Bill,I notched mine used headers for a 69 cougar I could change plugs in 10mins,the headers also fit older mustags
Notch it ..Thats your best bet ...Im running a 351 stroked to a 427 ...and i notched mine...But if you do it yourself ..Best thing u can do is pull both front wheels and take the cover and stuff off the inside and run a good bead around the inside with the outside welded up ...some people think its a overkill but ive jerked the shock tower apart with a 347 with the 427 and welded inside never had a problem
I never notched the towers when I had my Cleveland in the stock engine bay but I learned real quick that I really should have. My second incarnation is done in the way you suggest as everything is gone now but it is a really big, no turning back, commitment if you go that route
what do you guys recomend taking out 2 to 2.5 inchs and jayss10 did the cougar headers clear the stock steering box
do 2.5" no less...your going through the work, you may as well have the room. i just looked back at my old pics to see what i did, i cut mine back 2.75" so only a 1/4 more..i as well welded mine from the outside (engine bay) and the back side, i did it because i cleaned up the welds a bit on the front; the old welder i had was not cooperating that day.
I agree. I have a '73, with the stock 302 and some of the plugs are still aggravating, to cahange. It's not that big of a deal. You need to drill holes from the outside-in, to show where the top of the a-frame is. Make sure you leave enough room, for the thickness of the steel ,that you are welding in. You don't want the a-frame scrubbing on it. Just go, as far as, the a-frame and shock will allow you to. You want a little "buffer" zone between them.:Handshake
thanks for all the imput iam gonna start it this weekend my garage was a mess trying to get it cleaned up iam giving my son the 302 thats in my maverick now he just turned 16 and is working on a fox body mustang and has my garage in shambles
I was able to run headers and at least keep the appearance of stock shock towers. Plugs are actually a lot easier to change than they were with the stock manifolds on the 302. I had to notch the lower part of the towers but I left the upper part where most people cut alone. I took a bite out of the triangular piece where the engine mount attaches and boxed that in, and I took out the vertical center "hump" in the shock tower. Relocated control arms also helped. With that done I was able to use a pair of Summit G9031 headers without beating them up too much, but I did have to raise and lower the engine to test fit them probably ten times before I was happy with it. But, I really, really wanted the engine bay to look like it could be stock, and that's what I got: http://i.imgur.com/XIfkj.jpg http://i.imgur.com/U36pc.jpg
Looks great! I've thought about cutting them and re-welding the cut out piece back in, further toward the outside of the car, taking out some metal in between. That way it looks stockish but smaller.
