Hello all - Header question

[Black and Blown]

Thanks to those of you who have been kind to me in the past.  I know I am not on here often, so I appreciate your contributions even though I don't offer much but the occasional cool photo.

I have hooker headers - 2 inch diameter.  My mechanic told me today (again, just repeating what he said...) that the "tight fit" of those extra fatties has caused the gasket seal to fail.  In other words, I have some exhaust leaks at the head.  Repairing with new gaskets will be a temporary fix, because when the motor flexes it puts pressure on the seal and it's "always" going to leak.  He recommended finding headers that are 1 3/4 inch so there's a little more room in there...

Naturally, my question is ... does this make sense?  and if so, do you have a header recommendation?  Thanks so much...!  I'm running a BDS blower with Holley EFI on pump gas. 

[ws23rt]

The comment your mechanic made---"tight fit of those extra fatties has caused the gasket seal to fail"---sounds rather technical.

I see no reason that 1/8" on a side is enough to make a flange seal difficult.  Here are a couple of pictures of a header I made with 2" dia. tube and a 3/8" thick bolting flange.  It's for a hemi and the bends are not for fitting a stock engine compartment but all I see is lots of room to fabricate a sound bolting flange.
My guess is your headers have a fabrication problem that was let go as good enough.
If the bolting flange is strong (thick enough) and flat it should seal just fine.

[Black and Blown]

...well, in his defense, that was my paraphrase.  :-) 

I have received one header recommendation from a shop here in town that I trust.  TTI.  I will do a search of prior posts to educate myself.  Thank you for your reply! 

[ChargerST]

I have heard good things about the Summit ceramic coated headers. They are less $$$ (about $400) and people claim they fit in a 440 B-body without any modifications..

[ottawamerc]

I have the Hooker Super comp headers and I'm not impressed with them so this year I'm going to the TTI's as other cars I've seen with TTI's , they have consistent great fit and finish.

Scott

[firefighter3931]

What cylinder heads are you running on this motor ?

As for your mechanic ; he must not know much about supercharged applications because the basic rule of exhaust is bigger is better. The intake side gets boosted but the exhaust gets no help so it needs all it can get to get the spent gases expelled. I wouldn't use anything smaller than a 2in tube with a blower  


TTI is a top shelf product....get the ceramic coated headers with the thermal barrier. That will keep the engine bay cooler and the temps in check.  


Ron

[Black and Blown]

Thanks for your replies... I appreciate the input.  After a couple more days contemplating this scenario, I'm going to start by simply upgrading gaskets.  If I end up with leaks again, then I suppose I'll have to get serious about picking another header.  Thanks again for your input!

[c00nhunterjoe]

As long as the headers are not physically contacting anything, then you should be fine.

[68pplcharger]

I won't get into any of the comments your mechanic made about the size of the primaries and their relation to leak...  I do know that Hooker headers will have issues with being flat(straight and true) right out of the box sometimes. I had the same issue with my headers and they were terrible when i checked them. I spent a little money at the local machine shop and had them milled for a nice flat surface and the issue went away. Just as a reference the headers were out approximately 0.100" right were the leaks were happening... coincidence I don't think so... 

[Black and Blown]

I really must have been in a hurry to get this post up, because I did a poor job of communicating.  My apologies.  Let me be more thorough...

Several weeks ago, a mechanic I like and trust told me I had exhaust leaks at the header and elsewhere in the system.  At the time, there was a lot going on in my personal life - so I back-burnered the thought - the car sounded ok and I wasn't too worried about it at the time.

Later, when things calmed down, I remembered his comment, so I took the car to an exhaust shop that he recommended.  (I had forgotten that he had mentioned leaks at the gasket)  While at the exhaust shop, the guy inspecting my car mentioned that my headers were making contact with a torsion bar.  He suggested that this could be causing stress on the seal and that I should consider a different style of header that would have better clearance.

Now that I'm not in such a rush, (and I try to be sensible with my $$), I am hoping that the leaks are more a result of poor header installation or lame gaskets. 

In the future, I will slow down and communicate more thoroughly.  There's a difference between being self-deprecating and just plain inaccurate!  Again, thanks to all of you who have commented.  I REALLY do appreciate the input.

ALSO, for what it's worth, I am very happy to report that I found a guy in Sioux Falls who really does a great job tuning my Holley EFI.  I'm finally going to be able to get this car to reach it's potential.