Up front the tubing wraps...
Up front the tubing wraps around the accessory drive and up to the coolant outlet on the engine. At this point the tubing has a small weld-in bung where a bleeder will be located. The outlet and inlet are different sizes han the burn's aluminum tubing we used, so e used reduction hoses from Butch's.
At all the junctions where...
At all the junctions where either rubber or silicone hoses are attached to the aluminum tubing we used a bead roller to put a small bead just short of the end. This will help Seal the hoses when a clamp is put on, and Prevent it from sliding off due to engine movement or pressure.
We initially got a radiator...
We initially got a radiator with a filler neck, but once we had it mounted, we realized that we needed one without a filler neck and instead added a surge tank. The surge tank from Ron Davis radiators is a pressurized part of the coolant system where you fill the coolant and it is plumbed down into the engine, tubing, and radiator and from where the coolant is released to the overflow tank when it heats up and expands.
Our ZZ383 is fitted with a...
Our ZZ383 is fitted with a set of sanderson block-hugger headers that are ceramiccoated to help fight corrosion and oxidation. They have a thick mounting flange designed to reduce leaks and D-port inlets to match the exhaust ports on the gM Fast burn heads. Each tube is 11/2 inches with a 21/2-inch tube coming from the collector.
From the headers we routed...
From the headers we routed the exhaust down and under the oil pan with 21/2-inch 304 stainless steel tubing from burns stainless. since the exhaust system will be exposed to the elements, stainless is chosen to combat corrosion. Directly after the passenger-side collector we added a stainless steel bung from summit racing for the wide band O2 sensor, which is an integral part of the fuel-injection's monitoring system. From there we added two hi-flow catalytic converters from random Technology.
You might think i'm crazy...
You might think i'm crazy for adding catalytic converters to my off-road buggy, but here's why. random Technology has actually seen minute power increases from the backpressure the cats offer in some vehicles. plus many hot-rod builders are running cats to help reduce the fumes from the combustion which i figured was a good idea for both myself and passenger as well as for those following me up the trail.
Behind the cats, the exhaust converges into a 3-inch collector before routing around the transmission and transfer case. From there it dives into a 16-inch pro-series Hushpower muffl er from Flowmaster. The design of the Hushpower is such that the heat and flow of the exhaust gases can continue out the tailpipe quickly, but the noise waves are reflected back onto themselves so that the exiting sound waves are greatly reduced. i wanted a good sound while still being able to hear a spotter or the person sitting next to me.
All this plumbing required some delicate welding, as both the stainless exhaust and the coolant and air aluminum tubing are thin-wall variety and there can't be any leaks. Drew's Tig-welding skills are approximately 98 times better than mine so he was elected for this part of the job. We used both his industrial Miller synchrowave 250 and my entry-lever Miller synchrowave 200, which are both great machines for this type of work. The stainless tubing was welded with Er308 rod for the stainless to stainless such as when we added the summit racing stainless exhaust hangers and burn's stainless V-band clamp. And Er312 for stainless to steel such as when we attached the Hushpower muffler. The aluminum tubing was welded with Er4043 rod, and we are looking into having the coolant lines heat-treated to reduce stress and make them stronger. Also we will be adding heatshields on much of the exhaust to protect the starter and coolant lines from the exhaust temps.