I'm not worried about the noise from headers. I don't see anyway I could hear them over my exhaust and the hum of the tires. What is the thread size and length of bolts required for the Banks headers? I want to see about getting a set of ARP S.S. locking header bolts. I'm spending the $$$ so I want to do it right.

 

The banks bolts are 8mm X 1.25 X 35mm

 

Art, don't forget to add the Thorley's to your list

 

Thanks Boxcar.


I was also looking at the Thorley Headers but they are steel and I'm concerned about rusting. Anyone have there Ceramic Coated Thorley Headers rust up on them? I have a set of ceramic coated dynomax headers for my 74' F-100 and they rusted up after a couple years.

 

I think it was mizmitch who just had a set of Thorley coated headers put on.

 

Don't forget - ceramic coated steel headers will rot from the inside.

 

Per an e-mail I received from Thorley, they ceramic coat both inside and outside of the headers.

 

Theres a place in the schicago suburbs called LO KO Coating that give a MUCH higher quality ceramic coating then any header company offers now. You send they your mild steel or whatever material header and they dip em and send em bakc out in about a week. May have to wait a couple weeks to get a set in depending on the time of year. But this coating will long long outlast any coating from the header manufacturers. Remember, they are in the buisness of selling headers, if they last forever you wont buy anymore... LoKo has been used by many racers around chicago with great success. If someone is interested i could get you their contact info.

 

Because the chances of finding used (or cheap) 3-valve manifolds are somewhere between slim and none, I am definitely leaning towards those cheapo stainless headers on eBay.

I can justify it to the wife by saying the stock exhaust manifold on there now has to be milled, and could possibly crack later (which is very true).

So for $200 or so, they have to be at LEAST as good as the 3-valve exhaust manifolds. While the best price I could get on the 3-valve manifolds was somewhere around $400 EACH.

I'm also very tempted to wrap them.

 

Fred, no comments?

 

Got the plastic off, shock tower removed, and have pretty much full access to the entire thing (passenger side). Got one or two existing nuts loose (more like the stud abcking out), and stopped there. Tomorrow maybe, I'll continue the deed.

Removing the fender inner is a piece of cake. Removing the shock and it's tower is another two seconds. It's amazing what you can do through the wheel well instead of from the top. Just an observation

Pictures to follow tomorrow ...

Found three total on passenger side broken off, and at least one on the driver's side.

With the amount of milling, and buying studs - and seeing for $200 I can get headers, questionable gaskets and a set of questionable bolts, it's starting to look like a great deal.

With the ease that they can be changed, if I get 2 years out of them, I'll be happy. I'm trying to figure out a way to bend some sheet metal and shield the headers from direct splash, without hindering cooling. Or maybe, sustained temperatures are better than too much fresh air. Would also be nice to heat-shield them from the rest of the (plastic) engine compartment. Might use some stick-on shiny-stuff for the bottom of the heater box.

I have time.

 

Keep us updated Art. I'm watching this thread very closely.....

 

Took this yesterday, after getting everything out of the way.

Getting everything out of the way took about 10 minutes. After finding all my small-size metric sockets...

 

Amazing how mcuh room there is going in that way! That is the way I did it when I installed my Banks headers.

The log type manifolds are super easy to get off. The 5 twirling snake tubes of headers are a different beast when it come to getting the proper torque on the bolts. You end up using a assortment of extentions and universals to get to some of them.

The kicker is Banks tell syou to torque them to 18 ftlbs. YEAH RIGHT! Lets see them get a torque wrench in there!

As far as heat shields goes, the banks kit comes with sway bar bushings shields and a starter wrap heat shield. I protected the metal brake line that sits along the frame on the passanger side also.

GOOD LUCK!

 

I am working on the driver's(US) side as we speak.

Taking pics along the way.

I plan on shielding stuff... both for the other parts' longevity, but maybe to keep too much cold water/mud from hitting the pipes.

Thanks!