08-15-2006, 08:22 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Wichita, KS USA
Posts: 205
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 Quote:
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Originally Posted by alfa of-corse
... flanges are on two planes, as in the above photos posted by Simon, but the planes were not parallel...
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When I put a ruler across the higher flange, just like Simon shows, in the center, it found that the two flanges are indeed parallel but just a bit offset. So disregard my photo and pretend it looks just like Simon's above, which it actually does. I bet yours does too.
I did not find that my manifolds on the car had the same offset (nor did the previous OEM 2-1 front pipe that I removed). Don't read too much into that, though, as my manifolds are not a matched pair anymore. One cracked a few years ago and I replaced it, leaving the other alone. So one of mine is from 1974 and the other is from a later unknown year. That probably accounts for my slight difference from the normal offset.
In any case, I found a thick similar shape gasket at the local auto parts place and used it on the side that needed it. No issues so far, though I have barely driven it at this point. I also found that one could buy 1/16" thick exhaust gasket in sheets on the web and cut to fit, which was my backup plan.
I'll try to take some pics tonight, but it's all bolted up now and pics of the flange area won't be easy to get since it's close quarters in there. At any rate, I finally concluded that the offset is OK and if you have any mismatch it's probably equally the fault of the headers and the simplest thing is to make the adjustment in the gaskets. I thought about having a machine shop skim the flanges to adjust, but why do that when a $1.50 gasket is just as good and a whole lot faster and cheaper?
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