...continued
flanges/ports:
Inside Ebay collector:
Inside DynoDons collector
Magnaflow muffler:
I got everything picked up off the driveway and brought the new components into the garage, where I turned on the heat and put on some tunes. I cut off the necked-down section of the header's collectors and I will true up the cut before I weld a V-band onto it. Then, I started with the passenger side header, and I predicted it would be easy, but I did not expect it to be that freakin easy. I probably didn't need to even take out the spark plugs, plug wires, or undo the other wiring, but I do think that I would have needed to remove the starter...which i had already done. This header slipped right in like a dream. I was laughing in astonishment as it was happening! Then I went to the drivers side, where I had also already removed the plugs and wires, oil pressure sensor, as well as the Walter-racecraft steering shaft. It went right in just as easy as the passenger side! The only cursing I was doing in my garage was to the tune of "holy s***, I can't f****** believe this is going this easy! Underneath, I was elated to find out that these headers truly do not hang all that low and at the bottom of them, they are still about 1" above the bottom of the oil pan. I only installed them with 3 header bolts per side, but they are snugged up and I used the old gaskets for now...knowing that I will be taking them out for welding. Oh, and the protective covering on them is Glad peel-n-stick kitchen wrap, just to prevent my hands or tools from scuffing them up. I will be putting a T-fitting for my oil pressure sending unit,and I am going to be adding a secondary oil pressure gauge to the car, up on the A-pillar in February. As for the oem steel transmission fluid lines, I have always fought with those and I am done. I am going to buy a few linear feet of 5/16" copper-nickel tubing and some fittings so that I can route the lines in a less obtrusive manner under the car. I will also be getting some DEI heat shielding to slip over the trans cooler lines too.
I had the headers in so quick that I just kept on moving and decided to mock-up the mufflex system too. I wanted to see where the "front" of the main pipe would be so that I could start to figure out the middle #2 section. The mufflex pipes are very big but I was super impressed by the fitment and placement of the bends. Looking under the car before installing them, I said, man this wont work. But once I put em in, I was like wow, this is niiiiiiiice. .
So that leads me to the complex project of what to do in the middle. I absorbed everyone's input on my exhaust thread on TGO, as well as other technical research I did across the internet, and I am hoping I can pull off my plan here. I am fully aware that this will require me either building a new transmission mount/crossmember and also notching out some portions of the oem frame to create pockets, and I am ok with doing that. I also will need to cut and redo parts of the S&W crossmember that holds the torque arm and doubles as a driveshaft safety loop. However, if I can do that properly, I think I can have a long 3" collector off of each header pipe and then bring this to a 3" y pipe with a cutout on each side. These dual 3" y-pipes can then join into a 4" flowmaster Y (part number Y300400) which can then meet up with the mufflex system. I did a rough 2-Dimensional sketch of this on cardboard.
Anyone have any thoughts on why this would NOT be a good idea, or if it is genuinely a pretty good way of building things, I would like to start ordering some parts tomorrow night. I would need a second DMH cutout, along with its corresponding Y-pipe ($199 total). The flowmaster 3"-4" Y pipe is like $60. I am considering some of that fiberglass heat-wrap on this whole Y-pipe section. I am fully aware that heat wrapping it can trap moisture and rust the pipes, but it might be beneficial to keep the heat inside the exhaust pipes instead of radiating out of the pipe's exterior and baking the transmission, underside of the cabin, and nearby lines/electronics. Thoughts? If I do decide on some heat wrapping, it might make sense for me to use some sections of my old hooker 3" exhaust system to use for straights, curves, and pie cuts when building each collector. I already have the pipes and it would save some money on buying new sections of 3" tubes to cutup and weld together.
So, that is where I am at for now. Got wayy more done today than I had planned on, so thats good, but I know I will have my hands full in the weeks ahead as I get the rest worked out.