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774 hits | 33.64 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
It's nearly impossible for a camera to show you that you can practically read through these cats, so flow is not an issue in my experiance.
(Posted in: Catco Catalytic Converter 3")

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694 hits | 55.69 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
This is a kit sold for @ $12 which allows you to neck down from Ford 3/4" air pump pipe down to the more standard sized 1/2" pipe on the Catco catalytic converter.
(Posted in: Cat to Air Pump Kit)

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1039 hits | 52.33 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
This is what I'm up to. Now to get from the manifolds to the Flowmaster Y-collector you need a couple of things.
(Posted in: Manifolds to Flowmaster Y)

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728 hits | 78 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
The stud centers on a 1990 Lincoln Town Car's header-like manifolds are 3 3/4" center to center.
(Posted in: Manifolds to Flowmaster Y)

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802 hits | 57.21 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
The hole centers on these "uber-handy" slip on (and weld) flange ends were not originally 3 3/4".
(Posted in: Manifolds to Flowmaster Y)

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877 hits | 43.66 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
My die grinder made short work of opening them up until they were plenty big enough to accept the Lincoln's manifold studs. A normal power drill would do the same thing, just takes more time.
(Posted in: Manifolds to Flowmaster Y)

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728 hits | 55.68 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
Manifold studs and regular steel nuts usually "become one" with the universe given time and salt. If you ever plan on getting these off again........
(Posted in: Manifolds to Flowmaster Y)

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756 hits | 62.7 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
Brass nuts are cheap, like a buck each cheap. What would you pay later to have this come off so easily ? They are 7/16 UNC-14 on a Lincoln
(Posted in: Manifolds to Flowmaster Y)

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746 hits | 59.91 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
Now it takes a pipe bender, with the tools and skill, to connect the flare ends to the Flowmaster Y collector and weld them up.
(Posted in: Manifolds to Flowmaster Y)

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970 hits | 58.55 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
5.0 litres only need 2" flare ends for the manifold ball. By using a reducer (increaser in this case) I can get it back to 2 1/4" like the Flowmaster Y collector requires.
(Posted in: Manifolds to Flowmaster Y)

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966 hits | 69.04 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Halfway down, with the cat on, but frankly this is stellar pipe bending on my buddy's part. It's tight to the body, clears everything and will flow like the dickens I'm sure !
(Posted in: Manifolds to Flowmaster Y)

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544 hits | 62.55 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
After the 3" collector and 3" cat it's time to neck back down to Lincoln Town Car reality, which is in fact 2". Not to worry as I did this with the Bronco and the performance was vastly improved and the mileage jumped 3mpg !!!!
(Posted in: Catalytic to Muffler)

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618 hits | 53.37 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
This is an old one I had left over from the Bronco, I'll be using. The $3 JC Whitney collector ring is welded to a 3" to 2 1/2" reducer ($3), which is welded to a 2 1/2" to 2 1/4" reducer ( $2), etc, etc until you're where you want to be (fairly effi...
(Posted in: Catalytic to Muffler)

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674 hits | 76.32 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
I use these Mr. Gasket ultra-seal header gaskets, to connect the reducer to the cat and I've never burned them out yet. Not bad for $5 a pair. I also coat them in high heat, sensor safe, Permatex Ultra Copper gasket goo too.
(Posted in: Catalytic to Muffler)

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986 hits | 55.37 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
Here's another side shot of the reducing adaptor. Even necking back down to the stock 2 1/4" muffler and kinked tailpipe, on the Bronco, didn't change the HUGE acceleration and mileage improvements. The dam is ahead of the muffler, not "cat back" as ...
(Posted in: Catalytic to Muffler)

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486 hits | 68.01 KB | Posted: 9/16/05
Stainless 3/8" bolts (an inch long), stainless lock washers and brass 3/8" nuts are the way to go if you want to get them off again in the future.
(Posted in: Catalytic to Muffler)

