Much more today , I had to put some kinda title…but I still have folks call once in a while looking for original exhaust manifolds.
Look, I understand the cost factor but hey, who told you messing with an old machine like this would be cheap! So why? Thanks for asking, I’ll show you.
Now the owner of this coach did his best putting Remflex graphite gaskets but new, fancy gaskets can’t fix this 
Over 40 years of extreme heat cycles (I mean every time you take off from a traffic light is like doing a burnout in a car….to the motor). Open your engine cover at night while climbing a hill…your exhaust manifolds are X-ray red! That added to the fact that being a 5 bolt manifold, it’s off balanced pressure tends to allow the center of the manifold to bow out….looks like that’s what happened here 
The mate surface of the manifold warped …no gasket could put up with that. The metal got hot where the leak was…..a crack occurred at the hot/cool spot.
These 40 year old manifolds are dropping like flies at this time. I mean when is enough …enough? Bout now I’d say……..the fix is to not find another 40 year old manifolds with metallurgy degradation…..nope, in this case you need to go with a different idea.
HEADERS DO LITTLE TO NOTHING FOR ENGINE PERFORMANCE!
“tuned tri-Y pipes don’t kick in and scavenge the heat away until you maintain 3500rpm. Brother if you are maintaining 3500 rpm in one of these….YOU ARE DRIVING TOO FAST! Please understand this but just like a teenager will do anything he can afford to make his car faster and cooler…..headers should be used in our motorhomes mainly because they will not blow out gaskets and leak if you use Remflex gaskets and they are installed properly.
.They look cool too!
A set of headers will set you back @ $650 or so plus shipping. Installation is 3-5 hours normally. You will need a descent exhaust system to weld them too and all that. Just having the part isn’t enough…you need someone competent enough to install them well….actually installing headers you should really consider updating the exhaust system if it’s showing a little age. Exhaust fumes are a real thing in these and I saw once the pipe have a leak next to the poop tanks making a hole in the plastic tank! So the coach may sound cool with a holy muffler but it’s really not good for anything…other than your ears that is! 
Guys it just is what it is. General Motors never banked on us wing nuts trying to maintain and use these things this long….their introduction tapes said they were proud to say this GMC Motorhome is designed and crafted for a 15 year life span………..guys, it’s now 40 years, the warranty is void! Why did that exhaust manifold crack? Kause it could! If you believe in Karma…I do and reincarnation, if you were a bad person in this life…you might expect to come back as an exhaust manifold subjected to the horrors ours have endured…….give those war hoses a green pasture and buy yourself a set of headers…….if you don’t need them now, it’s just a matter of time……Nuff said.
What’s next…. Oh yeah, I’ve been chipping away at waking up dash AC/heat project #3. We’re now at the point to test each circuit and button up the dash as we go 
Yeah,yeah it looks a little messey down at the bottom, those are the service loop harnesses that allow all the penals to pull away from the dash for service…. you’ll see. The dash AC vents go in today so hopes are to run the blower system today.
We’ve been at that point on Texas Tux (#2 project) for a while. We’re trimming out it’s side panels and testing circuits 
Stay tuned, the Freon is in, engine water connected to the system…soon we blow snow!
And I know I’m fixating on our new motorstand but our hopes are the next motor or transmission we install will be driven…. several times before they are put into the coach. I mean doing a 30 hour job twice is not cool! 
This weekend I’m doing a drive test on what we hope will be the last project before the motor stand goes into use. Like last week, I’m road testing “Baby Blue” to Daytona and back 
It’s going to be another fantastic trip I know…but we have to do this so I’ll bring my camera.
Sounds crazy but you just can’t “assume” anything with the parts we have to use today. Put in a dash AC compressor day before yesterday……first time the clutch engaged the compressor was locked up and threw the belt! Did WE do that, hey we did our job well…the part was DOA. How can this happen? The real question is how can we know a new part is any good? You test it……just like our starters and alternators we use….I wanna see something works before I spend my time installing it 
..
Today, certainly with these remanufactured parts rebuilders use we need to test stuff before we use it. Besides, I can’t wait to ride a drive train to Daytona …stay tuned.
Thanks for making this week fulfilling. We have averaged over 1000 hits daily on this page…..I don’t make any cash from the hits, I don’t like getting hooked up in all that. This page is for you……and me too. This is a difficult job and opening it up to see what it’s all about helps so come back often, tell your friends about all this..who knows, they may enjoy it too! Whatever the reason, thanks for the visit ….lemme know if I can help, see ya leter
