Really nice work on the header Trey, but what led to the decision to fab them yourself?

Thank you. Mainly, I just wanted to. Not sure I'm going to want to again though, lol. I still haven't finished the passenger side one. I've got some tighter radius bends on order that should be here this week. Then, I have to go out of town for work the following week. It might be a while before I can show the passenger side. It's been an even bigger challenge than the driver's side.

Nothing wrong with that. I admire people that can take on a challenge like that and come out on top.

Diggin' it
 

The 18' M-Parallel wheels looks awesome on the car!

Thanks guys. I really like the rims as well. I went with them mainly out of budgetary constraints. Now, I doubt I'll change them anytime soon. I'm going to try fitting the rears on the front to see what it would take to get 9.5's on all four corners instead of the staggered widths I have now. I'm hoping it will work out. We'll see.

Enjoy reading about/seeing your build progress Trey. :thumbsup:

Thanks, Skip. I appreciate it.

Just a couple teaser shots. Design work is done. Final welding has started. Still along way to go considering all the grinding and leak testing I have to do. I'll get there eventually.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psxsj0jbfe.jpg

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psimpbalw8.jpg

Trey man is it looking good.

Thank you, Marty. I'm a long way off from finished but I'm getting excited. I'm anxious to hear how it sounds and to verify ground clearance. It's taken me a long time to get the headers and exhaust done. I want to drive the car already. The weather has been so nice lately.

That is a great looking clothes line. :peepwall:

Seriously, car looks bad ass man.

Coming along nicely Trey. Hope to see you on the road soon!

Ha! Thanks Dave. I realized the clothes were there after I took the picture. The clothes are actually indicative of how long the car has been on the cribbing, and I've been working on the exhaust. The pile on the right is my long sleeve shirt and hoody that I was wearing when I started this project. I had a few weekends when I was out there with highs in the 40's. That was a while ago now. The clothes are washed and put away for the season now.

Thanks Scott.

That's really cool! And big props to you on the relief in the frame connector for the hard lines! Awesome attention to detail!

Thanks. I really appreciate it. I got the idea from Vince at Mean St.

Looking great!!!

Thanks Steve. I should have an update soon. Well, I guess I should say soonish. Modifying a car never seems to go as planned.

Trey---it's great to see all the progress bro. Feels great I'm sure.

What are the plans for the car---driver/autocross/road course---etc?

D

Thanks Doug. It does feel good even if it's moving slower than planned. The car is mainly just a driver and weekend canyon carver. I'd like to try out some HPDE schools since I have two great road courses very close and a few more great road courses not too far away. We'll see where I ultimately end up with it, but I want to enjoy driving it more than anything at this point.

I can say, that after all these years with my car (it's been running nearly the entire time) the driving, specifically the road trips, have been the best part of having the car. There's been nothing as cool as a 400 mile trip up the coast to a GG event with all the guys, running the autocross, then driving home with everyone. For me, it's the part I still love the most. Road courses are fun as well, but driving the car still does it for me every time. We are headed out to the local Donut Shop hang out tomorrow morning here in So Cal--the drive there and the drive home are still what I look forward to the most. Keep in going once you have it running and enjoy as much as possible!

D

Thanks Doug. I couldn't agree more.

Great job on the headers. Very cool - I'm impressed. The exhaust tucks up nicely too.

Thanks Woody. I'm hoping to be done with the exhaust soon. I'm going to have to drive it before coating/painting the components because I'm really close at some places. I hope to not have any issues hitting the frame or floor when torquing the engine up but we will see. I figure it would be better to find this out now instead of ruining a new coating job.

Started the car today for the first time in months. Couldn't run it for long since I didn't have the O2 sensors plugged in. I just really wanted to hear what the exhaust sounded like. It sounds weird, lol. It's quiet and deep. It's also smooth because of the x pipe. It has a straight through sound, almost like there aren't any mufflers, when I rev it which it should considering the mufflers are straight through. Hard to describe really what it sounds like. I think I'll like it though. I'd rather err on the side of quiet than loud. I hope to drive it this Sunday, but we will see. If the drive test goes well, the headers will come back out for coating. Then I can finally move on to getting the new rear in the car and having the rear springs de-arched a little.

Thanks

What mufflers are you using?

Home made ones :D They are a straight through design with louvered through pipes. I laid down fiberglass mat first, then stuffed the muffler full of steel wool.

EDIT: Looks like I'm further behind than I thought on updates. I have some construction photos of the mufflers and exhaust system to post yet. I"ll get to it soon.

Trey, I'm appalled that you posted this without pictures...
and a sound clip....

lol, the car is still sitting on the cribbing. The only difference between now and the last "teaser" shot is the exhaust is painted black. I was planning to take some pictures once it was sitting on the ground so I could accurately measure and show ground clearance. My sister does have this sweet little digital palm camera, too. I'll have to use it when I do get the car on the ground to take a video. It's rather quiet though. Might have to get the camera real close before you can hear anything.

