Stainless Header

[gitchesum]

Right now there isn't a date for production or any pricing. Still too soon to know any of those details.



As soon as we complete the prototype that the production unit will be made from, we can nail those details down.



Trust me, we're just as excited about releasing these things as you guys are to get them. Oo. Oo.

 

[Bob4x4]

It looks to me like you are only measuring egt of one cylinder and it is not one of the hotter running ones Not a very accurate comparison?



Bob

 

[Mhannink]

hey it looks awesome keep working at it and keep us informed of progress i know we all want to hear how its going. and add our 2 cents about what ya'll might be doing wrong lol can't wait to see some dyno number and a realese date but im in no hurry keep it up.

 

[sbentz]

Looks very good!

 

[Reb.B]

looks pretty but it won't last long. All the welds are gonna crack from heat, stress, and weight. I really can't see why egt's would go down at all, ... but it looks pretty.

 

[gitchesum]

We installed the EGT probe in #3 because at the time, it ws the most accessable. The probe will be moved to several locations on the manifold toget a wider array of EGT measurements.



As far as the structural integrity, that's the reason for the testing that we are doing. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I could replace my throttle with a "on/off" switch. It's either planted to the floor, or idling. My goal is to break this thing, so we know where the weakness are, if there are any.

 

[HeavyHauler]

This is pretty cool, and I'm interested just because of the way it looks. I think it would have to cause a decrease in pre-turbo EGTs (just before the exhaust gas enters the turbine housing) because of the longer tubes. The longer the gas has to travel to get to the turbo, the more it will cool, but it seems to me that this would also mean much more lag because it is taking longer to get there.



On EGT probe placement, why wouldn't it be beneficial to mount it as close to the turbo as possible? If it's mounted further back in one of the tubes, we're not getting an accurate reading of what kind of temps our turbo is about to see, right?



Also, is the header prone to yellowing? The one in the pictures looks like it has already turned.



Sorry for all the questions - I'm just interested in this product and want to know more about it.

 

[nickleinonen]

i wouldn't be overly concerned with what the egt the turbo is seeing, but what the egt coming from the engine is [gives you an idea of what combustion tempratures are]



a turbo on a gas engine can see much higher egt than we see when they lean out a bit...

 

[HeavyHauler]

i wouldn't be overly concerned with what the egt the turbo is seeing, but what the egt coming from the engine is [gives you an idea of what combustion tempratures are]



a turbo on a gas engine can see much higher egt than we see when they lean out a bit...

Hmmm...combustion temps really aren't that relevant particularly when we're trying to protect $1500 - $2000 turbos. This could turn into a pre/post turbo debate very easily. Remember, all pyro probes on big trucks are post turbo; combustion temps aren't even considered.



Anyway, one more question - would this header work on a twins application - where you have to turn the manifold upside down? Or would there be clearance issues then?

 

[nickleinonen]

Remember, all pyro probes on big trucks are post turbo; combustion temps aren't even considered.

all too have steel crown articulated pistons... they can stand much more heat than our aluminum slugs...



and personally, i'd rather toast a $2000 turbo than a $5000-$8000 engine. much less downtime too with a turbo gone bad than an engine gone bad

 

[RailroadJim]

I got to see it yesterday, this thing looks great and sounds even better, it reminds me of the long ram manifolds from 1960 chrysler 300 413 wedge just all curled up.

 

[gitchesum]

I may just drill and tap the elbow for giggles too. Why not?



Yes, these header have blued, or yellowed depending on where you look. I'm no metallurgist so I don't know what could be done to prevent it. Perhaps having them ceramic coated would keep them looking new.



As far as EGT reduction, my theory is that moving the point of exhaust collection helped the most. Instead of 3 exhaust ports fighting for the same space in the stock manifold, they are coming together just before they enter the turbo.



We're going to continue testing until we answer some of our own questions.

 

[DMcPherson]

ususlly even being longer tubes they will make the turbo spool faster. being equal length has many many advantages over a cast manifold. I know on our cars, from going to an equal length manifold from a log design we usually are seeing a 500rpm drop in spool time. but were seeing full boost at like 4k rpm.

 

[nickleinonen]

I'm no metallurgist so I don't know what could be done to prevent it.

i don't know how it would work, but i shot the breeze with an old hot rodder when i was in co-op in highschool. . he told me an old trick to keep chrome headders from bluing, and that was to seal off the one end, and fill them with the oldest used engine lube oil you can find and let it sit for like 2 weeks. . it somehow coated the inside and when installed, that coating baked and prevented blue from showing... i don't know if it works or not????

 

[RustyJC]

An old racer's trick to get the even, straw-colored finish seen on many racer's stainless steel headers. Get the headers warm (not hot enough to discolor). Immediately rub on a coat of WD-40 (insulated gloves are recommended. ) Take a few laps and get the headers warm enough to bake on the WD-40. Coat the headers with WD-40 again. Repeat until the right coloration is achieved.



Unless they're coated (Jet Hot or similar), a stainless steel header is gonna discolor with high temperatures.



Rusty

 

[Forrest Nearing]

what gauge pipe are you using? hanging a heavy turbo off of a stainless tubular header that sees high temps is a real torture test in and of itself...



stainless is a much more brittle metal than mild, and I believe it expands/contracts more as well...



if you're using schedule 40 pipe, I'm sure it'll be fine... if you're using 16-14ga, you'll probably start seeing cracking before too long.



I used to mess around w/ the Ford 2. 3 turbo pinto engines... there was a company that made equal length stainless headers for them (still do actually) they work great, but they ALWAYS crack... even if you repair them and brace them up... they still crack...



Another guy makes thick wall stainless manifolds for them, and I've never heard of any of his cracking.

 

[Mhannink]

so have we heard anything new one this such as is there cracking have ya'll moved the egt probe around yet and seen any differences in temps how about any more numbers on it any dyno runs? anything all new is good news

 

[DMcPherson]

I have used lots of different headers, and on cars the main issue was having no flex in the exhaust system and soft motor mounts, placing lots of stress on the ehader. a flew or solid mounts solves this easily as my header had lots of hard miles and track time on with no signs of abuse, and a friend woth the same one with stock motor mounts broke the whole collector off in a few months

 

[blacksheep4x4]

Sounds like smaller runners are going to spool better and overall work better for low rpm use than large ones.

That is correct. If you look at gas powered drag cars you'll see the really light weight cars running large tube headers and the heavy cars running small tube headers. The small tube headers make more torque at lower RPMs getting the heavier car off the line quicker.

 

[blacksheep4x4]

I may just drill and tap the elbow for giggles too. Why not?



Yes, these header have blued, or yellowed depending on where you look. I'm no metallurgist so I don't know what could be done to prevent it. Perhaps having them ceramic coated would keep them looking new.



As far as EGT reduction, my theory is that moving the point of exhaust collection helped the most. Instead of 3 exhaust ports fighting for the same space in the stock manifold, they are coming together just before they enter the turbo.



We're going to continue testing until we answer some of our own questions.

I would try ceramicoating the inside of the header. This should help with any metal fatigue the header may see due to heat.