I have a stock S10 T5 in a '55 Chevy, 350, 370 gears, shifts like butter. If you don't have a heavy foot & big weenies I don't see the need for overthinking it with a WCT5, other than gear ratio choices.
On the S10-T5, I now have about 3,000 / 4,000 miles on the new trans. Other than getting the hydraulic T/O bearing dialed in the trans seems okay. It seems a little louder than I recall, tho the car has little sound insulation and,...I may be over thinking it because of past experience
On the 180 degree headers,...I'm thinkin about a reboot. The flame went out late last year after several failed attempts to stuff all of the pipes between the head and frame rail and get all that under the toe board on the driver side. Re that, I'm also looking at cowl steering and suspended pedals because of space issues.
Good to hear about the new trans! The re work with the headers is a frustrating spot to be, but I am curious to see how you tackle it.
Sheech!!!!! It's been well over a year since I shared anything on the Header Project. Wellll,...I'm back. Finally sucked up my enthusiasm to get back to the challenge. When I last left this project, I was struggling to stuff all the tubes in the space available. Today I gave up, and ripped everything out,....again. The last two pics are todays effort. Hopefully 3rd time's a success. I've run outta tubing bends so I'm on the site with Summit,....AGAIN!
“Third times the charm” on the upside you’ve probably got one heck of tubing wall display in the shop now!
The best part about working with metal is you can cut it out and weld it back together again. Glad to see you're back at it!
I’m going fender less and started with a used set of 50 dollar exhaust from a 454 race car. Even traveling outside of the frame has issues so I can only imagine the scope of your efforts.
This thing is kickin my ass! Dunno if I posted this diagram before. It's my guide to connecting all the dots. I found it quite easy to get my tubes crossed The latest challenge was finding the routes for primaries #4 and #6 and,..... I had to adjust #1 and #7 to make room for them. Pretty sure I've got it now after relocating the #1 "swirl". These two guys, #4 and #6 were the biggest headache,....making room for them and then connecting the dots. As you can see everything is "tacked" together. The next order of business is to remove sections,....without upsetting the many connections and finish welding without introducing warpage that would make reassembly difficult if not impossible.
You're a talented man and a stubborn one, Mr. Bill! I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago. Go, Bill, Go!
FINALLY ! ! ! ....., another milestone. Although I anticipated having enough clearance to remove the headers (it's really tight), I was a bit concerned after tacking everything together that I might get a nasty surprise. Concern gone ! After unbolting both the flange to the engine and the manifold routing primaries under the pan, the driver side header dropped out slicker'n snake shit. Now on the bench, finish welding can proceed. The blue tape seen in the second pic is temporarily holding those two primaries in place. Those tubes will be removed in order to provide access for welding otherwise inaccessible joints in the adjacent tubes.
That's an impressive bit of fitting tubing and keeping straight where each tube ends up ! I'm just glad I'm not the one who has to weld in all of those tight spots. Lynn
Whew!!!!!!!!! Now when people ask "Why",... I can respond, "because I can!" T'was touch and go there for awhile but I finally got over the hup. I, like i image most folks, are inclined toward symmetry and I was frustrated by not being able to approach that. The failure to do that I blame on, 1) the heads are staggered by 3/4 of an inch. 2) the firing order is not consistent between right and left banks. 3) clearance requirements for oil lines on one side and the starter on the other were very different,....a considerable effort to yield symmetrical muffler and tailpipe locations.
Still gotta finish from the mufflers back,.....i.e. threading the tail pipes under the panhard bar, over the axle, around and between the tank and the coil overs, and have a symmetrical exit parallel with the frame horns, and assure that it can be "hung" and dismantled.
Wow what a great project and killer accomplishment! Hope we get to see/hear a video once you have it running, I’m incredibly intrigued to hear what this will sound like! Great work sir
Way cool! I've always wanted to try to build a set of 180 degree headers. Is there a reason you necked it down so far at the end of the header? seems like the tailpipe is really small for the large primaries in front of it. .
Is there a reason you necked it down so far at the end of the header? seems like the tailpipe is really small for the large primaries in front of it. A lot of this project was/is an exercise to see if I could actually pull it off. I attempted the same on my 32 several years ago but gave up. That experience drove several decisions. This engine is all of 270 inches, the previous being 325 inches,...with 1-5/8 primaries and 2-1/8 exhaust. The Model A has less real estate than the 32. So,....smaller tubing like 1-1/2 inch primaries and 2 inch exhaust means tighter bends for tighter spaces. And then, getting all the "plumbing" collected and stuffed under the firewall while preserving foot space, with gentle transitions, lead to the extended collectors. Also because of that "box of snakes", I am driven to suspended pedals and cowl steering,....cool but, no surprise, more challenges! Current status is completing the system from the mufflers to the end of the tailpipes. Until now I've guestimated clearances between panhard bar, axle, coil-overs and gas tank, which are all very tight. I'm hoping to receive and install the coil-overs in the next few days, and not receive any surprises.
EXHAUSTED ! ! ! Can't claim to be done but close enough. You'll note that many of the joints are still "tacked". That so's sections could be broken apart to adjust clearances which are really tight. Like 40ply sez " nice thing about steel" Also got the coil-overs mounted and hangers figgered. Finish welding will be "cake". And,.... I love looking at and recording the curves and spatial relationships.
The Jalopy Journal
