I have about a 1/4 inch gap between my headers and the oil pan. Russeleri says I need about an inch of space. I will have to either have a header bent differently or modify the oil pan. Russeleri suggested that the back corner of the oil pan be cut on a 45 degree angle and a new piece of metal welded in. What do you all think? Any ideas or if you can comment from experience, it would be helpful. Which do you think would be the easier modification? Will the modification to the oil pan possibly cause oiling issues? The car has a 400 block and a Milodon oil pan. The oil pan is the one with the sump in the middle. I think the headers are Proparts (Prosport- is this right?) Thanks in advance for any ideas. I would really like to run with an engine diaper for safety reasons.

I say run-it as-is ...with the diaper that close. B U T use some asbestos to protect the diaper from the header-heat.

Anybody else have some advice? Somebody has to have had similar issue in the past. Thanks.

When DRE made mine, they just lined it with a heat resistant (aluminized?) section where it passed close to the headers..

Sorry, i misread his post. I thought he had 1 1/4".

Thanks to those that replied. I talked to Russel at Russeleri and he is going to do the diaper with a heat material that will go over the corner of the diaper near the oil pan. It will withstand heat up to 1200 degrees. I also intend to attach a small thin piece of metal against the header which will act as a heat shield to the thin material in that corner of the diaper. I will let everyone know how it works.

Keep us posted Dave. If the material gets oil on it, it will become more of a fire hazard so you'll have to keep an eye on it. Your headers are MadDogs by the way.

This may not seem like the greatest idea, LOL But could you possibly run some spacers between the head and headers to push them out? I know a-bodies don't have much room.