just finished installing headers in my 56 F100 and my powersteering box is right against my rear downtube. My question is around heat. How much heat can a powersterring box handle? I have enough room for 1 layer of exhaust wrap but thats it. I cannot move anything. When running at idle at temp, my header downtube is at 400 degrees and the low pressure hose is reading about 103 degrees. am I going to cook my steering box or can it withstand heat? would 1 layer of exhaust wrap make much difference? would a powersteering cooler make much difference? If you have any other ideas, let me know and thanks!
You have to do something with that header. Motors move when you're going down the road and that tube will hit the box. One wrap on the tube will not make any difference (IMO) on blocking heat transfer to the box. That Toyota box will fry. See if block huger headers will clear.
Something has to give here. Try shiming the motor up, or over. Try moving the box down If you can't then different headers need to be looked attack
Cut and re weld it on, I had to on my '54 with a 390. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=594962
motor is shimmed up already, vibration is not an issue, that much I know for sure..... I tested clearances on the dyno. These are block hugger headers.... with the big block setup in the 56 F100, I have no other options (unless I clip the front end and change the steering entirely). DEI and I are talking now about options for cooling; wrap, cool tubes, etc. The goal is to limit the heat transfer to the steering box from the header downtube.... as long as I can keep the transfer to 100-150 degrees, I should be ok, but looking for anyone that has options/opinions. Thanks.... not discounting your feedback, I am just not in a place to change headers.... this is the reality I am working with. Have to find ways to limit the heat to the steering box and not change the setup. Would like to get input on how much heat a steering box can take. is consistant 150 too much? Does a ps cooler work? etc.
If you have a friend with headers on a drivable car, you might want to get a thermal reading on his pipe, after pulling a decent hill. Those idle temps will be very misleading.
Take the motor off center or Fab or source different pipes or box. Cooler helps a little bit sure. Bigger cooler would help more I suppose. Header wrap is better than a pole in the eye but not enough.
cut that header and re route . egt on my diesel can reach 1000 degrees up a grade with a load . 1200 if im really on it !! sure this isnt a diesel but im sure you get the picture.
friend of mine just done his 56 f100 . he took the header off , cut and rerouted last tube away from steering box.
so I am going to wrap the rear pipe with ti-wrap, wrap the hoses with cool tube extreme, do an protecta boot (for spark plug wires), and cool tape the ps box between the header and box. DEI is gonna make a cool hundred off me I will monitor with thermal reader as I cruise, but I feel pretty good about this solution and with DEI stufff.... it should look pretty clean too.
sounds like a lot of b/s to me when a guy with a welder could have it done in an hour and im sure theres gonna be a time where they start to rub .
the pic is deceiving (lightning on my crappy Windows phone), the pipe is actually very cleanly clearanced. I should take better pics when posting to not confuse. Anyway.... I think I am going to try my wrap first, then if I need to move pipes, etc. Its all good.
Looks like 1/2 the od is gone and probably concaved not just oval on the backside to clear the box Stevie wonder can see it. What's meant by cleanly clearanced here so I can get a handle on very cleanly clearanced
I have a former customer that came in with the same issue. He had fought it with band-aids for 2 years. I changed the last 2 tubes so it would stop cooking his fluid. His exhaust would boil the fluid causing bubbles and then the when turning it was jerky instead of smooth. He had coated the headers inside and out as well as wrapped them and a cooler, still gave him problems till I changed the tubes around. Good luck to ya. The Wizzard
Ya really can't tell by a picture, but I think I'd reroute the rear pipe to the inside of the collector.
Cleanly clearanced my ass. A blind man can see the indentations from the hammer blows and the caved in tube can be clearly (or is that cleanly ) visible in the picture. As a few others have said, remove it and re-route that tube to give the clearance you need. Anything else will be a page in the chapter of the quick and dirty, bandaid it solutions in a book on how to build hot rods.
probably will reroute this winter once the cold sets in, thanks for the feedback. I did do some checking though... Stevie Wonder returned my call agreed that flow was not impeded by the mod whether it looks good or not (and the dyno said the same), so I have to side with Stevie and the dyno.
you wanted experienced help you got it. that is what the hamb is about. we don't want you messing things up. a good welder or exhaust shop would solve the header problem real quick. my friend took his to muffler shop, a $20 bill and a hour later problem solved. you will spend more time and money on a quick fix that won't work.
for sure.... I always appreciate HAMBers input and never take any comment (good, bad or indifferent) as anything other than solid feedback on the question I initially asked. After all the input, I am going to move the rear pipe, eliminating all issues: clearance, flow, heat, etc. It may not be my first choice.... but its the smart choice (and honestly.... the easiest one). Thanks JJ HAMBers!
Would you post a few more pics that give a better view of the engine bay? It would be easier to give good advice if we had a little better idea of the whole picture. Also, flow on that tube is impeded whether you want to believe it or not. looks like over half of the cross sectional diameter of the tube is gone there is no way it can flow the same as the full diameter tubes.
If you have never re-worked a header I'll give you some advise. Remove the collector compleatly and do a tube removal. Build the new one as one new piece. It's a lot easier than trying to build in between 2 fixed points. Once done just replace the collector. The Wizzard
yep.... I am going to take more pics tomorrow. I have found some other threads dealing with the same specific issue and lots of good advice has been garnered from HAMB and others. I think the best idea is to run a new rear tube, which is easy, always like advice though. The hard work has been done.... making a new rear tube is easy, just was hoping the answer was "wrap it" and all is fine. Since it seems to be "make new rear pipe" that is easy too. That's what winter time is all about.... getting things done on the many projects in the garage. Since i have to pull the new headers off to Jet Hot Coat anyway, its an easy problem to resolve. For the rest of the season (until it rains and gets cold, which is coming soon), I am wrapping the pipe. That will get me though the rest of September/October. Then its new rear header pipe time. All is good.... the hardest parts are done, some minor tweaks and these are buttoned up. Then its time for a new manifold and carb.... then time to start doing new shocks fr/rr and convert from column to floor shifter. Lots to do, lots of winter to do it!
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