Header headache

From: TeamGTZ@aol.com
Date: Wed Apr 17 1996 - 03:18:55 EDT


FYI, I and a buddy just put the Doug Thorley headers on my 95 V8 2wd. What a
royal pain in the hinder! What I figured to be a 2 hour job turned into a 13
hour job! And this was with two people who, believe it or not, have
experience with this kind of work! If I would have known that this job was
so tough, I wold have just gotten it done at an exhaust shop, or at a dealer.
 Problems:

1. The chintzy factory crossover did NOT want to let go of the cat
attatchment pipe. The clamp was on so tight that it crimped the metal!

2. There's really no way to determine proper length or orientation for the
cat pipe flange. You basically have to guess.

3. The EGR tube flange on the pass. side header did NOT line up! Therefore
we had to remove the EGR tube to _twist_ it in order to make it line up (real
pain!). And since the EGR tube is conveniently located on the back of the
engine, up against the firewall...

4. In trying to remove and then reattach the EGR tube, I cracked the cheap
plastic oil pressure sending unit.

5. Then of course, there was NO play in the holes for the header bolts which
was real nice considering that half of 'em DIDN'T LINE UP!
 
These were just the more memorable delays. There were plenty of other ones.

Please, don't tell me anything like "Welcome to the world of aftermarket
parts!" I've put $100 headers on other engines in no time without these
headaches. I just figured that for $450 there would be a little stricter
quality control. But now, they're on and I have noticed an improvement in
power. In fact, in the official "Tire Smoking Test" I popped the clutch in
second, let the tires (on 3.55 sure-grip) warm up for a sec and let off the
brake. The twin 225mm black stripes got painted onto Industrial Court Road
for an unofficial 6 (six!) car lengths long (as measured by a 1994 T-bird).

My equation? Big open K&N air filter + headers + free-flow exhaust = quite a
healthy dose of extra Magnum power!
 



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