Headers to 2.5" Ramhorns

[cleszkie]

Well, I finally got fed up with dealing with my headers. I could never get them to stay leak free for very long at the heads, and the crappy ball and socket "gasketless" collector connnections never sealed due to the ball portion continually crushing down when you tried to tighten it (Hedman headers). It was always a PITA to change spark plugs, and it was hard to route the plug wires without one or more of them getting cooked. The last straw was when I resorted to wrapping the top 3 inches of the the two inner header tubes on each side with a header wrap to protect my plug wires. Well, the cheapo headers couldn't handle this. The wrap prevented the headers from dissipating the heat, and the tube on my #6 cylinder blew out a quarter size hole under the wrap while I was accelerating on the freeway (after being wrapped for about 2 years). When I removed the wrap from the other side, the two inner tubes were all heat deformed and as brittle as glass! Now I know why wrapping headers voids most warrantees. Sure, most of these problems could be fixed with a real set of high quality headers, thick aluminum gaskets, and anti-loosening fasterners, but I have had my fill, and don't have the money for ceramic coated Doug Thorleys.

So to make an already long story a little bit longer, I ordered up a set of 2.5" ramhorns (Dorman Corvette knock-offs for $78 each), cut of the accessory flanges with my angle grinder, bolted them up, spliced in the required exhaust tubing to mate up with the back end of my exhaust system, easily put in the plugs, rerouted the plug wires to the dizzy and fired it up. No leaks, quieter exhaust tone from under the hood, and the peace of mind that they wont blow out - priceless. Sure, they may not flow as well as the headers, but from what I've read, they should flow well enough for the HP I'm making. I seriously recommend this "upgrade" to anyone running a set of leaking cheapo headers. I can supply the GM part numbers for the OEM manifolds (more expensive when new), and the Dorman part numbers if anyone is interested.

I got this idea from this board. Yet another reason why I love this board so much!