Header coatings - Part Two

[Marc LaBrecque]

Ya know Jack , even with the quality coating job you got on the tubes at the rate it's taken to get the motor done they may rust again ..... Just pay the man will ya ????

[Darrin Christen]

Originally Posted by Jack Matyas

Darrin - Stainless headers offer some advantages but the $3,000 price tag scared me off - and I can buy a good broom at Home Depot for under ten bucks ..................

Yes, I understand the cost issue, thats why I built them myself. The broom is not a problem, but Home Depot or Walmart don't carry new headers when your hundreds of miles from home and the headers are falling apart! BTW your headers look great with the new coating, nice job.

[Dwight Southerland]

Originally Posted by Darrin Christen

Home Depot or Walmart don't carry new headers when your hundreds of miles from home and the headers are falling apart!

Do you guys just not pay attention to stuff between races, or do you just run it till it quits? I don't ever remember having headers "fall apart" at the races.

The tubes look great, Jack!

[Darrin Christen]

Originally Posted by Dwight Southerland

Do you guys just not pay attention to stuff between races, or do you just run it till it quits? I don't ever remember having headers "fall apart" at the races.

The tubes look great, Jack!

Ok, so maybe I exaggerated a little with the "falling apart" statement. I've had a collector almost fall off due to the tabs on the primary tubes breaking off due to rust from the inside, not very noticable when the ceramic coating on the outside looked fine.

[Rich Biebel]

Your downturns are pointed inward not down....or at least that is how it looks to me....

[Tom Goldman]

The collectors are are on the wrong sides Rich , Kinda like tubes 2 and 4 .
Thats why Jack pays the bills and I do the work!

[Rich Biebel]

That was my guess Tom.......

Did you tig weld the turndowns on ? I have never had much luck tig welding on previously coated headers.....Tried it on my old dragster....no matter how much I cleaned the area it was not good. Mig welding them was a snap and a little ceramic paint and they looked fine....

[Jack Matyas]

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

Your downturns are pointed inward not down....or at least that is how it looks to me....

Rich - You are correct -- and that's what happens when you hurry - but they looked good for the picture .And by the time they get on the car I'll point them in the right direction or I'll never hear the end of it .Sorry I can't tell you about the welding stuff - that's Tommy's department .................

[Tom Goldman]

Rich, I tig them.
I use a 2" Rolock scotchbrite wheel to remove the heavy coating on the area being welded.
I've found cranking up the gas flow ,and using ER70-6 wire instead of the more common 70-2 works to give a clean weld on a coated tube.