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1106 hits | 61.81 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Why not stick with dual 1 7/8" pipes ? 1.) too small 2.) no crossover pipe 3.)duals promote horsepower, not torque 4.) better mileage with single system 5.) cost 6.) simplicity 7.) previous experiance with similar Y-pipe, etc, etc,etc.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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992 hits | 58.4 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
We loosened off the headpipes with heat, impact chisel, penetrating fluid and the ratchet.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1066 hits | 67.92 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Knowing we're only going to use one of the air pump pipes, we cut one and loosened off the other one (we'll cap it later).
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1180 hits | 54.87 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
We saved the two headpipes, with pre-cats and cats, intact. Didn't even break the air pipe nipples. These headpipes are seriously expensive so I won't be throwing them out just yet.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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967 hits | 64.06 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Although we saved the driver's side air pipe, intact, the Y-pipe (after the stock cats it "Y"s back into a single) was pretty rotten and had holes.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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905 hits | 54.31 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Got bent over the stealership counter for these manifold studs, but believe me it's best to put new ones in now. Their holes are not really tapped and they depend on these specialized studs to get a grip in there. Regular studs will not bite in there...
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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903 hits | 63.58 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
New studs back into the manifolds. The calipers told us that the passenger manifold side stud centers are considerably wider than the driver's side 3 3/4".
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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880 hits | 42.82 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
A little work with the hacksaw and we're back in business, on the passenger's side.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1006 hits | 62.16 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
This was my idea to get us from the 2" headpipe flares back out to 2 1/4" pipe to head for the Flowmaster Y collector with. My pipe bending buddy had a better idea......
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1102 hits | 71.48 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
First he cut off the last 4" of the flared pipe, the part which is expanded to accept a 2" pipe. His reasoning was we could slip the 2 1/4" pipe right over the remaining stub of pipe.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1511 hits | 68.63 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Jumping ahead a few steps, looks like he was pretty smart to do so. In the top right you can see this allowed more room to make the 105 degree turn on the driver's headpipe.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1083 hits | 60.88 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Trial bent 105 degree pipe slips over the flared pipe stub and clears the TV cable with plenty to spare.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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983 hits | 77.62 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Nice direct bend in 2 1/4" pipe, in spite of the 105 degree turn leaving us little room to make the corner.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1653 hits | 75.66 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
The driver's side headpipe makes another 90 degree towards the rear, completely clearing the transmission pan. The passenger's headpipe run was even more direct into the Flowmaster Y collector.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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979 hits | 63.54 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
We got the Y collector perfectly centered under the crossmember and as close to it as we could get it for ground clearance.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1233 hits | 66.04 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Look down that collector and see why they reckon this Y collector to be worth 25-40 ft/lbs of torque.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1132 hits | 70.1 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Now that we've clocked the header flange on the Y collector to the best setting for the Lincoln's chasis, my pipe bending buddy welds the header flanges onto the 3" cat.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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969 hits | 51.09 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
The heatshield will go towards the trans crossmember and floor.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1260 hits | 58.4 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
When the welds cooled down enough I cleaned them up with a wire brush. Then I nailed them with Plasticote's 1500 degree exhaust paint to postpone corrosion for a while. That stuff is dry in 6 minutes !
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1113 hits | 69.04 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Couldn't resist cleaning the grease off the pipes and spraying them as well. Note the ample clearance around the TV cable.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1768 hits | 61.5 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
Even happier with the clearance around the tranny lines. Everything is tucked up as close to the floor as the stock dual pre-catted headpipes, if not higher.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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988 hits | 74.52 KB | Posted: 9/19/05
How's that for nice direct runs off the manifolds into the Flowmaster Y collector ! The lowest point is still tucked higher than the front engine crossmember.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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866 hits | 63.26 KB | Posted: 9/25/05
As you can see there is an offset to match up with the stock muffler. I ran 2 1/4" all the way into a muffler with a 2 1/4" inlet and a 2" outlet (to match the tailpipe).
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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990 hits | 44.76 KB | Posted: 9/25/05
There's plenty of room for the driveshaft to clear the muffler and connecting pipe.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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858 hits | 63.06 KB | Posted: 9/25/05
Ground clearance is good and everything is actually higher than the engine crossmember.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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1203 hits | 62.5 KB | Posted: 9/25/05
Another shot denoting the good ground clearance and the typical nightmare of a tailpipe, that TCs have.
(Posted in: Y-pipe install day)

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817 hits | 75.96 KB | Posted: 9/28/05
Nabbed a Taurus fan off a 3.8 litre Taurus because they flow more than enough air to cool a 5.8, let alone a stock 5.0 litre, like mine. Charge ? $40 Canadian
(Posted in: Taurus Electric Fan)

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828 hits | 51.37 KB | Posted: 9/28/05
Derale makes this adjustable fan controller, with a "wet" sensor that screws into your cooling system and takes the actual coolant temperature.
(Posted in: Taurus Electric Fan)

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623 hits | 68.97 KB | Posted: 9/28/05
I just laid out some angle steel and some flat strap steel to tie it together, on the bench.
(Posted in: Taurus Electric Fan)