The winter of 2002 I decided to fix a bad muffler and some oil leaks around the oil pan/timing cover area. It turned into a fairly major operation for this novice mechanic.
Instead of fixing the muffler, I figured I'd upgrade to a Flowmaster American Thunder exhaust. I got the exhaust in place and looked at the old, rusted headers that came with the car (whose manufacturer I could never confirm) and decided they really needed to be changed. Two of the primary tubes were dinged half shut as well. So I tried a set of Hedman full length headers which hit in two places. Summit took them back, no questions asked, and I tried a set of Sanderson cast headers per a suggestion on the Chevelle list-serve. They fit pretty well, but needed pipes to connect to the Flowmaster exhaust. So I went to JC Whitney, bought 5, 90 degree mandrel bend, 2 1/2" aluminized-steel exhaust pipes, borrowed a friends chop saw, and fabricated the two connector pipes. My friend was kind enough to weld them, as well as add a nut for an O2 sensor for carb tuning. Now the exhaust is 2.5" mandrel bend all the way from the header collector to the rear bumper.
The Sanderson instructions warn about running the new headers with a rich air/fuel mixture. I knew this car was running rich from the soot in the old exhaust and the color of the plugs. I also didn't like the Holley 4160 compared to the Edelbrock my friend let me try. I also found out that the intake manifold that came with the car (Edelbrock TM-1) was set up for 3500-7500 RPM (single plane design), not for the 0-5500 RPM I run this car at. This also explains the poor low-end torque on the car. So I decided to go with an Edelbrock 2701 dual plane manifold and matching 1405 carb. Oh yeah, along the way I dropped an intake bolt into the crack case and retrieved it with a magnet.
I also replaced the oil pan, rear-main seal, engine mounts, radiator (leaked), plug wires, front sway bar bushings (poly), rear brake line, master cylinder, and cleaned up the valve covers. The engine looks much more respectable now, although the rest of the engine compartment looks its age. Hopefully it will run much better as well, with the correct intake, headers, and 2.5" exhaust all the way back.
Before picture (except for Hedman Headers that were sent back). Chain is for the engine lift.
Full view
Right Side
Right Side Close-up
Left Side
Left Side Close-up
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