Not to cast any stones, but I was looking at the pictures of Ron O'Black's exhaust system and a couple of problems (?) are apparent. Ron went through (and shared with us) a lot of hassles getting a new exhaust system built for his car, and I wonder about the following.
First of course it appears that you have to remove part of the system to adjust the valves; nothing new here, there are several systems that require removal for valve adjustment.
Second is the closeness of the muffler(s) to the valve covers. This may or may not be an issue on a particular engine; it will depend on your operating oil temperature. If the system transfers much radiated heat to the valve covers it could be a problem that requires additional oil cooling as it will heat the oil running across the inside of the valve cover. Note that some 911 Porsches have exhaust systems close to their valve covers and there are aftermarket heat shields available to address the 911 heat transfer problem.
Also, in the photos the engine tin piece below the cylinders is missing. If you haven't put these tin pieces back on it would be a good idea to do so.
(Message Edited 3/19/2003 5:34:06 PM)
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