1967 stepside daily driver.

[killakobra]

Well, turns out the harmonic balancer was shredded. i replaced it and it's got it's growl back. Next project is to get my new Hedman headers working properly. the gasket they send was crap. it comes folded in half and looks like heavy card stock. It was leaking from half the exhaust ports and when i went to replace it it had burned to the header. well, it turns out that i didn't get it clear enough and now it leaks. again. and to top it all off my head gasket blew. SO today i get to rip the top half of the motor apart and inspect everything. yay, hopefully this will solve my oil leak problems with all new cover gaskets and maybe restore a little power. wish me luck!

here is a picture to hold you guys off until tonight.



Hedman 89300 for anyone who's interested.

[FormerMarine1981]

That looks SWEET, Sorry about the trouble your having.

[killakobra]

leaks. my god the leaks. and did i mention steam? couldn't find what was wrong with the gasket and all the oil in the pan was black. maybe water ran down the dip stick tube? well, after replacing the gasket(after breaking 2 bolts ) it is now overheating. oh, and the exhuast leaks. and doesn't fit right.

[killakobra]

well, where do i even start. The overheating was just a low water level. Easy fix. The headers are another story. the number 5 header tube is pressed hard enough against the frame rail next to the starter that the engine torque has left a dent in the tube. Not only does it scrub but the port spacing is wrong. number 4 lines up almost perfectly and leaves an even impression in the gasket. By the way, the gasket hedman tells you to use is $#!7! it had twice the leaks of the felpro and it took me 3 hours to scrap all of the crap off. At this point i'm a bit frustrated. So i call up hedman. The first people you talk to are incompetent. The first of the three entry level techs wasn't bad but couldn't really give me answers. After going over the whole setup i call back and clarify they the engine is in it's proper place and the bolts were tightened correctly. The second tech very sarcastically informed me that the product had been out since 1965 and that they had practically no complaints. Ok, maybe i overlooked something. This is when i found the misaligned ports. I feel sorry for the third tech because i just let him have it. He explains that they can put the header on a jig and check the dimmensions, but when i ask how long it will take to get the part back, i just couldn't wait. 3 weeks give or take after shipping both ways. To top it off it i would have to fit the shipping bill. Not happening. So I ask if they will refund the shipping cost(i didn't bother asking for a refund of the 2 extra gaskets and sealer i bought to try and seal it.) i get put on hold and after 10 minutes or so a different person answers and asks what's wrong. i must say i could not have been happier to talk with someone who wasn't reading off a prompt. i explained the situation and when he heard it hit the frame something clicked. ultimately he was willing to try to get summit to ship a new header and then send the old one back so i wouldn't have any down time. The only thing i would have to do was talk to Summit to see if they would send one on their word. 5 minutes later summit agreed to this and my new header is in the mail. by the looks of it, i won't get it until monday but i can limp along until then.

i also spent some time fixing my extra wiring in the cab. now i have a 40 amp switched fused circuit with a relay triggered by the ignition switch. i also have a 40 amp fused circuit that is constant power. this should be plenty for anything i want to bother with.

keep on bumping!

[BlueBleedingGreaseMonkey]

Killa, I've been running the same hedman headers in my 70 bump for almost a year now, no issues. I notched the frame for clearance, and sort of peeled it back so I could bend it back down and weld it back in place if I ever decided to choose another engine in the future. Hooker headers also has a gasket called the super competition gasket that Autozone carries, although you have to order it. They're about 20 bucks. I've had really good luck out of this pair.


The part number is 10819HKR. Notching the frame may bother you, but I've had 0 issues.

[killakobra]

is it a 1 piece gasket?

