cuzncletus
Senior Member
I've got an 8ba in my 39. During construction I put in a new Saginaw steering box on a mount from Chassis Engineering. They said I "might" have some problems. I should have listened. This box probably works fine with an overhead but the box and steering arm sit too close to the center exhaust port. I cut up my Red's headers to make them fit, but the exhaust was still touching the box. I was afraid the heat would eventually cause the box to seize. (First photo.) I'm also going to have to modify the pan since the steering link and tie rod are almost hitting it. I'm doubtful if what I have gained in the new box is worth the trouble it's caused. But it's in place, I paid for it, and it's just another little problem to find a solution for.
The solution was to build another driver's side header. First, I am not a great fabricator. Second, I have a nice shop but my equipment for this was limited to a MIG, a plasma cutter, and a Sawzall. This is my second set of headers. I learned some tricks on these that are specific to flatheads that might help someone else trying the same type of project. Another advantage is that for around $100 you can build your own headers.
I bought my flanges from Red's Headers. The flanges fit 1 3/4" tubing and are five bucks each; good, thick metal that's easy to weld to. Speedway sells the same thing for 2" tubing but with the exhaust port on my mockup motor at only 1.35" I have to wonder why. I did buy a box of 1 5/8" bends and tube from Speedway for $70 on sale. The i.d. of the 1 5/8" is 1.5". I figure the 150 thousands difference between the tubing and the exhaust port ensures I won't have an obstruction at the mouth of the port. I also bought a stick of 1 3/4" tubing from the local national chain auto parts store; cost $4 something. Oh, and I had a leftover piece of 1/2" o.d. tubing, i.d. .375, I had bought at a big box hardware.
For reasons unknown to me, the boltholes on the front ports of both my flatheads are for 7/16" bolts. The back two ports are for 3/8". The flanges from Red's have 1/2" bolt holes. This is close enough for bolts in the front port, but leave a lot of slop at the back two flanges. I stuck a short length of the 1/2" tube in the holes (second photo), welded them in place, and ground them flat.
The interior dimension of the 1 3/4" tube is 1 5/8". This means the larger tube will slide over the smaller, a quite handy feature for this project. To accurately locate the 1 5/8" tubing in the flange, I welded a piece of 1 3/4" flat in the flange (photo 3), then left a lip on the outer side where I could easily weld the 1 5/8" tubing on. (photo 4)
My design was laid out using brazing rods as a pattern. The header was to come up and over the box from the front two ports, then down like an old set of Max Wedge headers. To keep from having to remove the steering to install or remove the header, I had to fabricate this as a two piece header with a slip joint to the back port. I have headers like this on my FE powered Galaxie and there is no audible problem with leakage. If there is, I'll just reuse some of the old heat webbing from the first header to wrap it and seal the leak. The steering shaft goes between the two pieces.
The first part was relatively simple. I say relatively because the problem with headers always comes when you try to join two tubes in a "Y". Here's the second time the 1 3/4" tube came in handy. I cut a short length of tubing, used a circular pattern maker with the sliding needles, and approximated the cuts needed to join the two tubes. Then I spent over an hour carefully grinding and fitting the 1 3/4" as a pattern. (photo 5) Then it's simply a matter of slipping the pattern over the 1 5/8" tube, marking it with a Sharpie (photo 6), measuring, and cutting the next piece. Mock it up, use the Sharpie to trace around the junction, and cut out the piece that would block the gasses. Cut, weld, and fill. Oh, and grind for neatness. I'm keeping my 1 3/4" patterns for a possible next project.
At the end of the first afternoon I had the first two ports connected. (photo 7) The next day I finished the header. First, I had to design the back port tubing to clear the steering column. This required cutting a couple of slight bends out of the tubing stock and welding up a short stub. (photo 8) Then I had to connect the third port with the down running tube from the first two. I made another 1 3/4" template, cut my tubing using it as a guide and tacked it in place. It fit, almost. Here's another trick. Yes, it would all fit together, but it was under tension. I used the Sawzall to cut most of the way through the downpipe but left maybe a 1/4 of the pipe connected. This allowed me to gently bend the pipe. I made two of these cuts and fit everything together easily. Then I used a short length of 1 3/4" tube to make the slip joint between the two pieces of the header. (photo 9) When everything went together easily (I went through this process repeatedly to make sure everything was lined up), I went back and welded up the cuts in the down pipe. With grinding and finishing you can't even notice them.
The finished header (photo 10) is more complex than most. Still, it was a two day project at most. Here's the important lessons I learned that I'll know for my next flathead header. 1. Use the 1/2" tube to make the flanges fit the back two ports precisely. 2. Start with a flange that has at most a 1 3/4" opening. 3. The slip fit of the 1 3/4" tubing over the 1 5/8" tube is a blessing. If neatness weren't important (or you were going to wrap your headers), you could easily make a header using a combination of the two to compensate for measuring and fitting. The way I used it not only made fitting easy, it made the slip joint possible. Now, some grinding, getting all the MIG spitballs off the header (nothing can ruin the appearance of a project quicker), and some heat resistant paint to finish it off. I'll leave the expensive Red's Header on the passenger side alone. It fits fine.
