rights go with it.

Best of luck with your header!

 

Thanks Paul. Looking forward to it. Our snow can stay until late May, but it usually gets gone by late March to mid April. I'll be getting parts in the meanwhile, and materials for my workshop.

 

Norm..... finish the house first, 900 projects on the go is enough before you start new ones. Forget the car and a new shop project, finish the pry-or-ee-tize.


I'm saying this as a friend Norm