Modifying the header

In my last post I mentioned that the passenger side header was too tight to the engine block and was bumping into things.  They were hitting both a plug on the block as well as the bolt going through the engine mount.  So I decided to cut into the header and tilt the collectors out a bit. I’ll likely have to do the same on the drivers side.  The drivers side is just a little bit tight for one of the plugs on the block.  Good thing I didn’t weld the cat in place yet.  I’ll also likely add a flex pipe to that section as well just to give the welds a little less stress.

As you can see from the photo above, I cut out a pie shaped wedge out of the top of the collectors so that I could tip them out.  Once I hand them chopped, I tack welded them in place to make sure they were going to fit.  Sure enough the fit just right

I did the finish welding and bolted them in place.  Now I just need to run the rectangular tube under the passenger side frame rail to head back to the flowmaster muffler.  I’ve been trying to take some time and get my Subaru back up on the road.  After those damn thieves hit the car at the end of last summer, I haven’t been really able to enjoy the car.  I need to get it back up and rolling again and then turn my attention back to the BatBerry.

I took the week of May 20-24 as vacation so I’m hoping to get lots done on the BatBerry that week.

Starting on the Passenger side Exhaust

Not a lot of exciting news to share on the passenger side.  Yesterday I managed to create another 5′ section of 2×3 tube for the passenger side of the car.  I then started to fit the new header onto the passenger side and ran into a snag.  Headers for this car are driving me crazy.

On the passenger side the header collector is slightly bumping into the bolt on the engine mount.  I’ll likely be able to modify the header to make it fit, but that means cutting into those nice ceramic coated headers

I think in general I’ll have to make both headers angle a bit more towards the outer frame rails to clear everything on the block.  Just one more thing to do.  I’m thinking I can likely cut the runners off right where they meet the flange for the head and angle them outward

Maybe I can try that out some evening this week

Driver’s Side Exhaust 2/3 complete

This afternoon I was back in the garage.  At least it warmed up to -1 out there by noon so it wasn’t too terrible.  First up was figuring out the angle to cut off of the two 2×3 tubing pieces to get the desired 45 degree angle I was looking for.

Next I thought I would see just how hard it was going to be to bend that 3/8″ rod for hangers.  With the help of my vice and a lot of pounding with the baby sledge it ended up bending not too bad at all.  I didn’t even need to apply heat. I also welded on a ridge close to the end so that it doesn’t pull back through the insulator and then ground down the end to a nice tapered angle.

The next step was to figure out just how long the 2×3 tubing needed to be and what space was needed between the frame rail and the exhaust.  I used two jack stands and an extra piece of 2×2 tube that seemed to get the exhaust sitting right where I wanted it.

Next up was drilling a hole and welding in the bung for the O2 sensor.  After the bung was finished I welded the tube to the 90 degree bend that will be attached to the collector flange of the headers.

Once I had the 2×3 tubing all lined up with the 45 degree angle piece I could line up the bend coming off of the header collector.  I needed a straight line here because this is where I’m joining the two sections with the Magnaflow hi-flow metal-core cat.  In the picture below the cat is just hanging in place since it is slightly larger than the 2.5″ OD tubing which creates a lap joint.

Fuel Filler Neck Problem Solved

While I was visiting Performance Improvements this morning to pick up my exhaust parts I mentioned to the guys there that I’ll soon be trying to figure out my fuel filler neck configuration.  Basically with the lower fuel filler cap and fuel tank configuration an off the shelf filler neck will be tough to find.

So they showed me a simple solution to my problem.  They had a So-Cal universal gas cap that screws onto a 2.5″ mild steel neck.  This will allow me to cut a 2.5″ hole in some of my 1/8″ steel and weld it to the neck so that I can fasten it to the body. On the other end I can use some standard 2.5″ tubing to weld a neck at whatever angle I like.  I just need to add a small nipple to the filler neck for the fuel tank vent line and I’m in business.

As you can see it’s a pretty nice fit into the Shelby style fuel filler caps.  It goes to show that it’s always helpful to ask those who have already been there and done that before.  I may need to weld on a couple small tabs to the top of the cap so that it’s easy to spin, but other than that, it looks like it will be a great solution

 

Exhaust Parts have Arrived

I should have all the parts I need now to really get started on the exhaust fabrication.  This included some 2.5″ weld on flanges and two O2 sensor bungs.  Believe it or not one of the trickiest parts to track down were weld on exhaust hangers.  Some had them available but they were a 1-2 week order time from the west coast of the US.  So I improvised a bit and just bought some 3/8″ rod from Rona that I’ll weld some ridges onto

I was also able to drop by the local Part Source and pick up some hanger insulators and some replacement O2 sensors (after I found out the existing ones were welded into the previous exhaust.. yeah.. lovely eh?)

The new Flowmaster 40 mufflers should give the BatBerry a real nice growl.  The car absolutely needs to both look and sound nasty as it rumbles down the street.  Kinda like it would eat small animals and scare children if they got in its way

Afternoon Exhaust Work

After lunch today I headed out to the garage to get a start on the exhaust. My steel order arrived yesterday and I had picked up some exhaust bends on Friday.  First up was a quick change on the headers.  The old headers just weren’t going to fit after the cabin was built.  So I spent the extra money and also got a ceramic coated version of some block huggers to help with heat and corrosion.

Next I needed some 2×3 rectangular tubing. This rectangular tubing is going to run directly under the side frame rails. However when I called about getting that tubing they only had it in 1/8″ wall thickness which was going to be way too thick. So I ordered a couple 20′ lengths of the 2×2 tubing that had a thinner wall.

To start I needed to cut off one of the sides of the 2×2 tubing and then cut the other 2×2 tube right down the middle.

What’s left was to clamp the two pieces together and weld the seams. This took quite a while since it ended up being about 20′ of seam welding.  I had to turn the heat down a bit so that the but joints didn’t burn through while welding.  I also did the welds in a few different sections by alternating both sides and ends to try and reduce any warping from the heat.

Spring Cleaning

Yesterday afternoon was a good time to do a little bit of spring cleaning.  I managed to get most of the garage cleaned up so that I’ll have room to work on the exhaust over march break.

I picked up some 2.5″ mandrel bends and a couple of high flow metal-core cats to fabricate the exhaust.  Luckily I already had a couple of Flowmaster 40 mufflers from the caprice donor car.  The long stretch of exhaust tubing will be fabricated into some 2×3 rectangular tubing that I’m going to create out of a couple 2×2 tubes. This long tube will go right underneath the frame rails on both sides of the car. They will then have some 45 degree angles on each end.

It’s a bit hard to explain until I get started with photos, but all the pieces have been ordered and should be here on Monday.  I’m hoping to get the exhaust finished over march break.

Now its time to head out to the garage to finish up the spring cleaning before we go and check out some dinosaurs at the ROM for the afternoon