Now, we move on to the exhaust header...
Luckily, I have two headers here;
A 'real' Thunderbird, (newer Pertronix version) and also a cheap Empi copy.
The Empi was ceramic coated silver, and the 'real' one is black.
First, the Empi one had done duty on my bus for a couple of years before I got another real T-bird.
The real one here was found at a swap meet, and is basically unknown.
I know it's a Pertronix one, because it matches another of known origin.
So, the story with the Empi header is a long one.
It was basically the biggest piece of crap I ever saw.
First, it had the flanges far, far out of alignment.
Before it was installed, it was bolted to a mock-up motor and heated cherry-red with a torch to 'relieve' it.
As it was heated, the bolts were tightened down, until it came into place, and then cooled that way.
PITA.
I had to take a whole motor, on a stand, in a truck to the muffler shop.
They had to use a big-ass torch, the likes of which I never saw, to get the thing basically melted into place.
The Empi also interfered with the fan shroud.
Had to bang a big dimple in it at the very front, as a bend came around the shroud.
Didn't get a pic of this, but you will see this if you ever try to use one of these.
Lastly, (and this really pissed me off) there was a huge gaping hole in the middle of the collector.
You couldn't see it unless you looked very, very closely.
Unfortunately, this didn't show itself until after it was coated, and run.
It made such a racket!
Had to come back off, and Jim welded the very center.
This ruined the coating, and it got touched up with rattle-bomb, but the damage was done....
Here is the inside of the Empi collector after much re-work to plug the hole.
The hole in the middle was almost big enough to put your finger through..
The 'real' T-bird collector ain't no prize, either...
Look how sloppy the ends of the pipe were trimmed.
There are also massive blobs of weld at the flanges.
Welds that looked like the were squeezed out of a toothpaste tube!
A notch was required to get the bolt even on at all on one side.
And more blob welds... Still the "OG" T-bird here..
Of the two, the T-bird is far better than the Empi copy.
First, it didn't need dimpling to clear the fan shroud.
Second, the collector didn't have a hole in it.
Third, shown here, is that any mis-alignment could be mostly ( it's still crooked, see?) 'corrected' by tightening the thing down.
The Empi one couldn't be brought together at the flanges without torch work.
There was quite a bit of mis-alignment, though. this thing is no treasure...
You can see it still doesn't suck completely tight.
Maybe with some running/heat?
Maybe??
So, an odd thing about how they fit:
Here we have a stock engine, width-wise; Minus about .020" for fly-cut/deck.
Look closely at the pic above.
This would be the passenger side (right) viewed looking up from below, as installed in the car.
Below is the driver's (left) side seen from below (underneath). As stated above
Riddles...
If you use your imagination, piecing these together, and look closely,
The T-bird is designed for a motor wider than stock.
See how the heater box pipe flanges are closer together than the flanges on the header?
The tubes don't align at the flange.
All of that work dressing the welds at the flanges was essentially a waste.
The pipes don't align at the flanges.
The tubing 'shifts' over at the connection.
The Empi, on the other hand, was too narrow for my stock motor.
Of the two, the Empi had more mis-alignment.
The 'T-bird' was a bit closer.
There is likely a bunch of variation in manufacturing with these no matter what.
But some stuff to look for...
Trying to get these things perfect can be nigh impossible.
Best would be to cut the thing in half, align, and then sleeve; like I did with those 411/412 header pipes I showed earlier.
FWIW.
I had these two sitting here, and decided to share what I saw.
Hope somebody out there finds this useful one day.