I put those same headers on my '87 F-150 (302) and got no gas improvement. I did get a nicer sound, though.

 

The Y connector pipe comes in two pieces. Once the L and R side manifolds are installed you loosely connect up the Y pipe, confirm clearances and fit, tighten it up, then weld the slip joint of the Y pipe.

 

Cool, thanks for the knowledge 460Kirk

 

Hey Kirk - how is the install going?

A couple questions about the headers have come up.

How easy is it to get to the sparkplugs on the Thorley's? Some headers apparently are tough to do that with.

Is there a gasket in the kit? I'm wondering what if I wanted to put them on before I rebuild the engine.

What kind of muffler and piping are you using?

Thanks, Don
PS: my truck is out of the body shop (restoration), and now its power plant time.

 

Don
Install is in work, a little slow perhaps, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist.
Not sure about the spark plugs yet as I'm still fabing up the remainder of the system. I'll take a look later and let you know.
Already have the 70 series Flowmaster with a mandrel bent 3" pipe that exits out in front of the rear wheel. The Thorley Y pipe connector actually comes quite far aft so I'm cutting and welding more mandrell bits to replace the stock section. Since my engine has the smog fittings I've also had to remake the pipe that routes air to just in front of the cat (which is removed btw). I'm pretty much done the fab work now so it's off to get the new bits ceramic coated. Tranny comes out on Sunday.
Thorley does provide a nice gasket set with the kit.
Kirk

 

Kirk iam about to do the same thing with my 97 f350 460. Just wondering if you would be able to get any pictures of the setup. Iam concerned about the air injection and egr fittings and what i might need to make myself to complete the system because iam keeping my cat. I was also planning on the same 3in and Flowmaster 70 series i hope it sounds great.

 

Yes, please keep us posted- I'm curious about the tranny upgrades as well. Any chance of photos?

 

I'll see what I can do about some pics.

 

Well, the trans is out and on the garage floor. Quite the big unit. I bought a tranny cradle for my floor jack from Princess Auto. By the time you have it mounted up it sits pretty high. Had to jack the truck further in the air and still had to take the tranny off that and drag it out. Will start with the Transgo "Tugger" kit install tomorrow. It modifieds the pump and valve body sections. Also bought a multi disc T/C for it. A lot of work but hopefully it'll be worth it.
Hans88 - Thorley has the header set-up to use the stk factory air injection and egr stuff. Just order accordingly. The reason I had to fab up the thermactor tube back to the inlet of the cat is b/c my stk pipes were all rusted up and I'm having the system ceramic coated once I have it completed. Might as well start new, right. I built my system so I could re/re the cat as required for emissions testing. It bolts in/out using 3" header collector flanges, works good, lasts a long time.
Don604 - spark plug access looks good. Mind you I haven't completed the install of them yet. waiting for the bits to come back from CC. the instructions say to remove the stk heat shields for install. I'll try to get some pics for you once it's finished.

 

thanks thats just what i wanted to hear.

 

Wow Kirk! You asked me for suggestions a couple of weeks ago and now you have passed me up. Thanks for all the info. Hopefully I can get home before too long and get my truck back together.

Rich

 

With my trucks body in decent shape, now I'm starting to cost out my engine rebuilt/upgrade including headers and exhaust.

Are you making any other changes to your power train beyond the headers and torque convertor (and exhaust I suppose)? Anything on the 460 engine?

When do you expect to fire up this little puppy?

Thanks, Don

 

Had to go out of town for a couple days. Expect to get the tranny finished by week end and hopefully back in over the weekend. Exhaust after that once back from CC.
Not really much to speak of on other engine mods right now. K & N filter and some quaility ignition pieces, nothing special. Looking to add a little more compression., some more cam, big rework on the ports, windage tray and ultimately convert to mass air. Tough call when that might happen b/c the engines in good condition.
With the price of fuel these days and into the future there's not a big market for old technology 460 trucks. We use it to carry our 10' camper and haul trailer with quads. Besides, the wife really likes driving it so that's a green light in my books. I'll just build it up as a fun machine.

 

Sounds like your application is pretty much the same as mine. Also a 10' camper, and same rationale to squeeze just a bit more of efficiency out of a truly powerful engine.

Wish my engine was better, but it burns a fair bit of oil under load, so a rebuild seems much nearer in my future.

From discussions over here, the 460FI will gain more from the headers and exhaust than the intake side. The K&N FIPK will help (also in my plans), but getting more than 5hp out of it is doubtful. No idea how or if that will translate to fuel economy.

You've got a really interested audience over here in Delta!

 

Any updates for us 460kirk?