HM2008 Build

[Bob Worley]

Wow! Those are impressive numbers and a great motor! Congrats
Curious why you want 3/8" flanges rather than 5/16"?   I've never heard of flange failure and although it's only an extra 1/16", it certainly won't help the tight clearance between #8 header tube and the foot box.
Matt

Because bigger is always better!  kidding it will help prevent warpage and leaks, and the flanges for AFR205 heads are narrower between ports than stock.

[Bob Worley]

My AFR 205 heads have two bolts holes for exhaust headers: 2" wide and 3" wide. Talking with Jason he said it's difficult to get the tubes welded in with the bolt holes so close to the tube, and it would be better to use the outer holes.  So I found a place, stainlessheaders.com in Minnesota, and they had laser cut flanges in either stainless or cold rolled mild steel 3/8" thick for the AFR 205 heads. I called to order and he said he would send me a set with only the outer holes. Cost me about $80 with shipping.

Well, StainlessHeaders.com didn't send me what I ordered.   Well then they arrived they had both holes drilled. I'm not happy. I called back and he said "sorry, my mistake...  you can only get outer holes in stainless. If you want them custom cut in steel  it will take 3-4 weeks."  Unacceptable.



Well, i'm a happy builder again.  I decided to cut my own flanges out.  This past weekend I took my "4-holes-per-port" flanges that StainlessHeaders.com sent me over to my friend Rick's shop, and a piece of 3/8" cold rolled flat steel bar, 3" wide, 48" long.   

Rick measured and drew up the flange in CAD, then transferred it to the CNC software. 



After a few rest runs on small scrap pieces and minor adjustments it was time to light the "fire in the hole"!







The plasma table really makes a nice clean cut; not quite as precise as LASER, but with a little clean up with a flapper wheel and wire brush they came out real nice.

I took them back to my garage and matched them up to my exhaust ports.  They were very close, I just did a bit of widening with a carbide bit on the port sides to make just enough space for the 16-gauge exhaust tubes.  They should port match very close.   I also cut a slight relief on the bottom edge so I can get a spark plug socket on the plugs.





I think i will go with exhaust studs in the shallower holes.  I also need to find an exhaust gasket that doesn't have the "4-holes-per-port" cutout.  I ordered the Fel-Pro 1487 set that I will be returning to Summit: www.summitracing.com/parts/fel-1487
I wonder if I can buy bulk exhaust gasket material and cut them out myself?

For the exhaust studs, i'm looking at ARP 400-1413 stainless set: www.summitracing.com/parts/arp-400-1413
I want stainless basically because they "look pretty".  So I'll need to find what kind of anti-seize, or lock-tite should I use on the studs.

[mandmGuys]

Pretty slick, one more bite of elephant gone.

Mark

[Paul Proefrock]

Bob,
Be very careful in using studs. There is very little room in the engine compartment to move the headers around and you may find they will not go over the studs due to interference with steering components or the foot boxes.

Also, it is unlikely that loctite will survive due to the high temperatures. I'd recommend Stage 8 Locking style fasteners.

Paul

[Bob Worley]

Bob,
Be very careful in using studs. There is very little room in the engine compartment to move the headers around and you may find they will not go over the studs due to interference with steering components or the foot boxes.

Also, it is unlikely that loctite will survive due to the high temperatures. I'd recommend Stage 8 Locking style fasteners.

Paul

Good advice Paul.  Rick actually showed me the locking type fasteners on his Lone Star Classics exhaust header.   I also considered the tight space issue.   Sounds like Stage 8 is the way to go.

[Kruse]

red loctite melts at around 400 degrees. I use a little heat to loosen things that are loctited if I can't budge otherwise. even an electric heat gun or a solder iron sometimes is enough. so it probably won't take it.

[mandmGuys]

I used the stage 8 and love them.

Mark

[Bob Worley]

Its been a while since I posted an update ... 

I sent my exhaust flanges to Jason at Hurricane, and he's made my headers and side pipes.  He said he really likes the thicker flanges and the wider holes. The tubes fit very nice and don't have to be hammered and crimped in to clear the bolt heads.   I can't wait to see them! 

Jason is bringing them to the Texas Cobra Club Spring Meet at the end of this month in San Marcos, Texas.  And, I am also honored to be asked to bring my build, as it is, to display in front of the Hurricane trailer, so potential customers can see what a build looks like with the body off.   

Here are the headers in the jig at the Hurricane factory :

[s_reynolds]

They look nice. Are you going to have them ceramic coated and if so what color?

Sam

[Bob Worley]

They look nice. Are you going to have them ceramic coated and if so what color?

Sam

Yes, will be silver/chrome ceramic coated.

[120mm]

That is so cool.

Drew

[Russ Crouch]

Bob,
Looks like those beefy manifold flanges are are going to work well with the AFR setup. The silver exhaust system is going to look good with you engine. I'LL bet you can hardly wait for the first startup. That is going to be an ausome ride.

[Bob Worley]

Its been a long while since I've posted an update.    Lots has been going on, with what I have.   This past weekend I started riveting down the trunk and cockpit tubs for the final time. Whew! thats a scary thing.    I'm committed now

Other things as well, but I'll get to those later.   But the latest news is - I'm finally able to get my second, and final stage of the kit.  The guys at Hurricane have everything crated up on a pallet and ready for the trucking company to pick it up.  I should have it all in a week or so I guess.   So I'll have just about everything I need to finish.  My stretch goal is to have it running, albeit unpainted in gelcoat, by the Texas Cobra Club spring meet April 4-8, 2018.   

[s_reynolds]

Good. You'll be on the downward slope when you get the rest of your kit. Post pics when it arrives.

Sam

[Paul Proefrock]

Bobby,
You know the saying "Without pictures, it didn't happen"