Yes, those are the other choice in dead soft aluminum. I may go the Thornton route as well on my A body, the stainless Chinese long tubes designed for the BBO just hang too low.
BUILD THREAD 84 Hurst Olds - TechG8
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so the issue with sealing at the center port was that the 5A heads {for sealing purposes} have what amounts to one giant center port without a divider. shaped like a rectangle.
The gaskets and headers have the center ports divided.
Looking at the head side of the headers, the actual sealing surfaces are the tube welds, ground flat.
on the center ports, where they divide the two ports, the welds come across horizontally then make a rounded turn down to then create the divider. ....imagine the top of a valentine heart, or an inverted butt. (take it ez now you know what I mean)
at those rounded turns there is a mismatch or at least a thinning of the sealing surface for the gasket, and on both headers there was a leak on top and on bottom of the port at that location.
I am thinking that building up that location on the headers w the welder and grinding it flat may be the answer. Then I will have a header sealing pattern that matches the port "rectangle"
thanks for the header gasket links!
The gaskets and headers have the center ports divided.
Looking at the head side of the headers, the actual sealing surfaces are the tube welds, ground flat.
on the center ports, where they divide the two ports, the welds come across horizontally then make a rounded turn down to then create the divider. ....imagine the top of a valentine heart, or an inverted butt. (take it ez now you know what I mean)
at those rounded turns there is a mismatch or at least a thinning of the sealing surface for the gasket, and on both headers there was a leak on top and on bottom of the port at that location.
I am thinking that building up that location on the headers w the welder and grinding it flat may be the answer. Then I will have a header sealing pattern that matches the port "rectangle"
thanks for the header gasket links!
I made some progress today.
Pulled out the seats, they are in remarkably good shape but need some mildew cleaned up. any suggestions?
found evidence of nassty mice, as expected. two nests under the back seat and one above the headliner. car should smell better with them removed!
I removed the headliner (board is in good shape, cloth needs replaced) and the package tray (looks like it needs to be replaced)
Can I get just the headliner cloth?
Pulled the plastic trim all around, it needs cleanup and recoloring but is otherwise solid. I did notice that the chrome is peeling off some of the side panels. chrome pen or a heat shrink chrome....which way is best to redo that?
I am getting excited by the project. Its great to have just the one to concentrate on. Looking forward to spring and summer with T tops!!
PS I am thinking about a sneaky pete system for the 307. first things first....but just sayin....
Pulled out the seats, they are in remarkably good shape but need some mildew cleaned up. any suggestions?
found evidence of nassty mice, as expected. two nests under the back seat and one above the headliner. car should smell better with them removed!
I removed the headliner (board is in good shape, cloth needs replaced) and the package tray (looks like it needs to be replaced)
Can I get just the headliner cloth?
Pulled the plastic trim all around, it needs cleanup and recoloring but is otherwise solid. I did notice that the chrome is peeling off some of the side panels. chrome pen or a heat shrink chrome....which way is best to redo that?
I am getting excited by the project. Its great to have just the one to concentrate on. Looking forward to spring and summer with T tops!!
PS I am thinking about a sneaky pete system for the 307. first things first....but just sayin....
good call. the tag is stamped 1-24-85
it has parts yard grease pencil numbers on the bellhousing.
I seem to remember the purple paint valvebody from when I did the pan gasket and filter, but I will doublecheck when I get back in there.
Here's some help on your description.....welding up the center port is not unheard of, but usually that was done with 455's.
You can buy just the headliner cloth with foam backing from about a zillion suppliers. If you're doing the visors too, then get a little extra. What would that be, about 1 to 1.5 yards if that?
As far as the plastic trim, that crap was heat sealed directly onto the fabric. The molding is a flexible gray plastic underneath. It was a PITA to remove it without fugging up the fabric. Luckily, I was able to find a pristine set, so I didn't get into how I was going to refinish those moldings. Nearly EVERY G-body with that rear panel molding looks like that eventually. I did experiment with a piece of chrome, very thin mil mylar tape. It looked good, but I did not do any long term testing to see how well it would hold up over time.
whats a good set of header gaskets for this 307? Looks like the papery ones in use previously had some pretty significant leaks at the center ports[/QUOTE]
I've always had good luck with using standard exhaust manifold gaskets on headers and never had an issue with them not sealing or blowing out.
I've always had good luck with using standard exhaust manifold gaskets on headers and never had an issue with them not sealing or blowing out.
I removed the rug today to get a look at the rot caused by the ttops leaking. The rig is in good shape but needs a cleaning. In the pics the screwdriver indicated a rot hole in the floor. There is also weak rust thinned metal on the tunnel hump where the seatbelt bolts in.
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