[punkin]

After a morning of under car yoga and psych stress testing. I had to share a little FYI for someone else who might encounter this. Definitely not a dig against Doug's headers. They make a fantastic product and would absolutely purchase again.

I'm working on one of my two firebird projects. Installing a pair of 1 7/8" Doug's headers. The motor is an IA2 block with screw in freeze plugs. I also further added some complications by replacing all the front steering components to include the passenger side idler arm.

There are a lot of opportunities for stacking tolerances especially with these old uni-body cars but the motor mounts are new poly type, the body bushings are all solid aluminum and the chassis was verified for square and all the moving front suspension pieces have been replaced. All in all a pretty decent starting point.

Driver side header went in perfectly, nice and snug fits like a glove. An honest 15 minute job. Passenger side, not so much.

First fitment issue I ran into was one of the down tube were making contact with the passenger side steering idler arm ball-joint. I thought to put the old super-comp header in and they too have the same issue. I went digging through my old pile of junk and found the old idler arm. The new idler ball joint is just a little over 1/8" larger in diameter. A little torch work and a dimple, problem solved.

One more last final test fitment and problem number two surfaced. Upon final tightening of the header bolts, there seemed to be a very slight binding. Using a plastic tie wrap to feel around up in the blind areas, came to realize that the rear screw in freeze plug also presents a very slight interference as well. I'm thinking the screw in plugs weren't worth it and should have just stuck to the press in type.

Just a little public service announcement. I'm sure every car has it's quirks but if anyone is planning to put the 1 7/8" Doug's headers into a first gen with an IA2 block with screw in freeze plugs and if you've replaced the passenger side idler arm, may I suggest a good stretching session before starting