[Dayvd]

I'm really beginning to regret making the V8 swap.

The engine has never idled properly even after throwing countless hours & $$ at it. It quickly developed an exhaust rattle under the passenger's side floor. I took it back to the exhaust guys but they said there really wasn't anything they could do cause the end of the headers were hitting the floor. It a modified wheelchair van and the entire floor has been lowered 4 inches. Wasn't that big of an issue except now it's developed a leak where the headers bolt to the heads. I'm taking it into a mechanic to fix the leak BUT before that I was gonna cut the floor to prevent it from happening again. Crawl under the van and the headers are clearing the floor fine, they are wedged tight up against the sub-frame?!?!?! WTF no one said anything about the headers hitting the frame!

So what did I do wrong???

At this point I'm seriously thinking of trashing the V8 and going back to a stock 4.3. God knows it'd be cheaper and less stressful. :banghead: :screaming: :feedback:

 

[$uperJoe]

a few things that you mentioned. It a modified wheelchair van and the entire floor has been lowered 4 inches. all the accounts dont have this issue. this is a custom van you have and would need custom fixes for such. the r&d that went into the v-8 swap is not for your specific application. its for the masses of stock vehicles.Crawl under the van and the headers are clearing the floor fine, they are wedged tight up against the sub-frame?!?!? what model headers did you get? could the subframe be modified as well to fit the lower floor? do you need a low van or could a 1 inch body lift clear the floor issue and level out the van

 

[mervchapman]

What year is it? My 01 AWD is a really tight fit on the passenger side. My solution was to pack a few washers behind the tops of my JTR engine mounts, shift the motor as far to the driver's side on NEW poly motor-mounts as possible and to file back the offending part of the subframe. This is giving me about 1/4" clearance from manifold-frame.

I'd suggest get yourself some access there, even if you have to unbolt the subframe and lift the body a bit then unbolt the two motor mounts and lift the motor up. The real solution at this point is to 'box' the subframe, essentially cut it (you'll need a plasma cutter or other significant instrument for this) then weld-in a relief plate. There are detailed instructions on the jagsthatrun site that come with their astro v8 swap mounts.