The solution was to build another driver's side header. First, I am not a great fabricator. Second, I have a nice shop but my equipment for this was limited to a MIG, a plasma cutter, and a Sawzall. This is my second set of headers. I learned some tricks on these that are specific to flatheads that might help someone else trying the same type of project. Another advantage is that for around $100 you can build your own headers.
I bought my flanges from Red's Headers. The flanges fit 1 3/4" tubing and are five bucks each; good, thick metal that's easy to weld to. Speedway sells the same thing for 2" tubing but with the exhaust port on my mockup motor at only 1.35" I have to wonder why. I did buy a box of 1 5/8" bends and tube from Speedway for $70 on sale. The i.d. of the 1 5/8" is 1.5". I figure the 150 thousands difference between the tubing and the exhaust port ensures I won't have an obstruction at the mouth of the port. I also bought a stick of 1 3/4" tubing from the local national chain auto parts store; cost $4 something. Oh, and I had a leftover piece of 1/2" o.d. tubing, i.d. .375, I had bought at a big box hardware.
For reasons unknown to me, the boltholes on the front ports of both my flatheads are for 7/16" bolts. The back two ports are for 3/8". The flanges from Red's have 1/2" bolt holes. This is close enough for bolts in the front port, but leave a lot of slop at the back two flanges. I stuck a short length of the 1/2" tube in the holes (second photo), welded them in place, and ground them flat.
The interior dimension of the 1 3/4" tube is 1 5/8". This means the larger tube will slide over the smaller, a quite handy feature for this project. To accurately locate the 1 5/8" tubing in the flange, I welded a piece of 1 3/4" flat in the flange (photo 3), then left a lip on the outer side where I could easily weld the 1 5/8" tubing on. (photo 4)
My design was laid out using brazing rods as a pattern. The header was to come up and over the box from the front two ports, then down like an old set of Max Wedge headers. To keep from having to remove the steering to install or remove the header, I had to fabricate this as a two piece header with a slip joint to the back port. I have headers like this on my FE powered Galaxie and there is no audible problem with leakage. If there is, I'll just reuse some of the old heat webbing from the first header to wrap it and seal the leak. The steering shaft goes between the two pieces.
The first part was relatively simple. I say relatively because the problem with headers always comes when you try to join two tubes in a "Y". Here's the second time the 1 3/4" tube came in handy. I cut a short length of tubing, used a circular pattern maker with the sliding needles, and approximated the cuts needed to join the two tubes. Then I spent over an hour carefully grinding and fitting the 1 3/4" as a pattern. (photo 5) Then it's simply a matter of slipping the pattern over the 1 5/8" tube, marking it with a Sharpie (photo 6), measuring, and cutting the next piece. Mock it up, use the Sharpie to trace around the junction, and cut out the piece that would block the gasses. Cut, weld, and fill. Oh, and grind for neatness. I'm keeping my 1 3/4" patterns for a possible next project.
At the end of the first afternoon I had the first two ports connected. (photo 7) The next day I finished the header. First, I had to design the back port tubing to clear the steering column. This required cutting a couple of slight bends out of the tubing stock and welding up a short stub. (photo 8) Then I had to connect the third port with the down running tube from the first two. I made another 1 3/4" template, cut my tubing using it as a guide and tacked it in place. It fit, almost. Here's another trick. Yes, it would all fit together, but it was under tension. I used the Sawzall to cut most of the way through the downpipe but left maybe a 1/4 of the pipe connected. This allowed me to gently bend the pipe. I made two of these cuts and fit everything together easily. Then I used a short length of 1 3/4" tube to make the slip joint between the two pieces of the header. (photo 9) When everything went together easily (I went through this process repeatedly to make sure everything was lined up), I went back and welded up the cuts in the down pipe. With grinding and finishing you can't even notice them.
The finished header (photo 10) is more complex than most. Still, it was a two day project at most. Here's the important lessons I learned that I'll know for my next flathead header. 1. Use the 1/2" tube to make the flanges fit the back two ports precisely. 2. Start with a flange that has at most a 1 3/4" opening. 3. The slip fit of the 1 3/4" tubing over the 1 5/8" tube is a blessing. If neatness weren't important (or you were going to wrap your headers), you could easily make a header using a combination of the two to compensate for measuring and fitting. The way I used it not only made fitting easy, it made the slip joint possible. Now, some grinding, getting all the MIG spitballs off the header (nothing can ruin the appearance of a project quicker), and some heat resistant paint to finish it off. I'll leave the expensive Red's Header on the passenger side alone. It fits fine.
