36 w/455 headers

[Guest]

I am in the process of building a 36 Century with a 455/200r4 for power. I haven't installed the engine yet, but I purchased a set of TA performance shorty headers for it. <BR>I'm worried that the frame may be too narrow for them to fit..<BR>Anyone have any words of wisdom???? Will these work or am I going to have to spend another pile of money???

[The Old Guy]

I had to settle for manifolds when I put a 455 in my 37, and I think you have a narrower frame than that,so GOOD LUCK!

[Guest]

Thanks for the info..It appears to these old tired eyes that the frame on the 36 is about the same as 37 thru 39...I hope I hope. The headers that I got from T-A are supposed to be a bolt in replacement for manifolds on a 70'a A body (if my recollection is correct. I hope to drop the engine into the chassis in the next few weeks; I'll let you know how the header fit shakes out

[The Old Guy]

If they fit,let me know. i ran my 37 at the drags and it ran 14 flat with a 2.56 rear axle. I would love to break into the 13s and the headers will probably do the trick.

[Guest]

If you already have the headers and they won't fit, you could cut the exhaust flanges off where they bolt to the head leaving an inch or two for welding. Take your flanges bolt them to the head, buy some 2 inch or larger mechanical tubing, cap the forward end and tack weld your flanges onto the tubing. <P>Remove, finish MIG weld and then torch or grind out the tubing on the inside of each flange. Don't forget to take a skim cut off the flange faces so the welding distortion does not affect the gasket seal. <P>This will make a type of exhaust log. Leave enough sticking out rearward and you can clamp an exhaust pipe right on of the appropiate size. If you want to get real fancy make it out of stainless steel tubing and polish it.<P>This method is nice because the exhaust shops don't have to weld on a flange and all you end up with is a custom bent piece of tubing to replace when it rusts out. <P>If the mechanical tubing is heavy wall it will be even quieter than headers. Won't loosen constantly like headers either. It will weigh half as much as cast manifolds and if you go with 2" tubing or larger you'll probably pick up a few ponys along the way.<P>Adds a little retro look that will fit right in with your old beauty too.