Too cold to work in the garage (at least that’s my excuse for further procrastination on finishing the tunnel) so instead I started a do-over of my headers.
Earlier in the build I acquired a set of LS7 headers. They were the tightest block huggers available to fit the LS3, made of stainless steel and available at a decent price.
The LS7’s oval shaped exhaust pipe flanges (2 ¼ lb. each) were cut off and out-turning 90* bends made out of split 3” tubing were tacked on. To get the chassis placement right, the bends had to be tacked while the headers were on the car. Although the exhaust now exited in the right place, I was never satisfied with the 90* collector/transitions. They were too full in the hips.
Does this make my collector look too fat?
Attachment:
IMG_3185-1.jpg
I wasn’t worried about optimizing power and torque, but the transitions just didn’t look right. So a jig was made to capture the 14.5* head flange angle and the desired chassis exit point.
Attachment:
IMG_3190-1.jpg
Attachment:
IMG_3189-1.jpg
Mounted in the jig, the split bends were removed and massaged into the desired shape on the work bench instead of the car.
So here’s the chubby collector before:
Attachment:
IMG_3184-1.jpg
And the revised, svelte collector after:
Attachment:
IMG_0003-1.jpg
And on the car:
Attachment:
P2164916-1.jpg
I still have filler strips to make and tack into place and the Marman flanges to tack onto the output ends. Then the headers will go out for a proper welding with an argon back-purge setup.
Lesson learned about TIG welding Stainless. #1: Always make sure the argon is turned on before striking an arc on the work (don’t ask me how I know.) #2, Solar Flux works well shielding the back of a weld when you don’t have a proper back-purge setup, even if you are just tacking pieces in place.
Ok, now maybe I’ll get back to the tunnel… Maybe...