Now the last piece to go on here was a
short 3" long straight piece that had to be cut an angle because
the collector was not parallel to the engine. It was instead parallel to
the frame rail but couldn't be avoided because of clearance issues. This
would make it harder to install the headers later on after they were all
built but you have to do what you have to do. Notice again the tape and
red lines.
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After checking how things fit, I was
now ready to weld the tube at all five joints. I could only weld about
half an inch or so before I had to turn the tube and start all over
again. This took about 45 to 50 minutes per tube to complete. The flange
was to have the tube welded from the inside and then ground down but not
ground flush with the surface with the flange face. I wanted to leave a
bead that would stay above the flange face because this would seal
better when the gasket was installed. After some careful grinding and
filing, the gasket surface was still above the flange face and ready for
action. After welding all of the tubes, I had to grind around the tube
where they came into the collector because the welds hit each other
preventing them from sliding in the collector. I got a little carried away
and sanded all the welds flush with the tubing. Oh well....they should
look good later after they get coated.
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This is what it looks like after a
week of work. I managed to make one tube per night and then welded them
all on Saturday morning when it was cooler. The rest of the time was
spent on sanding the welds down which you can't see very well in this
shot. The tube from above is on the right side of the engine.
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One of the last things to get welded
on are these clips that hold the collectors on to the tubes. You only
need two per collector to keep things from coming loose. Two are already
welded on the collector so all you have to do is weld the other two on
when your tubes are finished. Lets take a look at how they look under
the car.
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