Macadoo

That'a awesome tata! A little grease-monkey family time never hurts.

Macadoo

If I were to do it again I'd start with aluminum heads and high(er) compression pistons. But I don't know much about 73's, could the crank handle it?
And I think the gold blocks only ran through '72.
Whatever you end up doing, have some fun with it

MDchanic

A '72 crank is the same as the other years - it would handle it fine.

'73 engines were gold.

I think the corporate blue started in '75 (there was a thread about this somewhere...).

Happy New Year!

- Eric

76olds

Thanks for the info MDchanic.. So it would be a '75 and up. I'm going to give him a call and see what the deal is with it. Either way I'm commited now I told him I would take it, I'll just have some fun with it and learn something.
Thanks MD

Macadoo

I got the headers de-painted today. That was a PITA. I used oven cleaner since I had some laying around. They're 99.9% clean. But those spots between the pipes, up by the collectors.......ugh, difficult.
But they're clean enough since I'm going to use stove black (maybe silver).

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76olds

Mac, is it expensive to have them ceramic coated down their ? I think they would look great under your hood, I bought mine already coated they were close to $800 but that was with U.S exchange, shipping, duty and taxes to get them here. I don't think the coating was that much extra. I heard that they won't discolor for years and the coating would keep some of the heat down.

Macadoo

The difference in the purchase price was around $175 I think. I've also read mixed reviews of the ceramic coating. So here's my thinking; Rustoleum makes a rattle-can and brush on version of their black stove paint. I'll spray them before installing and when they start to look worn, just brush on a new coat without having to remove them. Or, at least, that's "the plan". I've used stove black on, well....stoves, lol. Used to run a a barrel wood stove and the black was just a flat black, even after cooking that sucker [accidentally] until the steel was glowing red. And it still looked black after.
Have you tried fitting yours up to the block yet? I'm really wondering why these holes aren't lining up. As I said, it's not way off, but enough to put extra torque on the bolts.

76olds

I wont be putting mine on till spring, I guess if they are out I'll just use a dremel and grind a bit out. I think the remflex gaskets should seal them good either way . I use the stove black on my fire pit rim at the trailer and it last all summer its good stuff yes. I hope you can get your torque anuff not to leak down the road cuz that would be a pain in the a$$. Did you use remflex gaskets ?

Macadoo

Gaskets haven't come in yet. Shipping seems to be behind because of the holidays/weather. I'm heading out now to slightly dremel those holes and then paint. Supposed to be 18 below zero here tonight (NOT including wind chill ) so I want to get them painted while the shop is still above freezing.
FYI, I did have to bend the dipstick tube slightly (in two places) to get the header to fit but it wasn't difficult.

Macadoo

76, these are the holes I opened up a bit. The arrows point to the holes and the side of the holes which need opening.

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Macadoo

After painting. I bought both the rattle can and a quart for brushing on after they wear. They look pretty black but iirc they will lighten a bit after heating. I'll run a propane torch up inside the collector later today to cure the paint somewhat.

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76olds

Thanks for the info on the slots Mac, I will check mine out when I install mine this spring, are you doing anything special to your trans? The black looks !! You know I have the same crimp marks on my tubes you think they would have polished them out a bit for the price eh !! Mine are coated so they really stand out.

Macadoo

Lol, I think that's just a run in the paint

Not doing any work to the trans. Eventually I want a four speed so I can put in lower gears.

Here's a pic after heating with a torch. Doesn't look any different. I guess technologies have gotten better in the last 20 years. I spent about 20 minutes on the inside and about 5 lightly going over the outside to make sure the paint was really cured. I think it looks pretty good and a LOT cheaper than the ceramic coating.

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oldstata

Mac, I would put a new front pump seal while the motor is out at least I would maybe even drop the drive line and do the rear one as well

76olds

Were you trying to flame harden them lol !! They look awesome. I should have went that way and put the extra towards a tranny myself . I will just have to ask my wife for more allowance.

Macadoo

Meh, just be happy you sprung for the coating. I didn't because I was leaving hints for Christmas and I thought maybe $300 was do-able where $600, not so much.

When I took her for a test drive she was leaving a line of tranny fluid all down the road. Part of the deal was that they would replace the front seal. I haven't looked yet but I'm hoping they did. She was still leaking after I parked her in the shop but I discovered it's coming from the speedo cable housing. Should be an easy fix.
tata, what's your name? Mind if I ask? Please tell me it's not "Eric"

oldstata

Lol Justin Ta lol hints the tata


The three seals are cheap I bet under 40 bucks but not positive

Macadoo

Did you go with black or silver? I would have gone with the silver stove paint but they only had the spray, no quarts. Black is a good choice too but I think silver would visually balance the intake.

Macadoo

Copper, so far no problems. The shorties pretty much stop and hang straight down after the flange. I have maybe an inch and a half or more (I didn't measure) between the header and the filter adapter. I'm hoping the starter is the same deal. I like your quick-disconnect idea though. It would greatly simplify removal/installation.

Macadoo

Justin, nice to meet ya
I'll check out those seals before I jam that motor back in.

molasses4masses

Those look tough and classy all at the same time.

