DIY Explorer 302 Headers

[410Fortune]

M22
It is metric I know because I have to order the block off plugs for trucks with early egr or no egr
Metric m22 1.5 for sure

 

[97Sandbox]

Sweet, thanks. Off I go to order a tap!

 

[97Sandbox]

I finally got to where I'm satisfied with the driver's header. It's not perfect, but I think it'll work. Collector is tacked back on and my coworker will TIG it when he has time.

I still think I can do better on the passenger's side, so it's more blasting, welding, and grinding for me.

 

[donalds]

Just keep at it a little bit at a time

 

[97Sandbox]

All welded up. Just need to re-tap the EGR bung (waiting for tap to arrive) then ready for plating.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

those look purdy now!

 

[97Sandbox]

Just wait till there's nickel on them!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

so dumb question if you havent already posted it, did you pressure test them?

 

[97Sandbox]

I did not test them this round. I know there's pinholes in many of the welds, but I also know I'm not going to be able to fill them any more than I already have. The TIG torch simply can't fit down in the primaries so I had to MIG some areas and MIG inherently has a bit of porosity.

Will they leak? I'm sure they will some, but hopefully not enough to be an issue.

 

[Jeff213]

Since there is a lot more activity here than in my torque monster repair thread, I hope it is ok to hijack it for a bit. I followed advice from this forum and bent my headers back, not perfect but pretty good, with an acetylene air torch and a piece of steel bolted to them. I filled in between the pipes entirely with my new (to me) mig welder (NO MORE STICK ON EXHAUST!) It seems to be leaking some from the exhaust manifold gasket. Do you know of an exhaust manifold gasket that might be able to seal a little better than the fel pro exhaust manifold gasket? It seems to only be leaking at the closest port to the driver's seat. The port on the bent tube is sealing up well.

 

[97Sandbox]

Remflex is the general consensus on here, although I haven't tried mine yet.

Monday is officially the day for plating! Hopefully next week I can get some reassembly done while temps are back above freezing.

 

[Jeff213]

Which remflex gasket?

 

[97Sandbox]

I just bought one for a 90s 302, can't remember if it was for a mustang or F150.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Which remflex gasket?

i believe 3003

 

[Jeff213]

i believe 3003

thanks, I saw a bunch of different ones for ford v8s

 

[410Fortune]

3028

Remflex 3028 Exhaust Header Gasket Amazon product ASIN B00B2HMD5A
I have installed a lot of headers on these rigs
I have used all the gaskets even copper

@Rick turned me on to these remflex gaskets and they are the only ones I will use now. They are thin layers of material that compressed when sandwiched and they will not blow out. They are the only gasket to use!!!

 

[97Sandbox]

Looks like I ordered 3003, but the 3028 might be a more appropriate fit -- good to know! At least in my case, it does look like the smaller port 3003 gasket will fit the GT40P head exhaust ports fine. Are the ports bigger on GT40 heads, or is it just the exhaust valves that are larger?

 

[410Fortune]

Same ports and bolt pattern gt40 and p

 

[97Sandbox]

Interesting. I guess I should pick up a set of 3028 gaskets then.

 

[97Sandbox]

Ordered my new gaskets and will pick up today (perks of working 10 min away from Speedway's HQ). I also let scope creep get the best of me and nickel chrome plated all my hardware yesterday.

I'm still waiting on my new EGR valve so I can mock up and bend the pipe. Really hoping it arrives today or tomorrow so I can have the EGR pipe ready to electroless nickel plate alongside the headers on Monday.