Header Modification Question

[young99]

Hey guys,

I have an issue with my header and starter touching I am hoping to get some help with. I have a set of Doug headers and they worked great with my 727 transmission because of the smaller housing. I recently swapped to a a833 with a 11" bellhousing so it pushed my starter out some and came in contact with my header.

I am not a welder, so I know very little about this. Do you think it is possible to cut out the starter/header touch area and weld a new piece of metal with the header still in the car? Taking the header out for me is very painful because of my limited work area.

I can easily unbolt the starter and move it out of the way for more room. I was wondering if anyone has done something like this before? I imagine taking this to a shop would be highly expensive so was hoping to handle this myself.

 

[440beep]

Would seem to me leaving the header in the car would be a super PIA. But if you have to, then maybe unbolt the header, tilt the motor over, and let the header hang down so you can get to it more easily. But at that point might as well just remove the header.

I found it easiest to jack up the rear of the car as high as you can go on 6ton jack stands and pull the header out from below. Or get the entire car safely in the air on jack stands.

 

[66coronet500]

What about a mini starter?

 

[Yatzee]

I had the same problem on the passenger side of the car and had to gently bend the area that touched in a bit. In my case I was fortunate to have enough room to heat the spot ( red hot ) and pry the area inwards creating a recess. I had to try various prying devices because I did'nt want to collapse or crease the header. The header section actually ovaled so I didn't even lose any flow area for the exhaust. Just make sure if you use this method that you heat the header in a well calculated spot so only that area bends.

 

[young99]

What about a mini starter?

I have a mini starter already

I already took acetylene/oxygen torch to the area and bent it pretty well to fit. The problem is I got it too hot and the torch blew out and made a hole. So wanted to just go ahead and cut this out to fit better. I have a feeling I will have to swap starters at some point and wanted to go ahead and get the area to fit well.

 

[furyus]

Don't feel bad about blowing a hole in it. Your not the first to do it. Now that you have, you need to finish clearancing the header, and take it off to be rewelded. No one is going to want to try to weld that while it's still on the car.

 

[young99]

Don't feel bad about blowing a hole in it. Your not the first to do it. Now that you have, you need to finish clearancing the header, and take it off to be rewelded. No one is going to want to try to weld that while it's still on the car.

I guess its a good time to put studs in instead of bolts. I just hate the mess it makes taking them off :icon_sad:

Any way to clear the water jackets before taking them off?

 

[5.7 hemi]

You can drain the block, there is a pipe plug on either side.