Header swap begins.

[hey mister]

But it is a right of passage to fire them up with open headers.
We all do it.

If you didn't do that, your "man" card should be revoked.

 

[hey mister]

Update:
After getting all the tools out and everything set up to get the exhaust in, the sky opened up and I pert-near drowned. It came straight down so hard, I could barely see the house across the street. And over the next 3 hours, it didn't let up much.
Honestly, I can't ever recall a summer this wet. It's like "April showers" forgot to turn the spigot off. My buddy said, he's noticed the storms are more intense and do more damage. Agreed.
Since outdoor work required playing russian roulette with the extension cord, I decided to fab a P.S. bracket.
Yes, I did buy one from Summit, but I really didn't like the flavor. Besides, that you then had to measure for a new belt because that bracket changed the position of the pump.
So once again I broke out the handy CAD system and had a cardboard prototype in hand in minutes. Took some measurements cause them be handy for lining up bolts. Took about 5 hours to carve this one out and the nice thing is, the stock belt stays. I have some belt sander touching up to do and I'll probably paint it. (Where did I put that can of Greasy flat black paint? )

 

[hey mister]

Well...I may have screwed up.
In the picture you can see the exhaust hanger is "hard" to frame. No "rubber baby buggy bumper" thingys. And man you can feel the engine vibration thru everything.
I will have to cut up that semi mudflap and fab some.
Here I thought I did such a nice clean job, but once I started it up, it started to unbolt itself, starting at the back. Then I realized where I goofed.

 

[hey mister]

Inspite of my error, the exhaust is on.
Where the header terminates the pipe points toward the ground and turned in a bit toward center. I guess they are all like that, but that just looks silly. So I took a protractor and determined that it's about 7° pointed down and about 7° pointing inward. Instead of trying to notch out the reducer on 2 axis, I used a CAD program to draw what I wanted and then find the vector of those 2 angles. I cut and "birdmouthed" the reducer right at the beginning of the straight section. Tack welded it then bolted it up and check alignment. After that, things went pretty well. Just time consuming.
Brother, am I sore from crawling under & out from under that truck.

 

[Catbox]

Looks good so far.
Keep it up.

What mufflers are you going to be using?

 

[hey mister]

Looks good so far.
Keep it up.

What mufflers are you going to be using?

Flowmaster.....aww krap, I don't recall...I'll dig the box out of recycling and let ya know...I should know that...

 

[hey mister]

Got the isolators fab'd up and installed in a couple hours. What a difference! Lol.went for a tool around the block. It sounded amazing.

 

[SquareRoot]

So, here's a slick trick I stumbled onto out of "itch relief" desperation.
It was 80°+ yesterday and sweating while working with that fiberglass wrap, just made things worse.
After taking a shower, I still felt like ripping my flesh off.
I was trying to think of something that could snag those tiny fibers and drag them out of me. Then it hit me..micro fiber rag. Those things snag on everything. Fortunately I have a few. I took one to my arms and belly and within a few strokes, I could tell it was working, thank goodness. Otherwise it was going to be a miserable night trying to sleep. A few more rub downs and all was good. Only had a couple that just wasn't giving up. I can live with that.

Now THIS is information we can use! My first thought was a clay bar.

 

[ChuckN]

Nice work! Looking good. You should market that PS bracket, that probably better than 99% of what’s on the market.

I hate fiberglass with a passion for that reason. Putting in insulation with the bunny suit, blah blah blah…I hate working with it. It’s one of the reasons I bought ceramic coated headers.

Now, did you ever find that muffler box in the recycling? Enquiring minds want to know.

 

[hey mister]

Nice work! Looking good. You should market that PS bracket, that probably better than 99% of what’s on the market.

I hate fiberglass with a passion for that reason. Putting in insulation with the bunny suit, blah blah blah…I hate working with it. It’s one of the reasons I bought ceramic coated headers.

Now, did you ever find that muffler box in the recycling? Enquiring minds want to know.

Lol...
That answer to the "which muffler" question was posted as I was in bed...
And now, I just got up...
Can I at least get a cup of coffee ️️️ before trash diving?
Sheesh...

 

[hey mister]

Got the isolators fab'd up and installed in a couple hours. What a difference! Lol.went for a tool around the block. It sounded amazing.

 

[hey mister]

Oh fudge...
These pics were of the 46 year old under coating still dripping (on a daily basis) out of the hood.
Sorry, I'll get pics of the isolaters up in a few...
It was late after a long day....

 

[hey mister]

Mufflers are:
Flowmaster Delta Flow 50 series.
2-1/2" in/out.

 

[hey mister]

Now THIS is information we can use! My first thought was a clay bar.

The P.S. bracket low-down.
First off, thank you for the compliments.
The ps bracket started out as 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 12" square aluminum bar. I carved it down from there. That took about 4 hours of manual machine work. (Not rushing). I have years of manual and CNC machine experience and I'm way older than the truck. I figure my time, on a manual machine is worth $50/hr. not counting material cost.
The bracket kit from summit was $45. And that was cut on a CNC, tumbled , and shipped. It probably took a total of 5 minutes cycle time from start to completed part, if that long.
I don't know of 1 single person that would pay a guy $200.+ for that bracket, when $45. options are out there.
It's all about "what's the least expensive"...
I had the material in my stash and it was raining cats-n-dogs, so I had nothing better to do than cuss the weather.
A guy can't break even making parts in his garage.
But I do appreciate the kudos. Thanks.

 

[ChuckN]

Mufflers are:
Flowmaster Delta Flow 50 series.
2-1/2" in/out.

Nice choice!