Header damage was typically only on cars not running correctly for significant periods of time. With overly rich mixtures or misfires it was common. There is enough unburned fuel it continues to burn in the manifold and overheats it. I do not believe I have ever seen it in cars with known good history and never operated unless running correctly.
I don't think that my car actually has a damaged header(s), but it has been running rich and smelling of gas since I bought it. My car looks like it has a history of no one actually putting money into it in the last 10 years.
My sniffer tubes seemed badly rusted and completely welded to the headers, FYI. A quick hit of PB blaster, and a flare nut wrench got them loose easily.
By the way, that pic you posted doesn't seem to correspond to Big Tex's comment about the brass plugs. I assume he meant the plug bolts you can put in the block where the air injector rails connect after you remove them, no?
Oops, just reread the post, thought that he was asking about the little risers that the sniffer tube connectors screw into Thanks for pointing that out Someone on another post said that they used oil drain plugs for those, as they have that short protrusion, was thinking about doing the same thing, don't know what a verrell brass plug is
The blanking plug has a short "tit" on it fo lack of a better word, to reach in and make the exhaust tract in the head smooth, it's the thinckness of the head casting at that point. I will try to find some, I think i lost a set on one of the cars I sold...
This is what they look like. Just ran out to the garage and checked. I thought I bought these from Verrell, but apparently I got them from Ricambi for $110, including copper washers. They were listed as "Air Injector Bungs." Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great, Thanks for showing me those, now I know what to look for Looks like I will have to take a dremel cutting tool to those sniffer tubes, can't get any leverage on them, and they look like they are beyond fused BigT , if you find them, pm me. Please. Thanks Regards
Bolt cutters like you'd use on a padlock work, too. A bit tougher to maneuver in, but less chance of slipping and nicking the block.
Goodness I haven't made them in some time to be honest. I have a bag of them laying around somewhere though... I got tired of moving the bag around and cleaned up, and of course I can not find them now. Figures... The 2V and 4V use different sized plugs though.
Once cut I drilled mine to a size smaller than stock leaving some of the brass fitting, tapped it to something standard and put an Allen head insert from local ace hardware. That way if I ever get the header off I can go back and get the whole brass insert out. This took about 15 mins per hole (rear bank).
