What is the best way to put a clearance dent in a header down tube? Is there a good way to do it while it is still on the car? I have a new idler arm on my 69, but now it rubs on the header a little bit, I probably only need 1/8 to 1/4 of clearance.

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Shawn Peterson
1969 Z28, 406SB

If you can get to it - use a large socket (like a spark plug socket)and hold it on the header pipe where you need a little room and whack it hard with a big hammer. Not very refined but it does work and leaves a decently radiused dent.

Shawn,
The first thing I would do, before ruining a good set of headers, is to go look at a couple of other radius arms and see if they are made the same. You might be able to find a different brand that fits better. Moog always seem to be very close to original. If you cannot find one, call the manufacturer of the arm and inquire whether grinding it a bit would weaken it. Depending on what is rubbing and how it was made, you may be able to grind some off and solve the problem.

!!!!!!!!!!DO NOT GRIND WITHOUT ASKING THE MANUFACTURER FIRST, THIS IS A SAFETY ITEM !!!!!!!!!!
Hope this helps,


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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

I'm pretty much stuck with the arm I've got. I already put it in, coated it with cast Iron gray and had the alignment done. Now the trick is to keep the arm and the headers from kissing each other. It looks like I may end up having to take the right header of to make a small dent. I tried a few times with it on the engine... Didn't work. Not enough support behind it, the hammer just bounces back.

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Shawn Peterson
1969 Z28, 406SB

I've had this same header clearance problem on my 67 camaro for many years. With my small block, big block, etc. I've always had to put the dent in the header, which invariably ends up contributing to a header leak at some point.

I wish I could find some headers that would clear the idler arm and be done with it. Very frustrating. If you're ever told that you need to use different motor mounts, don't pay attention to them. That doesn't work either. I've tried.

So if anyone that knows of any other solutions, please help out. Only if you've resolved this specific problem yourself. Otherwise your suggestion is most likely not that useful.

Thanks :)

The 1967 Z28 factory headers that are being reproduced now should clear with no problems at all. The only thing is, not many people are willing to pay the $1,000 asking price.
http://67z28.com/gallery/albums/2004%20Carlisle%20Camaro%20Nationals/Christensen%20Marina%20Blue%2067%20Z28/IMG_0210.jpg

Who's making the repro OEM headers?

This is kinda interesting! On the Nova boards we have a high number of guys with clearance issues next to the gear box, but I've never heard anyone talk about a problem on the Idler arm side other than the AC box on AC cars. Are the Nova mounts different than the Camaro? If so maybe a mix match between the two would solve the problem for both groups. I don't mean to step on toes here, but the BBC and SBC frame mounts make a big difference as far as clearance goes. The big problem is identifying the correct mounts and them getting the proper motor mount that matches the set up. A SBC motor mount will fit on a BBC and mount the engine to a BBC frame tower and vise versa, but they are different hieghts. Some of your parts stores don't list a difference but their is a difference. I'm dealing with a whole different story since I'm going pontiac, lucky for me I managed to hook up with some Pontiac guys that have been really helpful in my preperations for rebuilding the engine and they even told me what headers work on the 1st gen Firebirds and which ones to stay away from.

Is this where your clearance problem is? Pitman arm or idler arm?

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/11/web/515000-515999/515786_25_full.jpg

My guess is that you are using Hedman or Hooker 1 3/4? This is a common complaint.

I had this problem on my 69. I ground on the Idler arm and I turned a self tapping screw into the steering stop on the passenger side. This extended the steering stop by the thickness of the screw head. I lost a tiny bit of turning radius on that side but it's not noticeable and the combination solved the problem without dimpling the header.

Who's making the repro OEM headers?
http://taperfresto.com/road_race_headers.html