Macadoo

Lol, thanks Molasses. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and bolt on the reducers and hit them again. But they're 2-1/2 inch. Do most folks run 2-1/2 inch or 2 inch exhausts?

coppercutlass

Simmit sells a kit but you will still need a junction terminal for the big batt. Cable on the fenderwell. I think I spent 30 bucks all said and done.

76olds

My experience with having spoke with 3 different exhaust shops, mild builds as we have they suggest 2" mandrel bend max unless more upgrades are going to be done in the future. Anything more than 2 1/4 we would notice loss of low end torque. I currently have 2 1/4 duals with my manifolds. I think I'm going to go with 2" from the headers to mufflers the 2 1/2 from mufflers out back once I put my headers on this spring. Then once I drop a different motor into mine then I can step up the front pipes to what would be needed. This is what I was told....
2" good for up to 200hp...... 2 1/4 good for up to 325hp.... 2 1/2 good for up to 500hp... 3" good for to 600hp. Step up 1/4 inch if pipes are not mandrel bent. Bigger isn't better. I hope other will give their thoughts and what they run.

coppercutlass

I would do 2.5 in. exhaust. I had a very mild build that ran 14.0's . It was a 9 to 1 compression with a towing cam . It ran 14.20's with the exhaust., when I would uncorck it it would run 14.0. Then when I added an x pipe I went 13.86 through the mufflers ! The x pipe further scavenges exhaust and pulls it out because of the corssing of the pulses. So I don't buy the whole 2 in. exhaust. your shop said. This is based on my experience at the track with a 2.5 in. exhaust .

76olds

That's some good info thanks copper!! They also told me that the X pipe was good for top end hp ... an H pipe would be better for bottom end torque if I wanted to add either or. At the end of the day the track guys know put-r-ther copper .

MDchanic

Yes, but Copper, remember, you're running flat-out, wide-open on a racetrack.

In regular daily driving, with a mostly-stock engine, the 2" that the shop recommended, or the 2¼" that the factory installed may perform better.

- Eric

coppercutlass

My car has always been street driven. I feel the 350 still produced more than sufficient amounts of tq. to shred the tires . I feel the 2.5 in. exhaust is good to buy now because it will work on another combo down the road and it wont hurt anything now really. I don't think it will hurt low rpm performance on the street. Im a big fan of the magnaflow x pipe system. A friend has it on his 72 442 and its mellow on the street but once you get on it it sounds very nice. I might end up going with this system this spring as im tired on the rear axle dumps on long drives. It was fun what I was 19 but I gotta drive the the track 40 miles and it makes it kinda dreadful.

Macadoo

You mean I can't use one of these for the main battery cable?

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76olds

I wonder if I should try that pink one when I ask my wife to give me a jump start ??

Macadoo

I'm thinking of the Dynomax Super Turbos but I can't seem to find a headers-back system. I'd like to bolt it together until I can take it to a shop and have it welded.
I think i'll split the difference and go with 2-1/4" pipes and an H pipe if I can find the correct system online. I want the low, throaty sound (uh oh, an opening for 76olds to say something crude, lol).
Does this mean i need to look for 2-1/4" reducers or will a system include them?

76olds

It may come with reducers if not the shop could swage the 2 1/4 pipe out to fit are you put aluminized on or stainless ?

coppercutlass

I think pypes exhaust sells a pipe kit and then you can buy your mufflers to add to it. FYI most exhaust kits are for full length header back so you will need down tubes and extentions to about the cross member area.

76olds

Copper.. the shop I'm going to get mine done told me they wouldn't use the collectors supplied, they were going to use a cone type swagger and then flatten the front of the pipe to match up with the header until I decide to go bigger... I'm just going on what their saying it sounds like they know what their doing.... have you heard of doing this method ?

Macadoo

Good point, and one I might not have thought of. I might just stop at a muffler shop with the measurements for those pipes. That way if they don't fit just right I can have them tweaked.

coppercutlass

Yeah 76olds there are reducer collectors that bolt up to the 3 in. or 2.5 in. header collectors.

coppercutlass

Mac better yet look over at jegs their brand exhaust system is very inexpensive and they have a turbo style muffler. very good bang for the buck. if you are good with cutting and looking at bends you can make your own down tubes very easily.

76olds

One thing that really sucks up here in Canada is that, not many if any... shop will help you out with just a bend, swage, or even a heat tweak without wanting to do the whole system, Its awesome if you guys have shops down there that don't want to make $800.00 each time you bring your car in. They won't install anything you bring in as well unless you know them really well. If they figure you have $$$ the price goes up lol . Exhaust work sucks without a torch and a good persuasion bar a baby sledge hammer, swagger and a bender in the garage period.

coppercutlass

many auto parts carry pre bent sections. not mandrel bent but you can buy bends from jegs you just have to do your home work. I have a local shop here where if I bring him some coat hange in the shape of what I need done he will do small bends for like 20 bucks if I provide the pipes if not he charges me like 5 bucks for what ever scrap pipe he has lying around.

76olds

That's a good deal for sure copper, But I would think that Mac would be better off with a nice mandrel bend good sealing exhaust for his ride with minimum braze welds. Up here header back aluminized 2 1/4 mandrel bent with 8 seam welds is $900.00. Stainless is $1300.00... although not many shops have the capabilities of bending stainless just the speed shops. I just hate doing exhaust lol .