Project No-Flight Update
March 2003
Finally got started on the exhaust for No Flight. I managed to extract a day of time from the snow over the weekend and got the "left" side done.
Here are a couple views of the left header. The forward pipe is longer than the
rest (I don't have anywhere near the patience or skill required to do true
equal length ones) as it needs to "tuck back" to give adequate
clearance to the front tire at full steering lock. The headers can't go below
the frame rails as they would drag in the dirt. I though about passing the
forward tube through the frame rail but that would be just too much of a PITA
to install. Clearance of the aft tube for the master cyl (not installed in the
photo) turned out to be fairly easy with the angled pipe routing.
The side pipes will come out through the rocker panels. I havn't installed the turn-out at the exit yet, and still have to fabricate an isolation mount to support the rear of the pipe. I plan to make up a new section of "rocker panel" that will run from the front wheel opening back to the begining of the pipe. I may cut-up the stock aluminum ones, or may use them to pull a mold and make fiberglass ones. I still havn't decided exactly what kind of treatment to use for the strip of body below the door sills.
Fabbed the right side header on the following Sunday. It took a little less time to build (about 5 hours) since I had aready figured out the routing on the left side, and was able to use the left side tubes as starting templates to mark the right side tubes for rough cutting.
The two sides are different
because the right head is further aft. I'm glad I started with the left side as
I had forgotten about the head offset. Since I routed the tubes for adequate
tire clearance on the left I had more than enough room on the right. If I'd done
them in the reverse order I probably would have had to cut the forward tube out
on the left and re-do it when I found out that it hit the tire 
.
Still have the side pipe rear mounts, turnouts and mufflers to go but it's starting to get there.
This shot gives a good idea of just how much engine setback I have. You probably could not duplicate my header routing on a "stock" car without the setback and get the pipes to clear the tires (I've also moved the front wheels forward 3").
The radiator was installed so I can determine the allowable location for the to be made custom front sway bar. As you can see the DeWitts radiator with fan “just” clears the steering rack (I didn’t think it “would” fit, but Tom assured me it would and it turned out he was right).
