TTI Fitment issues with manifolds? 1969 B body

[4mulas]

Anyone ever have fitment issues, with the drivers side especially, with the head pipe not wanting to fit to the flange squarely, leaving a gap at the rear of the flange and causing H pipe to be misaligned the further you go back?

I contacted TTI about it and they were awesome and more than willing to help, the first time the head pipe was definitely manufactured or labelled and boxed incorrectly and they sent me a new one. Fits much, was definitely a difference between the first one and this one, fits better but am still having fitment issues. It won’t seat flat on the manifold and causes the whole drivers side to be misaligned all the way down. I’m wondering if maybe the H pipe was also mislabeled/shipped and or manufactured incorrectly. Any one have issues with H-pipes causing grief.

TTI is closed till Monday and I am confident that they will work through this with me but am just looking to see if there is any info I can add when I speak with them that I may be overlooking that will help us solve this issue


First head pipe caused the H the end under the drive shaft

Passenger side alignment is nice

Second Head pipe was better fitting but still has a gap at the flange where it meets the manifold (closest to the firewall) and the end of the H pipe is closer to the muffler now but still not in alignment.

 

[R/T Boy 67]

I had several issues with the driver's side 3 inch headpipe on my 67. The angle towards the rear was totally wrong, it pointed to the other side of the car. I had to cut the head pipe and change the orientation of one of the bends and weld it back together. The passenger side fit fine with a slight ovalling of the flange holes. The driver's side was also touching the torsion bar, and required some tweaking.

 

[4mulas]

I had several issues with the driver's side 3 inch headpipe on my 67. The angle towards the rear was totally wrong, it pointed to the other side of the car. I had to cut the head pipe and change the orientation of one of the bends and weld it back together. The passenger side fit fine with a slight ovalling of the flange holes. The driver's side was also touching the torsion bar, and required some tweaking.

That was (on the first pipe) and is (on the second pipe) the exact problem I’m having with my drivers side head pipe. It’s a 69 car with a 69 manifold (2843992 casting number). Mine clears the torsion bar and z bar though. Passenger side is perfect. I’ll wait to speak them again before I start heating, bending, cutting and welding etc...

 

[R/T Boy 67]

My car has the correct (974) 1967 manifold on it. If they had sent the wrong headpipe ( for a different manifold) it would have been much worse.

 

[4mulas]

Well problem solved. TTI was very concerned and we worked through the problem and it’s all done, fits great. Thanks Sam at TTI

 

[hunt2elk]

Well problem solved. TTI was very concerned and we worked through the problem and it’s all done, fits great. Thanks Sam at TTI

Curious as to what turned out to be the issue?

 

[4mulas]

Curious as to what turned out to be the issue?

Well, the issue was that the drivers side head pipe didn’t seem to have the correct angle on it at its outlet portion where it met the h-pipe, thus making the end of the H-pipe off by about 7” from the muffler inlet. (It was pointing too far to the center of the car and slightly high too). The first one that came with the initial kit indeed had the flange welded on a few degrees off which is all it takes to make a big difference at the far end. After I first contacted them, discussed the issue, and showed pictures of what was going on they were very quick to respond and sent me a new drivers side head pipe. It arrived and was indeed different from the first one and compared very closely to another example I had here that came off a friends car (he put headers on and had it lying around for me to compare against), so I’m pretty sure this is the correct one and made well.

However, when installed it was off slightly too, although significantly better it was still off. Leaving the end of the H-pipe About 3-4” away from the muffler inlet instead of the original 7” away. TTI and myself, could not really figure out why it should be off. We reviewed the car, specs, manifold numbers, critical engine measurement from both Center of k member and centreline between frame rails and everything was in spec....

The fix:

After discussing it some, and realizing that sending another head pipe which would be another delay, and the same as the second one Which would not cure the problem, we came to the conclusion that I could fix the issue by installing the head pipe tight to the flange with no gasket, then installing the drivers side h-pipe and use it as leverage to gently bend the head pipe to exactly where it needed to be. It was much easier to do than I thought and worked like a charm.... I only really had to bend the outlet portion of the head pipe over about an 1-1 1/4” to make everything else line up as it should. The pipe is way more flexible than I thought it would be. After Sam at TTI assured me there was no way that the force of bending would crack my flange on the manifold I gently but firmly (required some strength and force) pulled the end of the H-pipe over to where it should be and the problem was gone!..

It certainly wasn’t the fit like a glove experience that most speak of, but I would still recommend the product to anyone as the rest of the kit was perfect, fit as it should, quality was good, cleared the Z and torsion bars, and the service at TTI was exceptional... I’m thinking my car was an anomaly, or although highly unlikely, may have had a flange on the manifold that was slightly off from the day it was made 50 years ago.... we’ll never really know.

First head pipe clamped to the bench, flange and bolt holes traced out

First head pipe clamped in place, outlet portion flat against tool box

Second (replacement) head pipe clamped in the same position, notice the gap against the tool box, outlet end about 3/4 - 7/8” over from original (which equates to a lot at the back of the car.

 

[hunt2elk]

Glad you got it figured out without to much hassle. TTI is a very good company and I am surprised there jig was off that much. Bet they will be rechecking things in their shop.