I thought that perhaps I would replace the headers only. They are covered in surface rust and who knows how old they are. The rest of the exhaust was ok although welded which meant I could not remove any of it when working under the car.
This soon became an issue when I was working on the floor & trunk replacements. In fact I had to cut the drivers side to remove it. Because of this I decided to replace the lot. Although I started removal in December 2021 I don’t expect to complete this until mid 2022 when the rest of the work is done.
Update : Velocity had a sale which meant I could get new headers & exhaust for a decent price, so they are on the way 🙂
Before I can try and install them I still have the remaining rust to sort out, including the trunk. Then I need to recondidtion the diff & reinstall it and the driveshaft..so lots to do!
Today I decided to see how well the new headers would fit. They are virtually identical to the old ones so I hoped they would go in ok…nope.
I knew the drivers side was going to be difficult but in order to get them installed I had to brace the engine under the oil pain, undo the only bolt holding the motor mount to the block and jack up the engine about 5cm in order for the headers to slide up from under the car. Sounds simple, and I suppose it is, but it was a lot of effort. The headers came with paint to protect them in transit, which will burn off the first time I run the engine (mental note not to panic when this happens).
I then found that the headers are the ball & socket type. I assumed the exhaust that came in the kit would connect up out of the box but it doesn’t. It’s designed to use the 3 bolt flange & gasket. This means I need to cut off the flange and connect the ball pipe to piece that I just cut the flange off of. I could get this welded later but for now I’m going to use a pipe clamp.
After playing around for a while I decided to ditch the new mufflers and replace them with some glasspack ones. This should be a slightly easier install and provide more room under the car…oh and the car should be a bit louder 😉
Update – 28th Dec 2022 – After a lot of playing around and cutting pipes I finally have the exhaust connected. It’s loud, especially when the auto-choke is warming up the engine. Once it warms up it’s not bad and shouldn’t annoy the neightbours too much.
I’ll add some photographs of the pipes and connections later but for now enjoy the soundtrack below.
Update – March 2023
I took the car out for a drive, the first since December 2021. The exhuast was LOUD and even I felt it was too loud. So I decided to remove the glass packs and install the old mufflers. I didn’t use the brand new ones that I bought only because the exit flange ont he new ones was offset and the old one was centered to the muffler, which meant I could use the exisitng hanger points.
First I cut off the old exhaust pipe from the muffler (see first two pictures above) and mocked everything up with clamps and axle stands. After that I cut the required length of pipe, allowing for some sections to be welded and some to be clamped (allowing for ease of future removal). A few pictures of welding below…
The result is a much quieter car, howevr if I mash my foot on the gas pedal there is still the nice V8 rumble. Video of the car idling below.
Thankfully, the exhaust is now done!
My Mustang Journey 