I'm pretty sure you're the first guy that I've met that's done that. Good for you!
:thumbsup:

Well, I guess I need to do some catching up on this thread. These headers took me way longer and cost a whole lot more than I wanted them to. That's hot rodding though. Nothing to do but suck it up and push forward. I finally drove the car on Sunday. I love the sound. It doesn't sound like a SBC. It sounds way more exotic because the note is smooth and some what hollow/monotone. There's very little to no chop or rumble to the exhaust note. It's quiet until the loud pedal is pressed which is just what I was hoping for. :D

On to the pictures. I made my own mufflers before I realized I could actually buy similar size mufflers from both Spintech or Flowmaster. The design is a 3 inch thick muffler that's 2.5 inches straight through. I laid fiberglass down first and then stuffed steel wool all around the inside of the muffler before putting the top plate on. I got the idea to do it this way from looking at cut away pictures of Magnaflows and watching videos on youtube. Hopefully, it holds up well.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psltkkhvnt.jpg

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps8xslxrx6.jpg

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psfamjozux.jpg

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psvntuypws.jpg

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psf30edcdo.jpg

Here are the headers all freshly welded up. I gave up on trying to mig the tubes and just took them to Scotty Seals at Pro Chassis over in Hiram, GA. He routinely builds custom headers for blown mustangs so he knows what he's doing. He tigged them up for me and put the bullets on the ends of the pipes. I've installed them as you see them so I could make sure they do fit without hitting anything. I did end up having to take off the lower control arm brace on the driver's side. I'll come up with some other means to triangulate that piece probably when I pull the motor in the future.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psq3ruqy90.jpg

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psj9wrr7qd.jpg

I'm very happy with how they fit. Only 3 or 4 plugs are a pain to get to but I bought a shorty spark plug socket since I couldn't make my own that really helps make life easier. If you can find a spark plug socket that has the hex cut to the bottom of the socket, you can simply cut it down and drill out the center section to make shorty socket. The ceramic of the plug will stick through the socket after you drill it out.

All in all, these headers are easier to install than the headers I put on this engine when it was still in my 4th gen. Plug changes are easier too even with the hard ones. I can't get a decent picture of the passenger side since it's so tight in that area. Something I was able to pull off is the headers are mirror images of each other coming out of the cylinder heads. They obviously change drastically after that but from the top they look the same.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps3qumsoah.jpg

Ground clearance is great! I promise, the system is fully installed in this picture

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psyiujnitx.jpg

See? There are the mufflers. I painted everything black to hide it all away.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...pslz2fcc08.jpg

Here's the collectors sitting up front and a view from the front. They are just under 4 inches off the ground, no lower than the oil pan, and above the front cross member still.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps9ujdof5s.jpg

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/r...psq5w0qxww.jpg

The mufflers are 5 inches off the ground now. I plan to lower the car in the rear some more. I should have the mufflers between 3.5 and 4 inches off the ground when done. I really hope that's plenty of clearance for me to get in and out of the driveway easily. Right now, it's a breeze getting in and out. I wish I had taken measurements before I cut the old system out, but I missed the reminder I had left myself. Oh well, I know it's more clearance. I just don't know how much.

I didn't get a good picture of it but I put v-band clamps in the system just after they turn up from the mufflers. I can easily drop the system off of the car in a few minutes. The exhaust is a slip fit with a band clamp at the collector. Best design I have ever used. I have no idea why companies still use flanges any more. I won't if I can ever help it.

Next is pulling the headers right back off to have them sand blasted and ceramic coated. I'll be going black to hide any fabrication marks. I'll also be getting the new rear in and getting the rear springs dearched. I really hope that doesn't take long. After that, who knows. I really need to get better seats and seat belts.

Thanks

Really nice work Trey!

Joe

Ditto! Cheers Trey,

Panty Dropper
 

Trey cool job
Wish I had that much clearance

Bob

Heck yeah, nice work. Love how the whole system is tucked up safely away.

I want to hear a video of the exhaust...anyone else?

Sweet!! Means you can come down another inch FTW!!!

Headers look great.

That's the plan, Mike. I was able to find a place that can de-arch the springs so I'll be dropping it in the rear soon. What are you ground clearance numbers with the Hooker headers?

I'm going to try to get a sound clip, Lance. Not sure how but we'll see. I failed to mention that I was able to get all the primaries to be close in length. If I remember correctly, the shortest is 27 to 28 inches and the longest is around 34 inches. That's between all tubes on both sides. They are all within four inches of each other per side though. There's also an x-pipe under the car. I started with a Pypes system without mufflers and then made it fit the car with my home made parts. I think this all contributes to the smooth note. I could be completely wrong though.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the kind words.

Trey, excellent work! Those look great. How much lead time do you need, when I'm ready to have you build me a set?
Looking forward to hearing sound clip!

lol, you ready to be without your car for another 6 months? It's a challenge to do them right. I know I'm well over 100 hours into these. Granted, most of that was me simply not knowing what I'm doing. I can see myself building another set in the future, but it will be on a car that's in the build stages and not one that was driving and being upgraded like mine.

Thanks Scott

EDIT: C&O is this weekend. I'll drive the car this instead of ride the bike. Headers will come back out after the show.

Excellent Job!