Progress Thread So check this out (exhaust problem) and progress on the 89

Noobz347 · Apr 13, 2013

Edit: So I'm turning this into a progress thread for the 89. Hopefully, life doesn't get in the way of doing regular updates.

Would like to know if anyone has run into something like this before:

I usually run OEM style headers (shorties) but decided to go with a set of long tubes for one of my play projects. It's an 89 LX.

The entire exhaust is MAX from headers to dumps. The mid-pipe is an X with no cats (with an air pump tube, go figure).

Anyway, the long tubes went on well and appear to fit very well. They look like they surround the motor and thread the needle of other peripherals like they're supposed to.

Here's the problem:

The mid-pipe opening are approximately 14 inches apart while the collectors from the LTs are approximately 16.5 inches apart.

This may be a usual problem that I'm not familiar with. If you've run into this before, let me know what you did to fix it. I'd considered spreading the openings in the mid-pipe but I think this would screw up the angles going into the collectors.

Is this typical? Will bending and brute force solve the problem or is cutting/welding the answer?

Thanks!

CarMichael Angelo · Apr 13, 2013

Seems like too much of a difference to try and force the fit of the other component. If Mike was doing it,...he'd just cut, section, and add the requisite pipe length to the mid pipe to get it to match.

But then that would require you to be me, so........I got nothing.

Noobz347 · Apr 13, 2013

madmike1157 said:
Seems like too much of a difference to try and force the fit of the other component. If Mike was doing it,...he'd just cut, section, and add the requisite pipe length to the mid pipe to get it to match.

But then that would require you to be me, so........I got nothing.

Well... you just confirmed what I thought was necessary. Just wanted to make sure that this wasn't a common one those "just beat the crap out of it and give the hardware an extra cinch" scenarios.

Thanks Mike.

madspeed · Apr 13, 2013

use your brute force

ratio411 · Apr 13, 2013

I have something similar going on.
I am putting together a long tube exhaust using parts I got from the swap meet for super cheap.

Anyway, the x pipe is for a shorty setup, and I am cutting the down tubes off, which will leave the mid pipe a hair narrower than the header collectors.

I found these from Jegs...
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/31906/10002/-1

I am going to attach these to the header collectors and get rid of the old style 3 bolt flanges.
This will take care of the slight offset and angle differences for me.

Just a thought.

Noobz347 · Apr 13, 2013

ratio411 said:
I have something similar going on.
I am putting together a long tube exhaust using parts I got from the swap meet for super cheap.

Anyway, the x pipe is for a shorty setup, and I am cutting the down tubes off, which will leave the mid pipe a hair narrower than the header collectors.

I found these from Jegs...
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/31906/10002/-1

I am going to attach these to the header collectors and get rid of the old style 3 bolt flanges.
This will take care of the slight offset and angle differences for me.

Just a thought.

It looks like this stuff was all meant to go together but it's "off". I don't have the tools here to work it so I think I'm going to look for a muffler shop to fab it up for me.

Gearbanger 101 · Apr 13, 2013

Sorry if I missed it, but are the headers and X-pipe made by the same company? Mixing and matching is what gets ya. I'm gonna run into my own problems. Bought a set of BBK LT's for my car and was about to by the matching H-pipe, but came across a smoking deal on a used one, that looks like a Mac. Hey, for the $35 I paid for it, I can afford to go a little custom, right?

Noobz347 · Apr 13, 2013

Gearbanger 101 said:
Sorry if I missed it, but are the headers and X-pipe made by the same company? Mixing and matching is what gets ya. I'm gonna run into my own problems. Bought a set of BBK LT's for my car and was about to by the matching H-pipe, but came across a smoking deal on a used one, that looks like a Mac. Hey, for the $35 I paid for it, I can afford to go a little custom, right?

Yeah... the whole thing is MAC

NIKwoaC · Apr 13, 2013

Dumb question, but what heads are you running?

mikestang63 · Apr 13, 2013

Are these parts new? Sounds like maybe the headers are for an AOD but the mid pipe is for a stick? Or if used wondering if somebody massaged the headers to fit on the prior application and bent the collectors out some? what are the P/N on the headers and mid pipe.

Can you bend out the mid pipe enough to mate up to the collectors?

Gearbanger 101 · Apr 13, 2013

Noobz347 said:
Yeah... the whole thing is MAC

Want some advice....get yourself some good header gaskets, coat them on both sides with high heat copper RTV, and spend some money on a set of Stage 8 locking header bolts. They're a little pricey, but that's the only way to keep MAC headers from leaking. Their flange design is garbage!!!

Noobz347 · Apr 13, 2013

Gearbanger 101 said:
Want some advice....get yourself some good header gaskets, coat them on both sides with high heat copper RTV, and spend some money on a set of Stage 8 locking header bolts. They're a little pricey, but that's the only way to keep MAC headers from leaking. Their flange design is garbage!!!

A bit late for that now. I used a set of copper header gaskets and safety wired the bolts. No RTV though.

Noobz347 · Apr 13, 2013

NIKwoaC said:
Dumb question, but what heads are you running?

