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Hi CO, I have a 65 f85 2 door post coupe with a 69-455 in it. The steering column was in
when I bought it but the motor was not attached to the frame mounts. Once in and mounted, the factory 1 piece steering shaft isn’t close to clearing the headers. My guess is 2-1.5” off (it’s in but binding on the header. Does anyone have experience fabricating or buying a shaft with knuckles to clear this? Just an FYI I do have the Jeep GC steering box in but dimensions are the same. This picture is a basic example of what I’m talking about.
A photo of your exact configuration instead of a Chevy picture would help. What brand and model number of headers? Are they designed for the 64-67 cars? The early A-body cars have a narrower chassis than do the 68-up cars. What motor mounts and frame pads?
A photo of your exact configuration instead of a Chevy picture would help. What brand and model number of headers? Are they designed for the 64-67 cars? The early A-body cars have a narrower chassis than do the 68-up cars. What motor mounts and frame pads?
Mounts and pads are correct thanks to the group. The headers are unmarked and came with the car so who knows. Best picture I can get of current shaft. Thinking I will cut the shaft and add in 2 steering universal joints.
Mounts and pads are correct thanks to the group. The headers are unmarked and came with the car so who knows. Best picture I can get of current shaft. Thinking I will cut the shaft and add in 2 steering universal joints.
Before I did that, I would ding the headers for clearance. Something is wrong in this setup. Either the engine setup is wrong or the headers don't fit properly.
Mounts and pads are correct thanks to the group. The headers are unmarked and came with the car so who knows. Best picture I can get of current shaft. Thinking I will cut the shaft and add in 2 steering universal joints.
Oh yeah, now I remember. Sadly, that sort of interference is not uncommon with many Oldsmobile headers. I'd also ding the header before mucking with the steering shaft. Are you sure the column is adjusted as far as possible to the left at the fasteners under the dash?
Oh yeah, now I remember. Sadly, that sort of interference is not uncommon with many Oldsmobile headers. I'd also ding the header before mucking with the steering shaft. Are you sure the column is adjusted as far as possible to the left at the fasteners under the dash?
A motor swap can’t really be “wrong” just not as easy. It is a 69 Oldsmobile 455 by the casting. Right now nothing is even holding the column in, that’s how off it is. And even inside the column the shaft is mashed all the way over to the L as your sitting in the driver’s seat. It would be quite a dent in that header to fix it.
added a few pictures. 2 observations: Have to make sure the frame pads and mounts are correct for each other and with a lot of these parts made off shore, including headers the quality and fit are somewhat inconsistent. Hope you have a mini starter or may think about getting one...
I still read some car magazines, like Hot Rod, Hemmings Muscle Machines etc. A while back they did a story on bashing headers and what it does to the HP output of the engine. They had an engine on the dyno with new headers, did a baseline max horsepower output. Then started denting the headers to see if it made a difference in the readings. Started with a small dent on the driver side where, like yours, many have steering shaft clearance issues. Made no difference at all. Then they progressed to bashing more places and more damage, bigger dents. All the while doing dyno pulls to compare. Ended up beating the he_ _ out of all the tubes. There was VERY little loss of power, none from the one tube denting and not much at all from bashing them all, some looked like major dents, like closed half way. Very interesting.
I said all that to say this, putting dent or dents in the tube on your header will only have an effect on the way they look and not affect the performance.
The blue 66 in my avatar has a 455. I used Thornton repro manifolds for 70 model year and have no problems at all.
I say do what you need to do and move on.
Last edited by 66luvr; October 20th, 2020 at 03:28 AM.
added a few pictures. 2 observations: Have to make sure the frame pads and mounts are correct for each other and with a lot of these parts made off shore, including headers the quality and fit are somewhat inconsistent.
His frame pads and motor mounts match, per the photos posted earlier. They are not correct for an early A-body, but that has no effect on engine location - they are correct for each other. The issue is the routing of pipes for the OP's particular brand of headers. Note that the pipe for the #3 cylinder comes out a lot farther on the OP's headers than on yours. Again, every single header manufacturer routes pipes differently. Comparing fitment of one brand to another is meaningless.
added a few pictures. 2 observations: Have to make sure the frame pads and mounts are correct for each other and with a lot of these parts made off shore, including headers the quality and fit are somewhat inconsistent. Hope you have a mini starter or may think about getting one...
hey robski, can you tell me a bit about your brake/booster set up? I have another thread about my issues with this and you might help. That booster looks smaller and closer to the firewall then mine. Right now I don’t have enough room for my master cylinder as it will hit the fender. Thanks!
hey robski, can you tell me a bit about your brake/booster set up? I have another thread about my issues with this and you might help. That booster looks smaller and closer to the firewall then mine. Right now I don’t have enough room for my master cylinder as it will hit the fender. Thanks!
First, I would suggest putting this info in your other brake booster thread and not in a header clearance thread, to avoid confusion. Second, from the photos you posted in the other thread, your M/C is NOT what's hitting the fender, it's the non-factory combo valve. Robski has a drum brake dual circuit M/C and what appears to be a dual diaphragm 8" booster aftermarket booster. Once again, the factory 9" booster clears fine. The dual diaphragm M/C bolted to that booster clears. The combo valve needs to be moved.
Here's a 1965 Cutlass with the stock booster and a dual circuit disc brake M/C. There are MILES between the M/C and the inner fender. Note that this installation does not use the aftermarket bracket for the combo valve to relocate it. I'm not sure this is the best way to do it, but it DOES demonstrate that there is not a clearance issue.
Joe, dual pusher fan's and the AC condenser is behind the rad next to the water pump pulley? I like that set up..Very LITTLE clearance with my dual puller fans and the water pump pulley.
Joe, dual pusher fan's and the AC condenser is behind the rad next to the water pump pulley? I like that set up..Very LITTLE clearance with my dual puller fans and the water pump pulley.
I just stole that photo from the web. I have no first-hand knowledge about that car. As for the dual fans, I have exactly that problem with my 62. There is precious little room between the pulley and the aluminum radiator I got for it, and the hood release mechanism in front of the radiator precludes pusher fans. The stock fixed four blade fan doesn't move a lot of air. Much as I dislike electric fans, there isn't room for a clutch fan, and the 13" tall radiator precludes a high flow mechanical fan anyway. I've got a pair of 12" Derale puller fans that pretty much cover the radiator core surface and I'm fabricating brackets now. The nose of the pulley and water pump JUST fits between the two fans. Had I not just replaced the water pump on that 215 with a pricey rebuilt, I likely would have tried to source a shorter pump from a later Buford, but that would also have required a custom pulley offset.
We could start another thread on this!. So far on the 64 with the 400E, I'm going to cut the 64 core support on both sides at the bottom and lengthen it about 3 inches and weld it back together, then would be similar to the overall dimensions of a 65 core support. Bought another 2 core aluminum rad from Engineered Cooling Products out of Illinois with 1 inch tubes that I'm going to have to " adjust" to clear the water pump pulley with the fans in their current position. It's about another 3/8 inch wider than the current one. So, with the AC condenser behind the rad and install pusher fans in front of the rad wondering if that will give me more room to play with? I'll start messing with it and see.
October 19th, 2020, 11:56 AM
