| Pesky Header Leak...Seeking Creative Alternatives !!! |
Subject: Pesky Header Leak...Seeking Creative Alternatives !!! by Durango_Boy on 2012/4/26 1:55:49 Okay so I have a SBC, 405, aluminum Vortec heads...in my 1977 Corvette, and a new set of Hooker side mount headers and side pipes. By new, I mean I installed them winter before last when I put the 405 in the car.   Right from the start up I had leaking at every primary. I tried a new set of gaskets. Leaked. I tried a set of dead soft aluminum gaskets. Leaked. At this point I was stumped. I had checked them for square surfaces and the heads were new and I've had many sets of Hooker headers and never once had such a condition. So, I got ambitious and I pulled the headers out of the car so I could see what was going on. Using a Sharpie I colored the ends of the primaries and ran a file across in several directions and I found gaps on all four sides of each primary tip. Sooooo...I spent about three hours per set of headers hand filing the tips until all the Sharpie was filed off in a flat even square pattern. I was confident I solved the gap issue. While I was doing all of that work I also cut the flange apart so each was separate.  I put the headers back in with another new set of gaskets and it started up with no leaks. I was sooooo happy... ...until I started hearing that tell tale popping again. Man, the leak was back. However, this time it was JUST the center set on both sides. #3/#5 and #4/#6. I started realizing I just wasn't getting the torque I needed on the fasteners with the open end wrenches. They were separating and slipping off before I could get them tight enough. This is where I carefully dimpled the primaries between the fasteners and the tubes and beat in a socket wall until I could get a socket on them and with an extension...use a ratchet to tighten the bolts. I did this to both center sets. All was well for a few days of driving but now I have VERY SLIGHT puffs from both center sets again, and while I know I'm super close to solving this I'm still not quite there yet. I still have my set of dead soft aluminum gaskets and I have an evil plot... ...I want to take apart the dead soft metal gaskets and use a layer or two, along with a new set of standard gaskets. I like the double gasket idea but maybe not two standard gaskets together. I'm thinking two of the metal gasket layers, with the gaskets, and maybe with a bit of that high temp copper sealer between the two. Does anyone agree that extra layer might help me squish and seal and finally lick this leak? |
