Ok Guys , an Girls
Been a while from my last post i,ve just been enjoying my 66 Dynamic 88

I,ve done quite a few engine upgrades to her
and the other day I noticed the very slight exhaust Leak is getting a bit worse .
To cut a long story short , took her to the muffler shop after work today , and they have diagnosed after putting her on the lift that
the leak seems to be coming from the left side exhaust manifold gasket

The Guy who runs the shop is pretty trustworthy , I,ve used him before ,
says It would be $85 bucks to pull the manifold , and put a new gasket set in
but if the thing is pitted , it would need ground down , an that would cost an extra $50 bucks .
He seems to think there is no cracking i the maifold , but wont know for sure until its off
It sounds like a fair price to me ?

Anyway
I had a thought , after speaking to a Mopar Buddy,
He said why not just bite the bullit an stick a set off Headers on her ?
To be honest , I had never thought about it, and I really don,t know if they even make a set off headers for a 1966 Dynamic 88 425 ?

So , I thought I would ASK ?
I don,t know if it is even possible , but I would welcome some thoughts on the matter .

Some quick details on the Car

1966 Dynamic 88 , 425 , 4 door
I have changed the intake Manifold out to a Torker 455, added a 4 bbl AFB
custom fabed a Breather off a 70,s Corvette , to help it breath nice
nearly forgot, it has Duel Flowmasters (which sound great )

I love the thoughts off getting some more Grunt out off the already fantastic 425 , but I don't want to be Silly with it.
The car is a Nice Sleeper as it is , all the locals DON'T have a clue whats under the hood , an that,s the way i want to keep it
Oh , and the mopar buddy , wants to run his 72 Newport against me at our local drag strip just for a giggle

 

Nobody has a ready made set of headers for the 65-70 B/C bodies. The BIG problem is the "rear-steer" steering box. It is in the way big-time. They are repopping the "S-style" drivers side factory dual exhaust. They sell them on ebay for about $235. You use your existing pass-side manifold using a block-off plate for the cross-over pipe. Custom made headers would be very expensive. I have taken Toronado drivers-side exhaust headers cut near the rear flange, rotate 180 degrees and weld so it points down between the rear steering and firewall. Lota trouble but better flowing than the S-manifold. toroexhaustandshifter002.jpg

 

Oh Well
Bang goes that Idea,
guess i,ll just get the the muffler shop to do the repair ,
cant afford to start getting all custom on it.

It was just a thought anyway

 

One thing I did do last week,
My buddy turned me on to the fact that here in Ga , I could run an "Authentic Historic" Tag plate on the car.
I got one on fleabay in nice shape and we clear coated it to keep the Ga humidity from eating it to rust !
I took it to the Local Courthouse , and they registered it to my car , and it was FREE to register it
Now I have a nice 1966 Peach State (Red with White numerals) plate legally on my 66 Dynamic 88
All I have to do is keep the other tag plate (Hobby Antique plate) in the trunk in case a Cop who dont believe its legal wants to see it

 

I also assume , that there is no one who makes Block Huggers to fit the Car ?
Is it the Rear Steer box that causes all the issues ?

 

I realize this is a little older thread but....it sounds like the same problem on my 64 Starfire with the steering box in the way. Later on I'm considering building a bracket to install a rack and pinion steering. It would help get rid of the million turns to steer the dang thing and make room for headers. I've seen kits for Camaro's (Flaming River) and the like. Probably not easy, but I bet worth the effort.

 

Yes, it's the rear-steer arrangement that is the issue. It mounts the steering gearbox right next to the LH exhaust manifold. The S manifold has a flattened upward kink in it to clear the steering box.
The 73-74 Omega had the same rear-of-the-crossmember steering box position and Hooker makes headers for the small block Olds in that chassis. I have an old beat-up pair of them I'm eventually going to try in my 330 Delmont. They look like they might fit with a little work. I doubt very much they'd ever fit with a big block though.

I have seen a 63-64 big car with a rack & pinion conversion locally. Can't remember who's it was, but he said it took a bunch of fabrication to do. Also, a member on ROP had custom headers built for his 65 Jetstar I some years ago. They cost something like $1200 at the time.

 

Funny you should mention that. I ran across one of these Omegas in a local wrecking yard last year and it had the Hooker headers on it. Unfortunately, I was not excited about pulling them out.

The bottom line is that you can get headers for similar-year Impalas with rear steer, so that feature alone is no reason that headers won't fit. The reality is that there is not enough of a market for companies to develop and sell headers for the 65-70 B/C body Oldsmobiles.

 

Joe, you should have grabbed those Hookers. They are big money new (over $600) and usually take several months to get. If they're still there it might be worth the trouble to pull them.

Even though you're right about the economics of headers for big Oldsmobiles (or pretty much any Olds for that matter), don't forget that Chevy engines are narrow, which makes it much easier to fit header tubes in the chassis. Have you ever seen a SBC in a 65-70 B-body? It looks tiny in there.
The width of a big block Olds engine and low position of the exhaust ports is a real PITA for designing headers.