From a 4 Star General in the Great Army of People With Headers That Don't Fit. Been struggling for months for a solution. Purchased a set of polished stainless steel Doug's side pipe headers for my 70. Absolutely beautiful. People at first think they're chrome plated. The passenger's side fits...just barely, but it fits. The driver's side doesn't. OK. I have Brodix aluminum heads that supposedly have slightly elevated exhaust ports. The heads are on an aluminum Keith Black block. I'm sure the block has exact dimensions as the stock iron block. That the heads are different means that Doug's takes no ownership for my non-fit problem.

I had an initial interference with the stock rag joint and the steering box.....so, I bought a Steeroids unit to get rid of the rag joint and steering box. This created a tiny bit more room, but this is not an automatic solution for more space. The Steeroids unit can have its interference issues, just at different places. For me, it looks like it helps, but a tiny space gain for the $2000+ cost of the Steeroids.


Notice that interference with the steering box is gone. One point for the good guys. Surprisingly, the Steeroids U Joint interferes even though it has a much smaller diameter than the previous rag joint. Notice the large gap along the top of the header flange. I'm beginning to think this flange may have been welded in at an incorrect angle at the factory. The contrary thought is ...no it's because of the elevated ports of the Brodix Heads, that's what causes the gap. But the comment here is that the passenger's side fits. The blue tape, ugly, is to minimize scratches and prevent reflection flares from the polished SS. Notice the front clip is missing. It was a Bondo sculpture masterpiece that I was going to replace with new fiberglass. So I Sawzalled off the front clip...lotsa fun! It was really easy to cut off.

Here's the passenger's side. Headers fit. Good reason to think there's a manufacturing error with the driver's side. Notice those fuel lines! I have an Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump. My engine builder suggested it. My jaw dropped when I pulled this thing out of the box. Damn! The pump looks like it came out of a fire truck. Aeromotive said I needed AN8 feed and return lines to not stress the pump. Notice where the fuel regulator is. That gray panel is for a Vintage Air ac unit. I'll be reworking the gas lines soon to integrate in with the fuel regulator location. It feeds a FuelTech sequential port fuel injection.

I like the look of the sidepipes. My 69 BB, L88 Clone, that was stolen had sidepipes. I building this car to replace the 69 so I want the sidepipes. I'm having a problem finding someone to modify my driver's side, seen above. I'd be willing to have new driver's side headers fabricated from scratch. So Cal was a Mecca for Hot Rods/ custom cars 30 years ago. Not today. Very few shops left. Doug's Headers left California two months ago for Kansas. Any recommendations for someone to modify or maybe build headers from scratch would be really appreciated.

 

Isn't the gap caused by the header bolts being loose and if you tighten them the header tube hits the joint?
Have you contacted Brodix to see if they have had others with the same problem?

 

The driver's side header flange mates with the cylinder head at the bottom, but is angled to produce a gap at the top. If I could magically grab the flange and flatten it against the cylinder head at the top, while neatly adding more bend to the tubes, it'd fit. I think the flange is welded to the tubes at an incorrect angle. Doug's is agreeable to me shipping them the driver's side header...they are in Kansas. They will then ship it to the factory in Tiajuana to reinstall on their jig for dimensioning check. If it's OK, the header will be shipped back to Kansas and then to me. A round trip of at least 4 months. I talked to Brodix. The heads are about 30 years old (mint though)...the tech rep thought the exhaust ports were 0.6 inch higher. I tried to compare them with a stock iron head and I don't think there's that much difference. I really hate that time is flying by. I'm 82 and I got to get this thing done before I become feeble/dead. Got a McLeod twin disk clutch so my aged leg muscles should be good with the clutch. Tremac 5 speed. After I get the header problem solved, it's to the shop for a new front clip. Have all new trim parts for the body work....hope it's all downhill for completion at that point. The Doug's headers cost bout $2500. Someone put in a tremendous amount of tedious polishing....beautiful finish, all mirror smooth.
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About tightening the header bolts. I had the foresight to have Brodix helicoil the aluminum cylinder head exhaust mounting bolt hole heads. I had purchased the heads in 1992, so in 2022, I sent them back, still new, to Brodix for modernizing. They polished the domes, CC'd them, installed new springs for a roller cam, used an improved valve grind, and helicoiled the exhaust bolt hole threads. I think with aluminum heads, there's a lot of insurance with helicoils.

 

My experience with side pipe headers starting back in about 1973, clearances are always at a minimum and the latest set I installed, Hookers, they had increased the flange thickness bringing one pipe extremely close to the stock box. If your exhaust ports are higher you may have to make a decision to either sell the heads and go stock or try under the chassis headers.

 

Thanks, but no way am I going to break open the engine to replace the heads. In retrospect, I should have bought GM logo aluminum heads which I assume have the same dimensions as the iron heads. I bought my heads in 1992, so I don't know if GM logo heads were available then. BTW. On a Edelbrock plant tour, I was amazed to see pallets of GM logo aluminum BB heads. They were being made by Edelbrock. I won't go for the under chassis headers. I like the sidepipes. They keep the cabin, transmission, and differential cool since there's no exhaust pipes anywhere near. Yep, they're noisy....but think of the money you can save by not having to buy an expensive sound system + you don't have to bother having a conversation with a passenger when you have one.

 

Just get yourself a header modifier 5000, pictured above. What’s the worst that could happen? You’ll have to redo the driver side pipes? You’re already looking down the barrel of that option.

I also have Doug’s stainless side pipes with raised exhaust ports. A little smashing, though it hurt my soul at first, and walla! Custom fit headers!

 

Heat and a baseball bat were just shown on a recent header fit thread.
To assume that off the shelf headers are going to fit perfectly, especially with a aftermarket steering system has been proven to be a silly assumption.

 

I think my aftermarket steering system, Steeroids, actual improved things slightly. If you look at my OP photos, a close look shows the #4 cylinder tube clearance is improved...note the factory dimple in the tube is no where near touching anything. The #2 cylinder tube comes close to the Steeroids steering shaft going down to the rack. No interference here with my Steeroids installation and no interference with the stock steering box with this tube either. The #2 cylinder tube to Steeroids steering shaft clearance cam be a problem with some headers.