[killakobra]

I wish i could have good news for this thread for once. I finally broke down and paid to have the exhaust ran. Well when i got the truck back it had this awful whistle at idle and just didn't sound right. After looking under the truck, i could feel my blood boil. overtightened clamps, leaks at every joint, and overall bad fit. Okay fine i'll just take it back. Well when i take it back, they give me attitude and tack the pipe together and say it's sealed. guess what? still leaks. so i go back again. they bring the truck in and the employees go over the problems with me and express disgust for the work done by the person who did it originally. They start pulling the pipe apart and the owner walks over and asks what the problem was, I explain the problems i have with it and tell him what i want fixed. The next hour was spent arguing over whether or not exhaust leaks were acceptable and the proper way to put pipe together. They had the exit tubes run OVER the outlet of the glasspacks and clamped till the pipe coned on the end. Also the guy tried to tell me that not only was it impossible to seal that many pieces of pipe (4 pieces of pipe and 2 mufflers) but the fact that it was acceptable. This sent be over the top. It does help that the fact that he was taking every chance to insult me and my truck. I warned the guy that i wasn't going to take it and that i would report him for criminal negligence. He just walked off. Now i am aware that i am young and for the most part i'm not going to be taken seriously. So i call my dad. 5 minutes on the phone and him saying the same thing the guy rushes into the shop and starts pulling people to work on the exhaust. The pipe had been so crushed by the clamps that it took 2 people 2 hours to get it all apart. They got the crossover pipe made and had just enough time to get the 'packs back on before they closed. i went back 2 days later and ended up having to help the guy to get it right. I took the time between those 2 days to get a pair of thrush welded mufflers. Took 10 minutes to explain that it wouldn't take any more time to fit them than the glasspacks since he had to make 3 of the 4 pipes still. Long story short it took me an hour less than them. it also took 2 less hangers and the pipe was stiffer. All in all i'm happy with the sound and mostly happy with the fit but i'd never go back to the shop for work.

For anyone who wants to know the shop name it's Barry's tire and exhaust in forest city NC. I'll have pictures later.

[jzjames]

We've all been there.
Dont know what to say, people just want to take your money without having to do any work.

[killakobra]

Makes me wonder what they would have done with the motor..... I think the fact that they were so quick to insult my skills, possessions, and personality was the reason it bothered me.

Anyway, on an up note, i love the sound. i went to visit a friend that lives on the top of a mountain yesterday and i did nothing but . If i can, i'll try to get some video soon.

[killakobra]

Finished a behind the seat speaker box last night to replace the two 6x9 boxes i had stashed behind there. Right now it has 2 6x9's and 1 10" sub woofer, but in the end it will have two 6x9's, two 5-1/4"'s, and two 10's. It's not that i need that much, but i want it to be clean and to do that i need to be able to run the speakers below distortion level. Pictures later.

I think my next project will be front disks. I'm tired of wincing at having fun in the twisties.

[killakobra]

OKAY, got some pictures. Lets start with the old header. The reason is was leaking is that it wasn't made right. As you got further from the center, the ports got further off.

This shows ports 3 and 4. No leaks here



This is port 2. you can see by the outline that the whole tube is off by 1/4"



And Port 1



Even after replacing the bad header, the new one still scrubbed a bit. i had to but a small notch in the frame to keep it from squeaking.



For anyone who has read the last page or so know that i got the run around at an exhaust shop. After having to get out in the shop and doing half the work myself i finally got close to what i wanted. Here is the cross over.



muffler placement. They are thrush welded series. due to space restrictions over the transmission cross member, i had to run the passenger side pipe a little higher than the other. that's why there is an extra bend in the tail pipe under the hanger.











My new gas tank. all 15.5 gallons of it.



And my speaker box. I need one more 10" sub and some more mid-range speakers but other than that it's done. box measures 60x14 and it tapers from 8 to 5 bottom to top. i forgot to leave room for the speaker grates so i had to scoot my seat up one notch.



That's it for now.

[BlueOvalDave]

I'm really diggin the gas tank

[killakobra]

Thanks. Amazingly it's one of the last features people notice. if i make another one, I'm going to use an all metal keg instead of one that has a rubber coating.

[killakobra]

thoughts

[basketcase0302]

Hadn't seen your build thread in awhile. Sorry you went through the nightmare with the exhaust. As far as I'm concerned any business who would do that crappy of a job, (and then stand there and waste your time arguing about it) simply needs to close their doors / close shop / and give those really wanting and needing to work a chance!

For future reference...and advice for all the younger guys and gals here. You do have several means to get sloppy work corrected. But first make sure you're in the right! Get a written "scope" of work on any estimate (signed by both you and the repair shop) for any repair to your vehicle first. That same written scope is insurance to guarantee works done right the first time!