Attaching the headers -- I didn't have any idea it would be so difficult!

Over the last week or so, I've struggled to get my headers mounted.  These are the same headers as were on the car before I decided to tear into it, but the heads are new aluminum heads from Summit Racing.  I had some 3/8" hex head bolts from Milodon as I recall.  The bolts interfere with the radius of the header exiting the head.  I scared myself several times as the bolts tended to cross-thread.  I finally got the passenger side head bolted up, and went to the driver side.  As it turned out, this side was impossible without damaging the threads in the head.  So I thought I'd try studs.  The ARP stud kit went for $50 to $100!  So I finally ended up with the $30 Mr. Gasket kit.  And I immediately saw a problem with the size of the nuts.  The heads were 9/16" with a "built in" washer that was even wider.  These nuts would be physically impossible to install without grinding holes in the primary header pipes.  I determined that I needed to use 2 studs, and used the bolts on the rest.  I ground the hex down from 9/16" (14.3 mm) nuts down to 12 mm (.47", almost 1/2").  It was still difficult to get them started but I was able to get the header mated up to the head.  Whew!  Another part of the project that ought to be easy, but turned out difficult.

Comparing the Mr Gasket stud with the 3/8" head header bolts I already had

Hooray! Finally installed.

Close view of my "hacked" Mr. Gasket 12 mm nut

Mr. Gasket header stud kit showing the included nut compared to a typical sized 9/16" nut

In 1971, the 12 bolt rear end was no longer available on any Camaro.  Two versions of the 10 bolt were available.  The 8.2" and the 8.5" rear end.  It is easy to tell the difference between the 12 bolt and the 10 bolt rear ends as they had 12 and 10 bolts on the differential cover.  But the two 10 bolt rear ends are the same in that regard.

I found information and this image on the Internet, so of course you can be assured of it's correctness:

It seems that the 1971 Camaro may have either the 8.2 or the 8.5, perhaps to consume the inventory of the 8.2 rear ends.  It appears as though I have the stronger 8.5" 10 bolt (note the ears on the bottom sides of the differential).  The gearing is 4.10:1 and it has a POSI unit (I think the POSI is an aftermarket piece.

Which looks cooler?

The split bumper Rally Sport (RS) Camaro or the full width front bumper on the standard model?

Above is my Camaro (when I first bought it, and it wasn't in pieces in my garage)

Here is the RS style of the same year, etc.  Notice it has a split bumper as well as different turn signal/driving lights.  The RS style was produced in a much smaller number than the standard style.  In fact, about 16% of the 114,630 Camaros produced in 1971 had the RS style.  About 7% of Camaros included the SS package, and only 4% were ordered with the Z/28 package.  The RS style could also be ordered as a Sports Coupe, SS or Z/28

Some people half-way change to a RS style, they change the actual chrome bumper, but the underlying pieces, including a different nose and grill are left as before.  This is an example:

I think they all look great.  I prefer the "true" RS styling by a small margin.  I don't really like the "Half RS" as much.  One reason is they don't have any protection for the nose.  The correct RS nose is "endura" dent resistant material.  It is engineered for absorbing a small bump, while the split bumper Camaro nose has no protection whatsoever.

So, to help with the full RS treatment, a few aftermarket suppliers provide a full kit to make things easier.  The kit goes for a little less than $2500.  www.ss396.com is an example.  I don't believe I will initially "upgrade" to the RS front, but maybe after my car is roadworthy as a new project.