Heat riser valve on driver's side?!?
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 504
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From: NW Michigan
Heat riser valve on driver's side?!?
I shudder to think of what my '80 Vette's been through prior to her arrival at my door... I've been crawling around checking out her underside (a nightmare of old leaks, current leaks, and coagulated crud) tracking down a exhaust rattle. Thought the culprit might be the heat riser, but my rattle was on the driver's side.
Lo and behold, the valve IS on the driver's side! Not hooked up to anything; I'm not even sure if it's installed in the proper alignment. Consequently my driver's side exhaust hangs about 1.5-2 inches lower than passenger side as well. Would love to just remove it, but those nuts look pretty set in their ways- PB Blaster, heat, other ideas? If I get it off can I mate the two ends directly or would a gasket be needed? Why would it be on the driver's side? Did some years have it so?
I think I've been "Bubba'ed"!
Lo and behold, the valve IS on the driver's side! Not hooked up to anything; I'm not even sure if it's installed in the proper alignment. Consequently my driver's side exhaust hangs about 1.5-2 inches lower than passenger side as well. Would love to just remove it, but those nuts look pretty set in their ways- PB Blaster, heat, other ideas? If I get it off can I mate the two ends directly or would a gasket be needed? Why would it be on the driver's side? Did some years have it so?
I think I've been "Bubba'ed"!
Racer
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 288
Likes: 1
I have personally never seen a heat riser on the driver side but don't go by me. I'm sure others will chime in here. If you do remove it I believe you'll have to have a donut gasket to go between the exhaust pipe and exhaust manifold. Is that a heatshield I see covering the exhaust manifold? I just purchased a set of used heat shields and clean them up today hope to install them this weekend. Yours is the first that I've seen with the heat shields installed. Looks exactly like mine from the bottom.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 504
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From: NW Michigan
Is that donut gasket corvette specific or available at a local parts house? I'd love to rip that thing out this weekend.
cgc- chromed heat shield installed by PO. I like it, although it does need to cleaned up or replaced. Without them the manifolds are pretty ugly IMHO.
cgc- chromed heat shield installed by PO. I like it, although it does need to cleaned up or replaced. Without them the manifolds are pretty ugly IMHO.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2011
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From: Midland Ontario
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You've got one of these in your hometown don't you?
Racer
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 288
Likes: 1
Is that donut gasket corvette specific or available at a local parts house? I'd love to rip that thing out this weekend.
cgc- chromed heat shield installed by PO. I like it, although it does need to cleaned up or replaced. Without them the manifolds are pretty ugly IMHO.
cgc- chromed heat shield installed by PO. I like it, although it does need to cleaned up or replaced. Without them the manifolds are pretty ugly IMHO.
If you don't know the size take the old heat riser with you.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,520
Likes: 11
From: Hinckley OH
Heat is definately the best way, but you need an Oxy-Acetylene torch to get it red hot. If you do get the nuts off, then you need to clean up the threads on the studs because without the riser the nuts need to go up that extra inch or so. You might be better off going to a muffler shop if you don't have the right tools for the job. I don't think it would be too expensive and if you don't like their estimate you can always walk away.
Racer
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 279
Likes: 0
From: Virginia Beach VA
Those nuts are in much better shape than mine were. Clean them with a wire brush and use lots of PB Blaster and they should come off. And don't use any power tools to remove them. The donut gasket is available at your local parts shop. The heat riser helps warm the engine faster on cold mornings. Unless you're in the Great White North, you can probably do without it. Mine was gone and I didn't put a new one in.
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Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: NW Michigan
PB Blaster and a small cheater bar did the trick. What I found was that the exhast manifolds apparently had swapped sides (NOM), thus heat riser valve on the driver's side... Why? Who knows the mind of POs??? Did have to use a larger nut as a spacer or I would have run out of threads to snug up the exhaust. Ditching the valve brought my driver's side exhast pipe up a bit (a plus as it was 1.5 inches or so lower than passenger side). Don't think I'll miss the valve; it's supposed to be 105 here tomorrow.
Le Mans Master
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Won't removing the heat riser affect the mounting of the exhaust system? I'm asking because the heat riser on my '66 (w/ side pipes) isn't attached to anything and is only acting as a spacer (for whatever reason I don't know) and being I'm in the process of replacing my side pipes, I would prefer not to re-install the non-functioning heat riser.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: NW Michigan
I removed the riser on my '80 and reconnected using a donut gasket. That did tilt the exhaust tailpipe down on that side, and I had to have the run readjusted to compensate. I know many remove the baffle and leave the riser or buy a spacer when they remove theirs to keep that from happening.