Exhaust again?

OK I have a lot of questions. It appears my exhaust leak sound really might have been an exhaust leak. So I am in a quandry.

Has anyone ever machined the face of these junk headers? I am guessing these are Hedmans or some generic brand, like Summitt's $119 ones. The problem appears to be that the holes on the headers do not line up with the holes on the head. If I machine the lips off the surface of the headers, then there will be a larger surface to seal against. What do you guys think??

Next option. I know that Waggy manifolds will fit, but I read here that the 80 and up are differant somehow, but I cant find anything saying whether they will fit or not. I found a complete 360 with a slight knock, out of a 89 Wagoneer. It has manifolds though. I wanted to go back to a stockish configuration. So will the 89 manifolds work or not?

Next option. Buy new headers. I have no idea what brand I have now. So my question is, what is a decent set that will actually line up??

Thanks guys in advance.

 

Well, I got no responses. So I took the header to several machine shops and none were willing to mess with it. I was willing to pay for it, but nobody wanted to bother with it. So I finally brought it home and grinded the lip off, and then belt sanded it staight, reinstalled it and it works perfect now. No more noise.

I think I am still going to try to find a set of manifolds and put a stockish exhaust back on, but for now it is fixed.

 

Factory manifolds will be better anyway. It's the driver side that you have to be careful of...on the CJ you need to make sure that the drop into the pipes is moved inward toward the front of the engine about 3-4"...the Wagoneer drop is too far toward the rear and will be directly above your clutch rod.

If you find some pics to set side by side you'll see what I mean.

 

Glad you got rid of the annoying tick.

 

Definately go with cast iron manifold if you don't want leaks!

Nearly all headers will leak at the gasket eventually.

 

I found a complete 89 Wagoneer 360 with manifolds for $125, so I was gonna buy it for the manifolds and then build another engine form mine. NWEDGAR is right, the driver side manifold dumps in the rear. Oh well, I found a set of CJ5 manifolds but the guy wants $100 just for the manifolds. The other issue is a y-pipe. Nobody makes them for the intermediate V8 CJ5s.

I have been trying to find a decent priced manifolds for over a year. This was my plan ever since I got the Jeep. I cant stand these cheapo headers. From what I have read, the stock manifolds flow almost as well if not better. Doesnt surprise me with as far off as the ports are.

 

The Wagoneer and J-truck manifolds will work fine if they are from 1979 or earlier. These Jeeps changed to drivers-side drop in 1980, and the driver's side manifold changed too. Prior to that, all the Jeep applications are the same except aside from presence/absence of the AI ports.

Re the Y pipe, it's available for the later CJs. I'm guessing it could be made to work without too much trouble. Find a cooperative parts store that will order the pipe for you, and let you bring it back if it doesn't work... they may do that for you if you are a good customer.

Or go to your local muffler shop and have them make a Y pipe for you.

 

I tend to agree with Patrick on that one. I have had headers on most every vehicle I have owned and this is the first time I couldnt get them to not leak. I suspect what I have done now will keep the gasket from blowing out again, but they are cheap looking and feeling, I bet they will rot out before they leak at the gasket again.

 

I think it's more of a case of 'all (composition) gaskets will leak eventually.' That's why the OEMs got rid of the gaskets and run bare iron on bare iron.

Copper gaskets or the Remflex gaskets might do it for you. Others have reported good results with them. I think you have to run some kind of gasket with headers, and the composition gaskets deteriorate. But I think that, if you run composition gaskets with iron manifolds, eventually they are going to leak ... just like headers will.

I also believe that cheap headers are ... cheap. Warpy flanges, thin pipes, low quality materials, sloppy assembly, etc. So you might be ok with quality headers and modern gaskets. But I'd prefer iron manifolds.

 

I just ordered some Hedmans from Summit. I got the driver side to stop leaking and on a trail ride the other night the other side started leaking.

Picked up some seats too, in an effort to gain more leg room. My huge Bestop seats are comfy, but then the steering wheel touches my stomach and my legs are all cramped up down there.

 

Yeah, I'm sure they have come a long way with headers, gaskets and fastening systems since I last used 'em.

 

I used the aluminum gaskets that Summit sells for headers with good luck.