Modifying Stainless Header

CNC-Dude":3byfkaht said:

Your problem starts way before the collector. In the above pics, you have several inches of clearance between the frame and tubes before the collectors come together. If the primary tubes weren't bent out of the header flange so sharp, then the collector would have more clearance around the starter.

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I totally agree with that, the problem is the header is not made for a 250 (or a low mount starter 200, I would guess) I am going to use the stainless header but need to come up with a solution that is more elegant than what I subjected this header too :roll:

I will test a spacer and wedge under the header flange and see if that is the answer and then figure out how to make one if that works.

Thanks.

See Ya,
Mike

"Nice, I would hate to try and shove a set of long tube headers down in the space I have on my Comet."

I believe Hooker 6602 long tube Headers Application, was to fit 70's Maverick 250, the only 250 Application header AFAIH.

Don't completely rule out 6602's in 60's cars, they fit on my 1961 Comet with just minor issues.

.

Have Vun

powerband":394cfxz6 said:

Don't completely rule out 6602's in 60's cars, they fit on my 1961 Comet with just minor issues.

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If I had those on my Comet, the car would be mashing them into the ground when it was aired out

I made a spacer out of some masonite I had laying around, it is right around 7/16" thick.


Snugged the bolts up firm, it would sit out a bit more with two gaskets on there but I think I could still benefit if the spacer was 1/2" thick.


I bolted the A/C - Altenator bracket on there, certainly a York compressor won't fit but I could make an adapter for a Sanden compressor, I think there is a compact unit, if I am not mistaken, there is a conversion bracket for this but it looks like a piece of angle iron to me with some holes drilled in it.

A lot more room for the starter and still plenty of room on the frame side.


Pretty sure this is what I am going to do, the two downpipes that came with the header, I think I can use the shorter one made for the upper position on the lower pipe and only have to make/modify the upper one (or have it modified).

If I end up making my own spacer I will probably find some aluminum to cut it out of because I figure that would be the easiest thing for me to work on with the tools I have.

See Ya,
Mike

On that long of piece of AL. I would worry about expansion working on things to much...On my stainless turbo header flange, I am making them in 5 pieces of just the head flange size... Which should eliminate expansion issues...I am cheap and lazy, less work and material and plus, the new ''less is more''.

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" I am making them in 5 pieces of just the head flange size..."

great simple idea, maybe someone with access to a plasma cnc cutter setup?...





( wondering, are ports 1/2 and 5/6 same flange dimension just flipped ? )

drag-200stang":1v2nrvbo said:

I am making them in 5 pieces of just the head flange size

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That was my original plan, and then I thought maybe one piece would be better, but I think you have swayed me back to 5 pieces. Plus I think;

powerband":1v2nrvbo said:

( wondering, are ports 1/2 and 5/6 same flange dimension just flipped ? )

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I think all of them are the same except the center of course. I will confirm however.

One last thing I am going to do 3/4" thick spacers because I cut a second masonite spacer and stuck it in there and everything fits quite a bit better, I will post some picts later.

See Ya,
Mike

Ok like I said earlier I went ahead and stacked two masonite spacers in there to bring the total thickness up to 3/4"


Gave good spacing on both the frame and the starter. You could actually unbolt the starter without taking off the header.


I trimmed off the original upper downpipe and mocked it up on the lower pipe, looks like it was meant to be there, A little close to the bell housing but it doesn't touch and I may still trim the bell housing down right there to match the engine plate. The pipe just needs a little grinding on the end for some clearance and a band clamp added


I made these patterns for the spacers, yes the smaller one works on 1-2-5-6 by just flipping it over, it could be made out of 2"X3/4"X3 1/4" long bar stock. The larger one you would need a piece od 3.5"x3/4"X5" long bar stock.


I am going to try and order some aluminum and try and fabricate the spacers.

