Ballaratcastle
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 29, 2018
- Messages
- 161
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- New Zealand
- My Car
- 1973 Mustang Convertible. Just imported from the USA as an unfinished project.
[url=https://ibb.co/gXU4Qy][img]https://preview.ibb.co/f0tW5y/Mustang.jpg[/img][/url]
Hi team
I purchased some hooker competition headers (painted but not ceramic coated) from CJ Pony parts where their advertising says they are made to fit 66-73 mustangs 302/351W engines. I an a newbie so took this as gospel. They got shipped to NZ and I have had major issues bolting them to the engine.
The passenger side went on fine and there was about 1/2 inch clearance from the top of the flange (collector) bolt hole and the floor pan.
Went to fit the drivers side passing them up from the bottom after unbolting the power steering box (my steering shaft was already out) and got them up to the heads.
It was then an issue and I couldn't bolt them up because the collector was hitting the drivers floor pan.
Tried loosening the mounts right off but still no play. Then had to disconnect the gearbox crossmember to allow the back of the engine to drop so I could then get a good face to the heads to get the bolts in.
I know when I jack up the back of the gearbox to reattach the mount I wont be able to because they will hit.
I then googled the issue and found it is a common issue as hooker haven't taken into account the extra deck height of the 351 over the 302. You would think this issue has been around for a long time and they would warn against this. Why do they also have the pointiest part of the flange at the top. They could have put the flattest part of the flange at the top and the bolt holes on the sides (eg rotate it around)
One blogger contacted hookers technical dept and their answer was to bash the floor pan up.. gees when someone has spent thousands $$$ replacing floor pans and nice paint job top and bottom that's a bit amateurish.
I also took my mount off to double check at a local mount shop who confirmed I had the low mount already and there is not much metal on those low mounts to elongate the hole any more plus the rubber is hard down on the cross member mount.
Any suggestions who has overcome this issue.
Other than bashing my floor pan up, I presume the only alternative is to cut the flanges off, turn them around and angle them down and reweld?
Cheers
Steve
I purchased some hooker competition headers (painted but not ceramic coated) from CJ Pony parts where their advertising says they are made to fit 66-73 mustangs 302/351W engines. I an a newbie so took this as gospel. They got shipped to NZ and I have had major issues bolting them to the engine.
The passenger side went on fine and there was about 1/2 inch clearance from the top of the flange (collector) bolt hole and the floor pan.
Went to fit the drivers side passing them up from the bottom after unbolting the power steering box (my steering shaft was already out) and got them up to the heads.
It was then an issue and I couldn't bolt them up because the collector was hitting the drivers floor pan.
Tried loosening the mounts right off but still no play. Then had to disconnect the gearbox crossmember to allow the back of the engine to drop so I could then get a good face to the heads to get the bolts in.
I know when I jack up the back of the gearbox to reattach the mount I wont be able to because they will hit.
I then googled the issue and found it is a common issue as hooker haven't taken into account the extra deck height of the 351 over the 302. You would think this issue has been around for a long time and they would warn against this. Why do they also have the pointiest part of the flange at the top. They could have put the flattest part of the flange at the top and the bolt holes on the sides (eg rotate it around)
One blogger contacted hookers technical dept and their answer was to bash the floor pan up.. gees when someone has spent thousands $$$ replacing floor pans and nice paint job top and bottom that's a bit amateurish.
I also took my mount off to double check at a local mount shop who confirmed I had the low mount already and there is not much metal on those low mounts to elongate the hole any more plus the rubber is hard down on the cross member mount.
Any suggestions who has overcome this issue.
Other than bashing my floor pan up, I presume the only alternative is to cut the flanges off, turn them around and angle them down and reweld?
Cheers
Steve