I got the header loose on the passenger side. This is my first time working with long tube headers on a car. I had an old 76 Bronco once that had long tubes on it. It was a completely different engine compartment. It had tons of room under the hood, so it was easy to work on.
When I got the header loose it was easy to see that the gasket was an old paper one that was crumbling. I was able to get one large chunk out, but I still have a little left to get out near the back of the motor. I can only move the header at most .25" at the front and less toward the rear. I'm going to use a piece of metal banding material as a scraper and knock the rest of the old gasket out. I'm pretty sure that this is the reason I had the leak.
You can see in the pic that the openings in the gasket are slightly smaller than the openings in the header. I have
BBK long tubs, just for reference. I was going to get a set of copper gaskets, but the ones that LMR sold specifically said that they did not recommend them for use with BBK headers. I just went ahead and got the 1 5/8" gaskets manufactured by BBK. They appear to be a much more substantial gasket than what was on it. The old gaskets are Mr. Gasket brand. I see them being sold in all the parts stores. I'm just going to do the one side at this point. Once I get to the point where I can get into the shop and use the lift I'll tackle the other side. I have a feeling it will make things a bit easier. I know I can do it on the ground, but I need a list of thing to break the lift in with!
Long term I plan on changing out the entire exhaust system at some point. If I don't make major changes to the motor I'll probably go back with a quality shorty header. Definitely going to put cats back on it to cut down on the gas smell if for nothing else.
I've read in a couple of places that you need the smog system in place if you are utilizing cats. How true is that? I would think they would work OK, but might clog up prematurely due to no smog equipment.
Also, the AC orifice tube is sandwiched between the inner finder and the #1 header tube. This cant be good. Currently the system is new, but not charged and working, so it hasn't been an issue. I was thinking about trying to bend the orifice tube so that it will run above the header. I could maybe get a fastener that I could use to mount the tube higher up on the finder. Let me know what you guys would recommend. I wouldn't be bending the orifice portion of the tube. Just the area before and after it.