E7s

mikestang63 said:
Are these parts new? Sounds like maybe the headers are for an AOD but the mid pipe is for a stick? Or if used wondering if somebody massaged the headers to fit on the prior application and bent the collectors out some? what are the P/N on the headers and mid pipe.

Can you bend out the mid pipe enough to mate up to the collectors?

All the parts are new. They came with the project car that I bought.

Gearbanger 101 · Apr 13, 2013

Noobz347 said:
A bit late for that now. I used a set of copper header gaskets and safety wired the bolts. No RTV though.

That should work. I bought the MAC copper gaskets for my BBK's. Gonna have to do a little grinding on the inside of the gasket, as they don't match perfectly to the ports of my GT40X's, but they should do the trick. The safety wire it just a poor mans method of locking the header bolts in place anyway, so I'm sure they'll be fine.

Noobz347 said:
E7s

That's a lot of work to go through for a set of crappy old E7's, don't you think? I take it you have future plans to upgrade the heads later on?

Noobz347 · Apr 13, 2013

Gearbanger 101 said:
That should work. I bought the MAC copper gaskets for my BBK's. Gonna have to do a little grinding on the inside of the gasket, as they don't match perfectly to the ports of my GT40X's, but they should do the trick. The safety wire it just a poor mans method of locking the header bolts in place anyway, so I'm sure they'll be fine.

That's a lot of work to go through for a set of crappy old E7's, don't you think? I take it you have future plans to upgrade the heads later on?

Well it went like this...

The dude that owned the car rebuilt the motor and bored/stroked it (so he says) to 347 using all Ford parts (V6 rods and a combination of whatever else). Anyway, when I bought it, it was all in pieces. So I put it all back together and fired it up. There were a set of Elcheapo chinese heads and rockers that came with it but I didn't want to use them. So I slapped the E7s back on with an Edelbrock intake and am using the exhaust system that came with the car.

The headers weren't all that hard to install. The hardest part was figuring out the belt drive. I ended up going with a positive rotation water pump with the accessories that are on the car. Pretty much just an alternator.

So I'm not looking to dump a ton of money into it. Not 100% sure if I'm going to keep it or not. Using as many of the parts as I can that it came with.

mikestang63 · Apr 13, 2013

Gearbanger 101 said:
Want some advice....get yourself some good header gaskets, coat them on both sides with high heat copper RTV, and spend some money on a set of Stage 8 locking header bolts. They're a little pricey, but that's the only way to keep MAC headers from leaking. Their flange design is garbage!!!

stage 8's work but are a PITA to install. I've used allen head screws with lock washers for 30 years and never had a header bolt back out on me.

mikestang63 · Apr 13, 2013

Noobz347 said:
Well it went like this...

The dude that owned the car rebuilt the motor and bored/stroked it (so he says) to 347 using all Ford parts (V6 rods and a combination of whatever else). Anyway, when I bought it, it was all in pieces. So I put it all back together and fired it up. There were a set of Elcheapo chinese heads and rockers that came with it but I didn't want to use them. So I slapped the E7s back on with an Edelbrock intake and am using the exhaust system that came with the car.

The headers weren't all that hard to install. The hardest part was figuring out the belt drive. I ended up going with a positive rotation water pump with the accessories that are on the car. Pretty much just an alternator.

So I'm not looking to dump a ton of money into it. Not 100% sure if I'm going to keep it or not. Using as many of the parts as I can that it came with.

damn that sucks.. those e7's are choking that motor but I guess if he slapped it together with whatever he had laying around in the garage, it will do. I'm sure you know how to check the cylinder volume to see if it is a 347 or not if that matters to you.

Noobz347 · Apr 13, 2013

mikestang63 said:
damn that sucks.. those e7's are choking that motor but I guess if he slapped it together with whatever he had laying around in the garage, it will do. I'm sure you know how to check the cylinder volume to see if it is a 347 or not if that matters to you.

At this point, I'm not very concerned. I just want it to run. If I end up keeping it then I'll want to know volume and compression. I'll likely get larger heads for my car and put my AFR 185s on this car.

I'm considering keeping the thing and building it for my daughter. Nothing too radical... Just a very stout, N/A mill with good street manners.

I bought this thing because it has some really nice mods on it already. MM K-member, A-Arms, and front coil-over along with a set of Steeda CC plates. I got an intercooled V1 S-trim with it (that I will likely not use) and a couple of other things here and there. Currently, it's got a spool, 4:10s, and a beefy set of LCA's from a company who's name I can't recall.

I bought it because the body and frame are perfect... Even original paint. The paint could use a little work but there's no cancer anywhere on this car.

Oh... I also like the Steeda wing.

I've sold a lot of the extra parts this thing came with already and have kept the things that I think I'll use. All-in-all I have about $2k into this car total. The roller alone is nearly worth that.

5.0Droptop · Apr 13, 2013

maybe it is a 351 and not a 302........ wider block......

Noobz347 · Apr 13, 2013

5.0Droptop said:
maybe it is a 351 and not a 302........ wider block......

Nope

Progress Thread So check this out (exhaust problem) and progress on the 89

Noobz347

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