alright so i got my headers on. but i had to take off this part that attached to the passenger side manifold. it had a vacuum line that goes up to the thermostat housing to a peice that looks like a coolant temp sensor. what is that and what is it for. also my car likes to overheat now. but the pecular thing is when it does i get radiator cluid sputtering out of the radiator cap. i know this isnt suppose to happen. i get good flow through the radiator and it is full and has no air trapped inside. what could the problem be and thanks guys

 

The first piece you described sounds the engine pre-heater. Does it contain a little disk in the middle of it that can open and close?
If this is it, it was designed to help get your car up to operating temperature faster.

Removing it should only possibly cause an issue in the cold of winter. The problem would be that your car would just take longer to heat up.

The odd thing you described here is that your car is over heating. Adding headers, and removing this pre-heater should actually reduce the chance of overheating, not increase it.

So I have a couple of questions.
1) Is your fan turning on when you get to the right temperature?
2) What is the condition of your thermostat? If it is sticking, or not opening, you will definitely overheat.
3) Do you still have a catalytic converter? If so, perhaps the removal and installation of the new headers have knocked debris into the converter and caused it to become more clogged.

 

It sounds like your EFE valve vacuum source line. Carbureated engines had a flapper door on the passenger side exhaust manifold that would be closed when the engine was cold and force the exhaust from the passenger side head through the exhaust crossover under the carb for quicker warm up and reduced start up emissions. The TVS switch in the thermostat housing controls the EFE valve vacuum so it opens once the coolant temp comes up.

Is your electric cooling fan working? It should come on at 238 degrees or whenever the A/C is on. The cooling fan switch is in the passenger side head.

 

thanks for the info on that part. i'll look at my fan to see if its running. i know its plugged in for sure but if it comes on that a different story.

 

Right; the thing that used to be between the manifold and the Y-pipe is the heat riser valve. It's fed vacuum from that little switch that looks like a sensor, such that it only gets vacuum when the engine is cold, as Dens describes. You can do away with that whole vacuum line, and the switch, and then the other vacuum line, back to its source; just cap it off.

As to the coolant spewing thing, try a new radiator cap.