BMCRace

and exhaust.....

This is my personal car, well I haven't driven it in 2 years now but it is still my car

I am finally getting some time to work on it again so here it is
1971 Datsun 240z with Chevy 350 sbc swap (mounts made by me)

I had just finished off the drivers side header and side pipe and will be starting on the passenger side hopefully this weekend. Don't worry about the hack job on the wheel wail the car will be getting fully caged soon and we will cage the engine bay a bit to reinforce the suspension and just overall help counteract 39 years of rust.

Well enough talk here are the pics









The headers and complete sidepipe exhaust will be ceramic coated by Polydyn here in Houston

Aldo from 1320 Racing Houston Tx will be the mastermind behind the roll cage of the car as he and I have been good friends for quite some time now.

I don't expect the car to be done anytime soon however I will update this thread as progress is made on the car. I am hoping to have the car painted and drivable by my birthday (Nov 27th) of this year as I haven't driven a car faster than a 15 second for close to 4 years now

The header is a 34" long primary with 1.75" runners. All runners are equal within 2" of each other. Yes it does clear the tires just fine however when I swap over to a wider tire in the front (car is being built for road racing) I will have to put on some steering stops. Also I will build a very nice heat shield to both protect the tires from too much heat as well as protect the header from flying rocks/mud/debris...


-James

weiRtech

i don't see any joints anywhere... how do you get that sucker in and out?

RC000E

That's saying it's not equal length. Within 1/4" is one thing, within 2" isn't really worth mentioning.

I'm not feeling the sidepipes on that car, though I know styling of that car was modeled and influenced by Corvette, so maybe on the finished car I'd feel different. A lot of work there for sure.

d16sandrail

Looks like aluminized header tubing? that stuff is a B%tch to weld! looks good considering...nice work, should be a fun car when finished.

Jared

Will it still turn lock to lock without a ridiculous wheel offset?

BMCRace

The header is 1 piece and it does come in and out through that hole.

The final install will be done with me having taken out the suspension because it is major tight and would scratch it up if I dont do that for the future.

Yeah I am cheap when it comes to my own stuff and projects lol. I will rock the cheapest bends I can get from summit (those aluminized bends are 10$ each there) and the formed collectors I had laying around from some other shop going to throw them away long ago.

All things considering I would consider 2" very equal for the amount of room I had been given to work with.

I had liked the way this guy did his Z



The car has the Bre kicktail spoiler on the rear which was molded into the body and cut so that the outer pieces would remain in place while the rest of the spoiler came up when the trunk is opened. It looks like it was factory on the car now...



I have the same front end as this one
and even the Bre fender flares. Those will be installed last after I have the wheels and tires for the car so that the flares can be spaced out if needed to cover the big beefy tires (going to run a 255/50/16 in front and 305/50/15 in the rear) The wheels of choice are diamond racing steel wheels stock car series. Will be a 16/8 in front and 15/10 in rear

Next years project (if all goes well this year) will be to put a dana 36 rear end in the car (late 80's corvette). I prefer it due to the nice low auto gearing as well as it is all aluminum including the axles so it will be very easy to shorten and modify to fit, last but not least at $1250 shipped for a complete rear subframe with brakes it is a good price for what you get

BMCRace

At the moment it will turn all the way, the wheels on it though are the very old school original Western wheels ( 0 offset ) and the tires are only about 8" sidewall to sidewall.

When I change to a much larger wheel tire combo it will need to have some added offset to help clear the header as well as even some steering stops..

RC000E

Oh man, I remember this car from a mag feature. I LOVE that car...so sick.

weiRtech

i'd think equal length doesn't necassarily always mean equal flow anyway.

RC000E

Well, equal length is more about resonant scavenging making power at a target rpm window to match a cam design or build purpose. For true potential lengths must be within about 1/4" maximum. From there you lose the potential to scavenge all cylinders equally at given rpms. Within 2" is certainly better than within 10", but 1/4" is a whole lot better than 2".

My point was, that were it the intention to create a true equal length system, then I'd call 2" a failure. Were it built to best fit the application and logistics, while attempting to maintain as equal a length as possible, then I'd say its a good result.

Now, my question is, how was this 2" determined? Length should be determined by measuring short radius centerline lengths. Generally you'd measure each section as you build the header, then write the length on the piece as you build it, allowing calculation at the end.

Either way, this is looking far deeper than necessary. It fits, it's clean, the steering works...done.

Timmah!!

Should have built a set of 180* headers Nice long read about em on hybridz.