new ebay headers

[pacecarta]

the turbo flange position on my passenger side on the SSautos was off (wrong angle front to back , turbo would have been tipped back about 10*) and the lower passenger side hole position on the header didnt allow enough clearance for the stud to extend without hitting the pipe or get a nut on to attach the turbo ,

the turbo flange location and angle is critical to maintain the DP clearance so I built a simple jig using a stock passenger header as the guide and then fit the ebay header with the flange cutoff in it , did some fitting and reforming of the header for bolt clearance , then brought the whole thing to a local welder ,
one obstacle down ,
no one has said there were any issues with the driverside manifold and now i can bolt up the passenger side with turbo and attach the downpipe so all thats left is for the new vband clamps to arrive and see what needs to be done to get the crossover to work

 

[Raist103]

pauly you trying to lose 20mph too?

 

[pacecarta]

im a little faster and not one to be outdone so I'm shooting for a drop of 26mph ,

still cant get over the loss of performance on your car , hope its just the header sealing issues

 

[Raist103]

me too but with the weather and garage full i dont see it getting fixed before sunday race day so i may have to do it when i get back from vac and take another track day in 2 weeks.

 

[PaCemkr86]

i relocated the crossover tube connection on the drivers side to where it was a little easier to get to, and still be able to get the headers off

ill see if i can jack the car up this weekend and get some better pics of the flanges i made

 

[Raist103]

looks good lucks like your tublar control arms saved you from doing what i had to do.

 

[pacecarta]

on the 87 i have driver poly and new stock passenger motor mount, this made the downpipe clearance to the control arm on passenger side tighter than with just stock mounts and I had to modify the stock mount (raise it) to get the motor level .

on the 86 i have both sides poly and this provides addition clearance over stock
also have the ATR DP on that car so hoping there arent any issues clearing the crossover with the downpipe .

ill let you know how it goes

 

[PaCemkr86]

i test fitted the atr downpipe on this car and it fit nicely with the ebay headers...plenty of room

 

[Turbo1dr]

i test fitted the atr downpipe on this car and it fit nicely with the ebay headers...plenty of room

Thanks. That's what I was wondering myself since I have a ATR unit.

 

[88ZNX]

Update

I've had my headers on about 2 months now, (87 Turbo Limited) I did order new heavy duty V-band clamps and ATR crossover tube gaskets. The passenger side seals fine (thank God) but the driver side keeps leaking. The flanges are not 100% straight so I'll have to fix that and may double stack a better gasket. Other than that, no complaints. I put in a new 3500 converter and it spools great, runs fine and is realitively quiet on drives. I've inspected them, and there are no cracks so far. Thumbs up for the headers.

Jason

 

[pacecarta]

I've had my headers on about 2 months now, (87 Turbo Limited) I did order new heavy duty V-band clamps and ATR crossover tube gaskets. The passenger side seals fine (thank God) but the driver side keeps leaking. The flanges are not 100% straight so I'll have to fix that and may double stack a better gasket. Other than that, no complaints. I put in a new 3500 converter and it spools great, runs fine and is realitively quiet on drives. I've inspected them, and there are no cracks so far. Thumbs up for the headers.

Jason

whose headers are they?

 

[88ZNX]

Ebay headers, the company was Drift-Pro's

 

[pacecarta]

update on SSauto headers

well they are in
passengerside
bolted right in reusing the short OE bolts and three 9/16x1"bolts for the #4 lower and #2 upper and lower

driverside
required some redrilling of all the upper holes for poor spacer bushing install on the #1 and #3 upper bolts , reused the stock long bolts in those holes to allow reinstalling the alternator bracket and the dipstick tube

the crossover (2pcs) required just a little tap (well i used a 2 lb sledge to speed it up )where it touched the #4 exhuast tube , final fitting required no further modification ,
i picked up some new 3" v band clamps but the flange groove on them is wider and will need to get a gasket (or two ) between the flanges for a tight seal , for now i have a small pair of vice grip pliers holding the passenger flange tight and its seems to be working just fine
i had already corrected the 3 bolt turbo flange and the downpipe bolted in without and fighting to alaign bolts and cleared the headers with room to spare
and a quick test drive to etown and the car feels responsive again without the mush feeling , quick snap of throttle and she responds instantly


on a last note i checked ebay for headers today and they are for the most part no longer available , only found one set listed by autopower , as far as ssautochrome and the rest of them, SSautochrome is listed as no longer a member of ebay (along with them disappeared almost all the other venders selling headers for the GN ... coincidence , i dunno)

 

[noahzark]

the most important thing i think is how do the affect performance? or do they....does anyone have any proof or numbers?...more hp ...faster...slower?...anyone have any of that info please share...thanks noah.

 

[Roc87]

That's very odd that there is now only 1 set of headers on ebay

 

[83ttypecooled]

Hi,
I have not looked at this set of headers, but since everyone seems enthralled by the price, are we sure that, once all the bad fit issues are resolved, the performance improvement will be worth the effort?
The volume of posts on this issue is truly remarkable. I don't have time to do more than just sample responses, so of course,I'm a little skeptical. Have fun guys, I'm gonna stick with a known item.

 

[Turbo1dr]

Long story----short......

If you have the knowledge, ability and are comfortable being able to design, measure, cut, weld and test fit these headers BUY THEM! They are worth it!

If you don't own a welder, a tape measure, a floor jack, ramps, a hack saw, have China wrenches in your tool box and most of all... if you have to take your car to the local Quick Lube to have the oil changed - DO NOT BUY THESE HEADERS.

 

[Under Pressure]

ditto turbo1dr

 

[Louie L.]

Long story----short......

If you have the knowledge, ability and are comfortable being able to design, measure, cut, weld and test fit these headers BUY THEM! They are worth it!

If you don't own a welder, a tape measure, a floor jack, ramps, a hack saw, have China wrenches in your tool box and most of all... if you have to take your car to the local Quick Lube to have the oil changed - DO NOT BUY THESE HEADERS.

LOL These guys should NOT own a Turbo Buick at all!:biggrin:

 

[pacecarta]

i agree buicks need lots of tinkering ,

just went back out and played a little more with that joint of crossover to pass header , didnt like how much tension was on it to make it seal so i pulled the crossover and the flange was off square about 1/8" so i massaged the flange a bit (using a collar from a balljoint kit to back it up ) and now the flanges are touching all around before the clamp , and Im still without a gasket but i found the top shim from a differential shim kit fit perfect in there and helps the vband to do its job

also weighed the old stock headers and poston xover ...19.5 lbs
so as a bonus i shed 7.5 lbs