Tri-Y touching

1fstpony said:

I have a 66 fastback that I have put a 302 in and my pass. side header just barely touches the shock tower.I have TCP motor mounts in the car also.I was wondering what I should try,I was thinking on shiming the motor mounts just a little.Does any one have any other ideas or sugestions.Thanks

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Shiming the motor mounts will normally give you more clearance with the shock towers. Possible problem with this method is that the air cleaner could hit the hood if you have an extreme high rise intake manifold. Another possible problem, although unlikely with most headers, is that the collector could hit the floorpan's front support.

In the past I avoided massaging the shock towers but recently decided that it was a better option than flattening a header tube. I know that everyone has there opinion on hammering on their car for clearance, but the shock towers, especially the 2 outer areas that bulge, will reshape easily. This mod can easily be reversed with a little light hammering from the wheelwell. It was much easier to do than I envisioned and is not as noticeable as a dinged header.

The only remaining thing you can do is massage the header a little.

do you have a shock tower brace? Headers touching the shock towers is usually due to shock tower sag. the sag can be reversed a bit with the installation of a shock tower brace.

haha that problem is cake to what i wen tthrough. for those who was here a long time ago, mine was being hit by the pitman arm. i could NOT turn left. my motor ended up being shimmed like 3/4 of an inch and my headers on that side was torched and bent.

so shim it, or if that dont work, torch it

I don't like the old '65 mounts, just not enough clearance and the engine sits too low. I gained about 1 1/4 inches in engine height by switching to the '66 motor mounts, they are sometimes called the "tall" mounts. Had to reposition my fan shroud afterwards but now have plenty of room for headers.
My old mounts were shimmed 1/2 inch and would "creep" to the passengers side, the washers were sliding on each other.
MikeR