'69 Firebird 350 -- heads only have 4 bolts for the exhaust manifolds!

[JohnG]

I bought this car not too long ago, it has a stock motor with exhaust manifolds. Would you believe -- this particular poncho is missing two bolt holes on each head !

The headers have 6 bolt holes per head. I did a little reading on this, and it seems that Pontiac 350's from '68 - '69 did indeed come like this from the factory.

I really don't want to swap them out for 400 heads, nor do I want to pull the heads to drill & tap new holes (both of those approaches break my budget at the moment), so I'm thinking of getting a real good set of Copper gaskets & do the install with the 4 bolt mounting.

Anyone have experience with this ? Part of me thinks that even with $40 gaskets, I will eventually get leaks...

[NJSPEEDER]

if you are using stock manifolds, don't worry about it. they made them that way and didn't have any leak problems.
if you are going with headers or anything with a thinner flange i would suggest getting good gaskets, use copper permatex on both sides of the gasket, and check the bolts to make sure they are tight after the first couple of heat cycles while everything is settling into place.
if you take the time to do it right you should be fine for a good long time

[68pont455]

spotts performance makes and sells brackets that bolt to the front and back of the heak and the header then bolts to them for the holes the heads dont have. www. spottsperformance.com. check it out. although i do agree that you should not have any problem sealing using good gaskets. i always wipe a thin coat of high temp silicone on each side of the gasket anyway to assure less chance of an exhaust leak.


nothing at all against the new gen firebirds and camaros but its nice to see there is still interest in the first gen ( and the best gen) firebirds.

[Knipps]

Originally Posted by 68pont455

nothing at all against the new gen firebirds and camaros but its nice to see there is still interest in the first gen ( and the best gen) firebirds.

it's not that we're not interested, we just can't afford them

[Teds89IROC]

Originally Posted by Knipps

it's not that we're not interested, we just can't afford them

[69BirdX]

Yea my 69 is the same way and what is sad is i didnt notice that when i bolted my headers up. Im sure i knew at the time i know that its fine with the stock manifolds but ill let you know about headers. Hopefully with a starter ill be crankin my motor over for the first time..............................if anyone wants to trade a 4th gen bird for my 1st im down haha
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VAPIR NO2

[68pont455]

i hear you about price. i bought mine in 1991 for next to nothing. could not afford another one today with a wife, house, 5 year old and a nasty racing habit that is sucking the life out of my bank account.

[NJSPEEDER]

Originally Posted by Knipps

it's not that we're not interested, we just can't afford them

amen to that. i have wanted a 69 bird forever

[JohnG]

hey guys, thank you for the feedback...

I got a very informative reply from Paul Spotts, which pretty much told me not to bother with the headers (even with considering their "L" brackets) for my otherwise stock 350 poncho.

I'm gonna see how this motor holds up. If it goes, I'm gonna commit Pontiac sacrilege & drop in a ZZ383. LOL !!

Weather permitting, I plan to bring this baby to the Edgewater Starbucks soon...

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/jg122/1.jpg

[1_Hot_SOM_WS6]

WOW!! Nice looking

[69BirdX]

Originally Posted by NJSPEEDER

amen to that. i have wanted a 69 bird forever

I bought mine for 1500 bucks..........the motor was in bad shape along with the rest of the car but almost all the body work was done with new fenders and floor. You can afford one it will just be like mine still sitting in a garage 3 years later with alteast 5 grand into it
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Ship Sale

[bad64chevelle]

Originally Posted by NJSPEEDER

amen to that. i have wanted a 69 bird forever

We know where there is a 4speed one in a junkyard....but technically we arent allowed to return

John, that bird is beautiful!