Snow Fever
Expert
Well I think I got the jetting thing fixed but now my header pipe has a crack in it just past the mandrel bend on the big pipe that the 4 small ones connect to. Corky Bell says that you should not use mild steel for a header like this but I already had mine built when I got the book and read that. He recomends stainless tubing only and now I have proof he's right. I guess thats why the good turbo kits cost so much. Oh well thats the hazards of going where no man has gone before. Hats off to the Boyz @ MC-Xpress for doing it right the 1st time. I now have about 300miles on it so if anyone else has made their own kit and used mild steel for the header keep a close eye on it. Now I just have to source some stainless tubing and build a new header. A buddy of mine said thats why you should just leave them stock. After spending some time riding this thing with the Turbo on it though, it would be pretty hard to go back. I figure the riding has just started and some people havn't even got out yet so I'm still in good shape. Also, Corky Bell says that when you make a header for this kind of application you should make the pipes the same size as stock or even better, slightly smaller to keep up the air volocity. Like I said I made my header pipe before I bought Corky's book and the other error I made was slightly larger pipes coming off the motor going into an even larger single to the Turbo. (In case you don't know who Corky Bell is he is the leading Turbo design guru for Turbo's) So maybe my next header will improve the overall performance as well? I have welded mild steel, and aluminum now so it will be interesting to see how I do with stainless. Well I said I would write the good, bad or other and this is the bad. Once again I would just like to say it is worth the money to buy a quality kit even if they are a little pricey. Something to be said for reliability :?
We use stainless steel as well!!!!!!!!!!!
Snow Fever,you are being to hard on youself.Maybe the crack formed from the stresses of all the welding and bending. I think you should weld it up and throw it in your oven and put it through a few heating and cooling cycles before putting it back on.Ithink stainless is better mainly because of rust.I am sure that until recently most car headers were mandrel bent mild steel. They sure rusted out like mild steel. If the repaired header breaks again then I would suspect that it fits too tight to allow heat expansion or doesn't allow the motor to move a little independantly of the turbo. I found an excellent source of stainless tube and tech advice on the net at www.burnsstainless.com.Ihope that you can just repair you present one and fabricate a stainless one this summer.
low flying missile
low flying missile: Turbo Headers will crack is you use mild. They an crack with the use of Stainless as well. Stainless steel is harder then mild and will resist the heat much better.
low flying missile: Turbo Headers will crack is you use mild. They an crack with the use of Stainless as well. Stainless steel is harder then mild and will resist the heat much better.
kmer
Expert
Doesn't stainless steel actually have a lower tensile strength than mild steel?
Snow Fever
Expert
Low flying missle, I think you might be right I'm going to take a good look and see what caused it 1st so hopefuly it won't do it again. Thanks for the link to the Stainless. I think most of the problem was that I did have it to ridged. I had a few Black Russian drinks, got the hot glue gun out and I may just have cured the problem already. I have to wait till the alcohol leaves my system then look at it again. Idealy I would like to wait till next year to re-do it. We'll see how the latest brain wave pans out.