The only other thing I need to do is make a pattern for the other downpipe and see if someone can bend it out of the other pipe but may need to have the flange end cut off and re-welded closer to a 45. (it needs 3 bends in it approx. 45 degrees, I think I can make a pattern out of 1 1/2" PVC pipe fittings.

See Ya,
Mike

Someone here must be able to autocad the pattern. Will aluminum hold up to the heat without warping?

Georgia200":t1eaozt4 said:

Will aluminum hold up to the heat without warping?

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Well they make heads out of aluminum and it is going to be 3/4" thick, doing it in 5 pieces should mitigate a lot of warpage potential.

See Ya,
Mike

X2 plus Aluminum is a good insulator so the spacers may even help keep some heat soak out of the carb's.

One bad thing about the spacers is I have a set of Stage8 stainless locking header bolts I bought 20+ years ago and now won't be able to use

I guess they will go to the 170 one day when it finds something to go in.

See Ya,
Mike

or sell?
IDK
?

chad":f1nxckhn said:

or sell?
IDK
?

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They are so common of a size on the engine I might just lock something else down with them

What do you guys think of studs for the header install instead of bolts, is there an issue using them? I thought it might be easier to stack the gaskets and spacers on there with studs sticking out instead of trying to thread bolts through the stack.

See Ya,
Mike

Georgia200":2b55q35f said:

Someone here must be able to autocad the pattern. Will aluminum hold up to the heat without warping?

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I have header flange drawings in CAD somewhere. I'll look.

I have to say, I still think cutting and modifying the collector for angle or length and welding it back up is alot simpler and more straight fwd in the long run and in the short run.

Econoline":a0zoi1bh said:

I have to say, I still think cutting and modifying the collector for angle or length and welding it back up is alot simpler and more straight fwd in the long run and in the short run.

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You are probably right, but one of my goals is to have it so if I ever want to change something I can do it with minimal effort, so I could bolt a different header on made for a 200 a little easier if I wanted (even though I probably will never do that)

See Ya,
Mike

What sucks for us is that no one thinks about the 250.

A short single or dual header which is what everyone sells now can be made to fit a 200 or 250, but they only make it for the 200.

bubba22349":aa2cxuzl said:

X2 plus Aluminum is a good insulator so the spacers may even help keep some heat soak out of the carb's.

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Ummmmm.... No.

Aluminum is a very good CONDUCTER, not INSULATOR.... It transfers both electricity and heat very well...

That said, I think it will do the job well, and be a lot easier to fabricate at home for most people.

My $0.02

Georgia200":32hwmgkm said:

What sucks for us is that no one thinks about the 250.

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I think because they are less popular and shorter-lived than the 200 was, I know what you are saying though, these current headers would fit fine if they just added 3/4"-1" to the top tubes where they weld to the flange.

Sergeant82d":32hwmgkm said:

That said, I think it will do the job well, and be a lot easier to fabricate at home for most people.

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That is true for me, I think I could build them with steel but it would not be much fun cutting and machining it without anything but hand-held tools.

See Ya,
Mike

Ok I know you were all waiting to see these (maybe not) I made some spacers out of 3/4" aluminum.

I bought a chunk of aluminum 3/4"x6"x8" ($23 from Amazon, I know you can get cheaper), I laid everything out and drilled all the holes before I cut anything out.


Then I made my holes square, I know I have some bobbles but I was doing this all by hand, if I was to do it again they would be neater because I figured out how to do it as I went.


Finally I cut them to size and cleaned them up.


I used a stock gasket and cut it apart to put behind the spacers, I am going to change it out to the one that came with the header because the center port holes are too tall on the stock one, I think the other will make a better seal.


They look pretty good all things considered.


I used some 3 1/8" studs to mount them, only the top nut of cylinder 3 needs put on before the header is fully tightened down, probably a regular nut would go on instead of the long brass ones but I guess I will leave the brass, I also used anti-seize on the studs where they screw into the head.

I hope that helps someone who is doing a 250 header install (or a low mount starter 200), not the only way to do it but how I chose too.

See Ya,
Mike