Targa Miata
MIATA BUILD
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February 4, 2008 - Another hour or so of playing with pools of molten metal and the header is welded up.
As you can see, my TIG welding has improved quite a bit! This section of the pipe does have the proper curve to it, don't worry. It looks a little kinked in this picture.
So, does it fit in the car? One small problem. That flex joint is in just the perfect place to hang up on the bellhousing as I insert the header into the car. It's a fraction of an inch too large to fit through. By loosening up the nut on one motor mount and sticking a jack under the oil pan, I was able to shift the engine slightly to let it past. Once that's done, it's perfect. Almost like it was meant to be in there!
All that remains to be done is to locate and weld in a bung for the O2 sensor. Then I'll bolt it all up and we'll see if it's airtight. I don't feel like crawling under the car to mark the O2 location tonight so it'll be in a day or two. There's not a huge rush as I can't drive the car until my differential shows up and I can wrest the AFCOs from the car they're in.
tags: header