| Re: Pesky Header Leak...Seeking Creative Alternatives !!! |
Subject: Re: Pesky Header Leak...Seeking Creative Alternatives !!! by Durango_Boy on 2012/4/26 14:39:52 I don't feel I have even come close to over tightening and even now with the socket access I am being very careful with how much torque I'm giving them. Last thing I want to do is strip out the threads in the aluminum. I spent about 3 hours per set of headers when I filed them. I was super careful to change directions and maintain an extremely flat pattern with a lot of pressure. It was hell. Arms and hands burned from the workout. After I was sure they were all flat I squared them again, and checked them on two different squares. Then re-Sharpied and re-checked by lightly running the file across again and all the Sharpie filed right off. I have no doubts I got the primary tube tips flat. The leak is always at the top of the primary and not bad enough to burn / blow out the gasket. More like light puffs. I think it's a header design flaw and the top of the primary is not mating perfectly with the cylinder head when the bottom of the primary is flush. The leaks were always worse on the tops and all have been sealed except for the centers...which is a pair of tubes instead of a single so it's not as capable of flexing when torqued down to the head. My thinking is that I need more gasket thickness so the bottom can squish a bit more to allow the top to make more solid contact with the gasket hard against the cylinder head. |
