Stainless Steel Heat Exchanger- What Does it Fit??

[dharder]

Things were going my way. The two broken studs were nicely heli-coiled on my '73 90k original mile 2.0 after taking the original, rusty exhaust system off. The stainless steel heat exchangers that I bought off the internet for a couple hundred bucks bolted up perfectly. Then I set the exhaust hanger bracket on the end of the transmission---the ends of the exchangers were three or four inches away from where the bolt slots were for the hanger. I held up my brand new muffler and there's no way it will fit on the exchangers. Obviously these exchangers are for a different application. Can anyone tell me what they are for? Perhaps they're for a cat car??

[BenI]

They are 1.7L or 1.8L pipes. The difference is the sharp bends at the muffler ends. Compare them to the straighter pipes on your 2.0L exchangers. You need a different muffler too but I think the ID of the pipes are smaller than the 2.0s and you may not want that restriction.

[Loan Dog]

Correct. You bought SS heater boxes from a 70' - 74', 1.7 & 1.8 car. You do need a 1.7 & 1.8 muffler bracket and muffler to to fit those exchangers. The 2.0 exchangers do not have the "kick-up" at the flange ends.

I may be wrong, but I actually think the pipe diameters are the same for both engine sizes. The exhaust systems were redesigned once the parts supplies for the original 1.7's dwindled, and they introduced the 2.0/4 in 73'. Hence the different pipe-end design.
Don

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I believe that the original 1.7/1.8 exchangers had smaller tubes than the original 2.0 ones, but I think that the SSIs all have the same diameter.

Note that the ones you have are NLA. You may be able to sell them for a decent amount and pick up some 2.0 SSIs. Or get a 1.7 muffler hanger and muffler and use those.

--DD

[lunatic_magnet]

hmmm... okay i have no clue then. i advertised them to don as 2.0 stainless exchangers because they came off a 2.0 motor that was in a 74 parts car that i had. i had no reason to believe they were anything else.
these pipes are definately larger diameter than the other set of pipes i have laying around that came off a 1973 1.7 car, so i guess i'd have to go with what dave is saying.


don i'm sorry those pipes don't fit your car. i had no idea they werent correct for the car i removed them from. i have the muffler hanger that was on the car (the piece that comes off the back of the tranny) that i will gladly send you if you want to use a different muffler with those pipes.

[dharder]

No big deal. I'll sell them through e-bay or something and try to find the correct ones. I'll probably end up buying new ones as used 2.0 SS exchangers seem to be hard to find.

Thanks, everyone, for the help.

[BenI]

Keep you eyes open-I spent about 2 months finding a great pair of 2.0 SS heat exchangers, for 1/2 the new price.

[Conrad W Peden]

You guys are right about the diameter of the pipes.

When I compared my old 1.7 exchangers with the 2.0 SS ones I found that the 1.7 pipes could fit inside the SS ones.

[DDS]

I measured a bunch a while back and found on the SS units, that the pipe was the same size. I also found that on some aftermarket muffflers, the same was true, so you could use a 1.7 system on a 2.0 witholut fear if you had the correct hanger. OE head exchangers are a different matter.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Well, there's the minor little detail of the 2.0 muffler sitting up higher relative to the muffler flanges, and the 1.7/1.8 muffler sitting lower relative to the muffler flanges... You can wind up with your 2.0 muffler in the trunk of your 1.7, or your 1.7 muffler dragging the ground on your 2.0...

--DD

[Loan Dog]

Thanks for the clarification on the pipe sizes Dave. I knew I read something somewhere about the difference, I just couldn't remember what or where.
Don

[DDS]

Right, I meant the ENTIRE 1.7 aftermarket system could be used on a 2.0. (muffler, hanger and heat exchangers)