Another thing that has to be seen too is the support for the dip stick as the thinner flange stops it being bolted back to the front bolt. Can fit a whole new dip stick from a 6.1 which has a longer support bracket. I just made a spacer to take up the distance and used an original manifold bolt to hold it in place as shown. The headers also came with 3" mid pipes so fitted those up as well.
The O2 sensors were refitted after removing a few clips so the harness had enough length. Very easy to mix up the harness and fit a post cat plug on to the pre cat position which will throw all sorts of codes. I had labelled them beforehand. Used a 12" O2 extension harness for a Dodge from Casper's Electronics, #109209, for the rear most post cat. Cheaper than buying one for a Jeep and only had to cut a little guide off the plug to fit it together. Had the stock front driveshaft lengthened due to me moving the engine back compared to axle position. It fitted in well and the mid pipes cleared cross member and transmission pan as well. Something that fitting factory 6.1 manifolds and mid pipes don't when swapped to the 5.7.
For the cat back I did a lot of research and listened to videos of the different ones out there for the SRT Jeep. I went for the factory approved Mopar/Corsa system as they published a DB level that was allowable to Australia and had the best control over droning. It is especially bad on these Hemi's and also need to keep the cylinder deactivation quiet. It bolted straight up the the end of the mid pipes without problem.
I welded in some exhaust hangers at the same angle as stock with the factory isolators. Just had to heat and bend the support rods on the pipes to clear the Willys cross member. Had to buy an extra isolator for the rear most support as the 5.7 only has one and the 6.1 has two due to the extra resonator and twin pipes. Can buy a factory bracket with both the isolators on it if fitting this system to a Grand Cherokee.
And there we have the complete exhaust system installed. Who would have thought I could buy a system off eBay to suit a 6.1 SRT Grand Cherokee WK and fit it to a 5.7 Hemi fitted in a 1948 Willys chassis without altering a single bend!
I did some research before buying the headers and found out that the cats they provided would set off a code. So I ordered the headers with just resonators installed where the cats go and saved $200. Then ordered some 3" GESI cats sold through Kooks brand, #GE-90140, as was the only cat at this time that would not set off a code. They were the same diameter as the resonators so made it easy to fit them. Can see how much bigger the stock cat is by comparison in the second shot.
I decided to make use of the old stock cats by cutting one in half and making a heat shield from the stainless steel casing. Thought it was especially important for the one directly under the transmission pan.
Thought I might as well use the other half for the other one to keep the heat down under the floor. This one I left the ends more open to let the air flow through easier with its longitudinal position.
With the exhaust now all in place, I could go ahead and make the centre cross member. I want it to include a driveshaft loop for extra safety as would stop the driveshaft slapping around the side of the fuel tank should the uni ever fail. It is also a requirement to gain Street Rod registration here should I ever go down that route. The cross member also has to pick up the final fuel tank strap.
I started with some heavy walled pipe to go around the driveshaft. Then following the cardboard templates, made up the steel members each side of the loop. It was bent using the same technique shown earlier always leaving one face intact.
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