BBC engine swap header question

[BigBore496]

Hi all- Great board!
I went searching, but did not find the answer. I am performing a bbc engine swap into a 1/2 ton 4x4 LWB (w/ air). The transmission is a built 700R4 married to the original 205 transfer case. I have moved the front crossmember ahead to match the length change.

I currently have the body off of the frame, so I do have a bit of flexibility as far as notching frame rails and the like.

What headers fit the best? Is there a "car" model that will fit? I would like to avoid the "swap" header that is made as it is BIG $$$...

[Yukon Jack]

I swapped a bbc into my 69 K20 leaving the motor in the stock sbc location and I used the stock sbc engine crossmember. I ended up using 1/4" spacers between the engine crossmember and the engine mounts to slightly raise the engine to gain a little clearance and I also had to clearance the passenger side frame a bit for a couple of the tubes. To make these headers fit I did not have to make any modifications to the driver's side other than I did have to go with a shorter oil filter as this engine has an oil cooler setup which put the larger oil filter in contact with the headers. I also ended up grinding off a little bit of the engine crossmember tower as it was in contact with the bottom of the first header tube.



These headers are Dynomax Cermacoated headers, part number 86022, designed for the 67-87 BBC 2WD. The headers for a 73-87 BBC 4WD would not work.

I also had to grind a little of the passenger side rear shackle bolt as it was very close to the collector.

[petey-pablo]

It depends on what your looking for (Full-Length, Shorties, Block Huggers or Mid-Length) I went with FlowTech (SUMMIT Part# BIG-31530FLT) Full-Length Headers they cleared just fine keep in mind my truck is a 72 SWB NoN AC / NoN 4x4 With original 72 factory Big Block engine frame mounts and hardware. Having the proper Motor mounts Helps with clearing issues. As you can see in the picture the PO had already Trimmed back a pice off the frame That wasn't even needed Becasue he had the wrong Engine Frame mounts and had Shorty Sanderson BB4's on that I did not like...

[BigBore496]

Thanks for the responses. Cool beans on both.

Originally Posted by Yukon Jack

I swapped a bbc into my 69 K20 leaving the motor in the stock sbc location and I used the stock sbc engine crossmember.

These headers are Dynomax Cermacoated headers, part number 86022, designed for the 67-87 BBC 2WD. The headers for a 73-87 BBC 4WD would not work.

I moved the crossmember forward only because my transmission is 1 9/16" longer than the 'old' one and I didn't want to (well, too lazy to ) modify both driveshafts.

Do you know why the 73-87 headers don't fit/work? How is your ground clearance? Transfer case/front driveshaft interference?

I do like the look/longevity of coated headers and will end up going that way when the time comes.

[Yukon Jack]

My ground clearance is fine - here is a side shot of the passenger collector



In regards to the 73-87 4wd headers - been a long time since I tried to fit them but my memory is one side could not physically fit in place do to major frame interference.

No driveshaft interference. This truck had the Rockwell T221 in it and it was a bit tight to get the passenger tube bent to go over the case. Moving your motor forward was very wise as that helps with bbc firewall issues and also will help give a little more room for the exhaust bends to get over the transfer case.

Here is a link to lots of pictures of the exhaust that was on my 69. I have since modified my engine crossmember and changed from the washer spacers to the 1/4" spacers that I mentioned in my above post. I am swapping out the Rockwell T221 for an NP205 and had to cut out the crossover portion of the exhaust as it was interferring with fitting the NP205.