Look I'm a noob so dont hate. Headers questions...

[84Longbed]

I got some headers for my truck, seem to be round tube where they meet the manifold. The 84 Scottsdale came with a 305 but now has a 350 in it. Im unsure of what year the motor is, but is there another way to tell if my heads have round or oval ports(short of pulling the manifold)? On the other hand, I read that the port difference wont matter as long as the pipe on the header flange is bigger than the port on the head. Is this true? Hoping to knock this out tomorrow so I'd be very grateful for fast responses. Thanks

[muddnutz]

have a pic. of inside of headers where they meet flange? should be oval heads have to pull manifold to verify what you have

[84Longbed]

Thats what I was worried about, I don't want to pull the manifold unless I can just screw it back on if its not going to work. Is that possible, or will I have to put another gasket on the manifold?

[wyattglock]

If you pull the intake, it is smart money to go ahead and put in a new gasket set. A decent set shouldn't cost to much for that engine.

[84Longbed]

Im not pulling the intake, its already got a edelbrock performer on it. Im just worrked about the ports matching up between the heads and the hooker competition headers I got

[Pop's C-10]

They aren't round & they not oval...they will bolt up fine..

[84Longbed]

preciate it. So i buy the circular gaskets as opposed to the square gaskets, correct?

[Pop's C-10]

like these

[Restrorob]

Look I'm a noob so dont hate. Headers questions...

Welcome aboard 84 !

I don't believe there's a person on the board that would "hate" on anyone when asking for help, We all luv this obsession we have and enjoy helping others with theirs.

Pops has you covered on this one, But feel free to ask anything anytime you want, That's what makes this board so awesome....

BTW, Since you used "noob" in your thread title that entitles you to this;

[84Longbed]

Lol yea I firgured I'd get the whole "worthless thread with no pics", I just want something to show off before I go throwing pics up. Plus I gotta figure out how. Ill take some pics after I change the thermostat, housing gasket, and exhaust. I just had to wheels sandblasted, was gonna paint them gunmetal gray but I think they look good as is. Thanks for the help Pops

[Pop's C-10]

You welcome..i learned all this from when i put my 78 camaro together... we all where noobs @ one time..

[83burban]

those wheels wont stay looking good for long unless you paint them, if you like the sand blasted color try finding a color that matches the sand-blasted metal color - otherwise they'll rust up on you

[84Longbed]

Aright I got the square-shaped gaskets, got my collector gaskets, seems like Im ready to get started. A couple more quick questions tho, when I pull the manifold will there be a gasket I'll have to scrape off? And when I put the gaskets on, does the dished side go against the header where the welds are or against the block. It makes sense to put them with the dish facing the welds, but I want to be sure. And I promise, pics as soon as the headers are in. BTW how do I go about putting pics up? Thanks for everything

[84Longbed]

Im just gonna wing it tomorrow morning. I'll try and get up around 9 and I dont have class til 4:30 so it should go smooth unless I run into something. Anyone know the torque specs for the header bolts? and possibly the collector bolts? Preciate it. Oh and I'll take pictures

[BigBlocksRule]

No gaskets to scrape, they go on dry. Some folks don't use gaskets at all, if the flanges are good and square, they won't leak. I have some metal gaskets an old builder gave me several years back that I use on mine, don't have to worry about composition gaskets cracking or blowing out. Don't use any loc-tite or anything like that, it'll just make it hell when you try to take 'em off. Matter of fact, anti-seize is a good idea...if you watch Stacey David, you know you can use Maalox! If they give you problems with loosening, get some Stage 8 locking fasteners, they work like a champ.
Take your time getting the exhaust manifold bolts out, most will come out fairly easy. I also run a thread chasing tap thru the bolt holes to get 'em clean.
Can't help you with torque specs, I just get 'em nice and snug with a 3/8 drive ratchet.

[Pop's C-10]

After tha 1st 100 miles..i'd check to see if they still snug...jus take wrench & give em a turn..

[motornut]

I would/will use two collector gaskets if the seal leaks ...
the gaskets Pops shows you are good
cause you can put the header on with out the gasket ,
using the first and last bolt,
slide the header out to put the gasket in and it's easier then trying to hold it all.....
or just cut the other type to do that

and i had to make a header wrench for my spark plugs(tight fit in there)

[84Longbed]

I got the same gaskets pictured. Im assuming the dished side goes against the header flange. I was getting all ready to pull out the old exhaust today when I noticed the transmission crossmember may interfere with the driver side exhaust pipe. Ill have to take a few more measurements before I tear the manifolds off. Is it possible to put the headers on and drive it without exhaust if the crossmember is in the way, at least until I find a different crossmember?

[motornut]

yup driven a few in to get muffled but.....
make sure it's not gona toast something along the way

[Pop's C-10]

Another trick is to get allen bolt to put in tha tight spots a wrench or socket has a hard time getting to. Tha crossmeber shouldn't be a problem. but i'm sure others that have done headers on square know better. i haven done mine yet..

[motornut]

i made a 5/8ths wrench to fit plugs on the headers
the box end bit cut off, turned 90 deg,welded back on, about i inch away, cut and turned 90 to be same plane/angle as the box end,weld on

[84Longbed]

I'll go ahead and jump into it tomorrow then unless it starts raining. From what I've looked up, the stock exhaust manifold bolts are supposed to be torqued to 20 or 25, don't know if its the same or not. I'll just keep an eye on them for the first couple weeks. Good idea about the allen bolt, unless motornut wants to sell me the tool hes fabbed. j/k I still dont know how to post pictures, is there a sticky about it somewhere? I haven't searched yet, im just being lazy right now.

[motornut]

Well i suppose i can trust you, eh . Sure I can cause you drive a chevy truck.It's just I havn't heard back from the patent office.apperently a tool with spark plug and wrench in the name requires extensive research to get a patent.
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[84Longbed]

Aright so I got the headers on after a few hours. Ill probably pull them off tho, two of the spark plugs are inaccessible, and the end of the passenger side header sits dead center with the transmission crossmember. I'm at a loss what to do, Im going to take the truck to a buddies exhaust shop and see what he thinks. I'll probably end up buying a pair of those 160 dollar shorty headers from fleabay then getting my friend with the shop to do the rest. Any ideas?

[Pop's C-10]

post a pic of tha side that interfers with tha spark plug & tha dead center thing is not a issue inless it right up against tha crossmember. Tha pipe man can put a jog intha pipe to clear tha crossmember.