Space City 1982 GP Build
- Thread starter Texas82GP
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It's here in Jersey but I don't think it will make it to Texas
We made some progress on the GP this weekend. Sean came over to the storage with me Saturday morning. He worked on fabbing a patch for the tunnel while I painted the floorboards. They turned out pretty good. Here are a couple of pics from this morning which shows them with the paint dry.
Next I worked on getting the driver's side header out of the engine compartment so I could box it back up. I had it in there hanging by one bolt. I had had to jack the engine up off of the mount on that side to get it in there. For anybody wondering Flowmaster 814110 headers will not fit a G body chassis. I talked to Summit late last week. I bought the headers in March of 2015 but they are new and unmarked, and Summit still stocks them so I asked them to take them back. Initially they refused but I escalated my request to a supervisor and he agreed to accept the return but wanted to charge a 40% restocking fee. I didn't like the sound of that so I've decided to try to sell them online. I'm not upset with Summit. I've had them a long time to ask to return them. I would have jumped at a 20% restocking fee.
Next Sean and I got under the car and cleaned up the bottom side of the floorboards to prepare them for undercoating. I had cleaned them up from the pinchweld at the firewall back to where the floor brace bolts in. We cleaned from there, back to the crossmember behind the back seat pan. We just used mineral spirits on Microfiber cloths. I don't have an pics of the result but it went pretty well.
This morning we had the usual chores around the house but we made it over to the storage for a few hours. Sean got to work on installing the patch on the tunnel. He put down seam sealer and then set the patch in place. He secured it mostly with rivets but used some short sheet metal screws where the transmission was too close to the tunnel to allow for rivets. He then went over the perimeter of the seam with seam sealer. I think it turned out nice....
While he was working on the patch I worked on installing the new headers. I bought a set of Hedman 68318's. They are the Elite version of the of the 68310's. They are pretty nice and they are obviously designed for our chassis. The driver's side went in with basically no drama. It slipped right in from above. I used a Remflex gasket and the Proform Wedge-Locking header bolts. I got all of the bolts on that side torqued, though I had to use a crow's foot on two of the bolts.
I got the passenger side header in, got all the bolts started and got it snugged up and then realized there were some clearance issues. One tube is hard against the bottom rear corner of the lower control arm mount. One tube is pretty close to the rear inboard edge of the upper control arm. That header will need to come back out for some trimming. I don't think either trouble spot will be a big deal. I'm a little disappointed because there is plenty of room so it doesn't seem like I should be having this issue. I guess that goes with the territory with headers though. Does anyone else have a set of these headers? The passenger side seems to be pointed towards the frame rail instead of straight back. Is this normal?
I also started reviewing the installation instructions and they want me to relocate the brake line for the passenger side front wheel from the back of the crossmember to the top of it to get it away from the header. I'm not crazy about that either but we'll see.
That's it for now guys. Thanks for checking in. I'll post up as progress warrants. Until then take care.
Next I worked on getting the driver's side header out of the engine compartment so I could box it back up. I had it in there hanging by one bolt. I had had to jack the engine up off of the mount on that side to get it in there. For anybody wondering Flowmaster 814110 headers will not fit a G body chassis. I talked to Summit late last week. I bought the headers in March of 2015 but they are new and unmarked, and Summit still stocks them so I asked them to take them back. Initially they refused but I escalated my request to a supervisor and he agreed to accept the return but wanted to charge a 40% restocking fee. I didn't like the sound of that so I've decided to try to sell them online. I'm not upset with Summit. I've had them a long time to ask to return them. I would have jumped at a 20% restocking fee.
Next Sean and I got under the car and cleaned up the bottom side of the floorboards to prepare them for undercoating. I had cleaned them up from the pinchweld at the firewall back to where the floor brace bolts in. We cleaned from there, back to the crossmember behind the back seat pan. We just used mineral spirits on Microfiber cloths. I don't have an pics of the result but it went pretty well.
This morning we had the usual chores around the house but we made it over to the storage for a few hours. Sean got to work on installing the patch on the tunnel. He put down seam sealer and then set the patch in place. He secured it mostly with rivets but used some short sheet metal screws where the transmission was too close to the tunnel to allow for rivets. He then went over the perimeter of the seam with seam sealer. I think it turned out nice....
While he was working on the patch I worked on installing the new headers. I bought a set of Hedman 68318's. They are the Elite version of the of the 68310's. They are pretty nice and they are obviously designed for our chassis. The driver's side went in with basically no drama. It slipped right in from above. I used a Remflex gasket and the Proform Wedge-Locking header bolts. I got all of the bolts on that side torqued, though I had to use a crow's foot on two of the bolts.
I got the passenger side header in, got all the bolts started and got it snugged up and then realized there were some clearance issues. One tube is hard against the bottom rear corner of the lower control arm mount. One tube is pretty close to the rear inboard edge of the upper control arm. That header will need to come back out for some trimming. I don't think either trouble spot will be a big deal. I'm a little disappointed because there is plenty of room so it doesn't seem like I should be having this issue. I guess that goes with the territory with headers though. Does anyone else have a set of these headers? The passenger side seems to be pointed towards the frame rail instead of straight back. Is this normal?
I also started reviewing the installation instructions and they want me to relocate the brake line for the passenger side front wheel from the back of the crossmember to the top of it to get it away from the header. I'm not crazy about that either but we'll see.
That's it for now guys. Thanks for checking in. I'll post up as progress warrants. Until then take care.
I wish I knew you were going for the Hedmans, I got the same elite set brand new in their wrapings I need to part with since I'm running manifolds.
Maybe I'm jumping the gun here a bit Jared, but do you have any pics of the headers in the car? Is the driver's side header going to clear the manual clutch linkage OK? Do these headers have the ball flange collector connection on them? Thanks in advance.
Jeff,
I don't have any pics yet. I meant to take some pics of the headers and the bottom of the car before I came home yesterday but I forgot. I will get some pics the next time I get over there. It looks to me like these headers are going to work fine with the mechanical clutch linkage. The collectors are pretty far forward, just behind the rearward lower control arm mount. It looks to me like the exhaust pipe will pass right beneath the clutch fork. These headers utilize the ball and socket connection to the collectors. The collectors come with the headers but they are natural steel so I will likely buy some stainless collectors. The layout of the headers is really good. They seem to be specifically designed for our cars. That is why I'm a little disappointed in the clearance problems I'm having. I guess it is just a result of manufacturing tolerances.
The primaries are 1-1/2" and the collectors are 3". The reducers take the 3" collector down to 2-1/2". I wasn't crazy about the 1-1/2" primaries at first but honestly it is probably all that is needed for a 350 HP 350. I've read it is far better to have primaries that are little too small rather than have primaries that are too big. Since my car is a cruiser I really want the torque instead of high RPM horsepower so I think they will be fine for my application.
Those headers are designed for clutch cars. I had the standard set on the car when I put the 305 in. I think Hedman is the only company that makes direct fit with clutch for our cars.
Do you remember if the passenger side collector pointed towards the frame rail instead of straight back?
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