FFR Hooker Headers w/Dart Pro 1 Ford cylinder heads

[MillerCobra]

Hi everyone,

Very near the end of my build. The motor is a 351W with Dart Pro 1 Ford cylinder heads. The Forums have been such a help. Started this thread so it would be easy to find in a search. I would like to address a problem with the FFR Hooker headers and Dart PRO 1 heads.
Car was completely put together and drove it around for 30 miles. Body is off for painting and was just doing a once over while the body was off. Couple of DS header bolts were loose and then noticed the soot at the bottom of the exhaust ports. Attached are some pics of the problem.

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I have put a pointer where the machining of the Dart PRO1 header stops. It is quite clear that the Hooker headers are wider (top to bottom) and the header rests on the lip past the machine face. Thus a gap between the two components.

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After removing the Hookers I checked to see if the faces were flat. The were not.
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Here is a shot of the soot. Hard to see with the body on because it leaked below.
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So off to a machine shop to plane the faces flat and grind a bit off the bottom edge so the two can mate up.

Couple of other points, made by others, are the bolts to use. Because the heads are aluminum you really want to use as long a bolt as possible. With these your choices are few. Purchased some Percy's. They are a no go. Bought the Craftsman wrench a ground the end down but didn't matter. The bolt is just to close to the pipe.
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Then purchased some SS hex, no go there without drilling the hole a bit.
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Of course rounded some the short bolts that came with the kit.
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Someone said that there are 5/16 heads on the bolts. Will try to find those. Bit frustrating to say the least. That said I am still having fun at this. Body is being panted and should be ready next week. Hope to have the header thing worked out. This was first start this summer. Car really has a sweet sound!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4NQWHKZw6Q&feature=youtu.be

[pstockha]

Thanks very much for this post. That's the exact combination I'm planning: a 351W with Dart Pro1 CNC cyl heads and I have the FFR hooker headers.

I'll be eager to hear what you decide on for bolts in the end, and how much you end up having to grind off.

Love your video - looks like solid work (and a lot of fun!).

[MillerCobra]

Just dropped off the Hooker headers at a machine shop, I will take some photos when I get them back. Also the shop is ordering me the 5/16" heads on the header bolts. I will get a company/part number and share that also.

[Bob Cowan]

Unfortunately, these are all well documented problems/issues. It's best to trial fit the headers on an assembled engine before dropping it into the chassis.

There's such a small area of contact at the bottom of the header flange, that's you'll have a tough time getting a gasket to seal. I gave up on gaskets years ago, and only use high temp silicone. That easily survives 2-3 years of racing and street driving.

There's a little bit of interference between the header flange and some of the head bolts. Often worse with ARP head studs. You'll need to do a little bit of grinding here and there. Sometimes there's interference with the spark plugs and the header flange. With the headers in place it's nearly impossible to get a socket onto a plug.

As you discovered, there's very little clearance around the bolts. It can be a real pain, but there are some tricks:
- use a 6 point bolt, and not 12 point. It's easier to get an open end wrench on there than a box wrench.
- Get a 3/8" x 1" bolt, cut the head off and cut a screwdriver slot in the end. Put that in the most forward hole. Hang the header on that while you start the other bolts.
- Start all of the bolts in their holes by only 1-2 turns, while holding the header away from the head. Go down the line and tighten each bolt 1-2 turns. That keeps the head of the bolt at the flange until all the bolts are tight.
- Use a ball peen hammer to dimple the tubes next to the bolt hole. Place the ball of the hammer where you want the dimple to be, and smack it with another hammer. You only need about 1/8" more clearance.

[120mm]

Are there room for REMFLEX header gaskets?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rfl-3028/overview/

I've started using these on my engines and I've found they work amazingly well; even on setups where normal gaskets leak.