?Question on Header Repair?

[Phatman]

I had my headers repaired, I also had him weld around each tube at the flange. I was very specific about bolting them to a head I supplied and what type of rod I wanted him to use. He dropped them off at my shop and they looked great, except for one thing, he had forgot to put in a brace as I had asked. He said no problem and took that one with him. Well, it's been a month or so and I started to port them and found that when he did the bracket he must not have bolted it back on the head because it distorted. If I hold a straight edge across the flange two of the tubes stayed in line, the one that he braced closest to the turbo is a strong 1/16" off...

My question is how can I repair this?
I thought if I bolted it to a head heated it and slowly tightened the one in question while heating and then let it cool on the head it may correct. The guy that did the work felt like this would not get the job done.

I gave it to him last night to repair, he dropped it off today and said he had straightened it. As far as I am concerned it's still distorted, still a strong 1/16" off.

Any ideas.....

 

[John Larkin]

How long of an area is 1/16 off? Do you have access to a belt sander? I've heard a guy I lived near say he sanded his flat on one. If you heat it on a head, you'll probably have to give it a whack on the flange to make it stay; I doubt the heat alone would "unwarp" it (not sure that's even a word).

 

[Phatman]

That's basically what he told me, he said the best way would be to put something as a shim under the two good tubes and pull the other past flat until it returns to flat, thickness of shim may be as much as 3/8"....

He also mentioned the old belt sander method, or possiably cutting the flange between the two which I thought could be a problem.

I made a mistake in the first post as far as which tube it was. Actually it's #5 the last one on the driver side, not that it really makes any difference other than maybe being the smaller of the two headers making it easier to hold if I decide to use the belt sander method....

 

[PlaneMech]

Be very careful with the belt sander method. On my early model small block truck I needed the manifolds cleaned up. Took them to machine shop, and they cleaned them up flat. Unfornunetly there was a small angle put on them going top to bottom. Ruined both manifolds. Not much mind you, but they never were going to seal. If youve ever tried to find good ram horn manifolds for a 72 chevy you know this is not a good thing.

Later,

John

87Turbo-T

 

[The Radius Kid]

Heat should get it close.A flat,metal bench and a couple of C clamps and a torch should do it.
Clamp between 1&3 pipes[to the table] and put the other clamp next to 5.
Heat the 5 pipe orange hot,as well as the flange and brace.
Retighten 5 clamp.
Allow to cool.
Check for straightness.
This should get it close[I've done this].
If it's not close enough,try using some plate under the 1-3 runners,heating and clamping.
Step up the plate size if necessary to bring the 5 end down to where you want it.
You should be able to bring the 5 end down to where a Felpro 1400 will seal it up.
I'd be asking the guy who welded this for you to preform the procedure,after all,it sounds like it was his brace that mucked it up in the first place.
Hope that helps a bit.

 

[UNGN]

The header that was on my T when I bought it was more than 1/4" off flat. It was MIG weld repaired with lots of heat and the #5 tube went where it wanted to go.

I bought the copper gaskets from ATR (in 1996) and bolted the header back. No leaks and no problems, knock on wood. I replaced the ugly POS with a properly repaired header this year, however.

 

[Phatman]

Thanks for the replies......

Radius Kid ..... that's sounds like what he told me to do, and what I assumed he did the other night, but he didn't get it right. He will redo it, no problem there, I'm just somewhat of a hardhead when it comes to things like this. I figure he's one of the best welders around, just a error, but after giving him a chance to repair it and getting it back the same, I think I'd rather give it a try myself.


UNGN ..... that's what GNXClone told me to try. He said if it wasn't too bad, the 1400 gasket should seal it. I asked him what is considered bad, it's not flat?????

 

[TurboDave]

One other thought.

If it's only off 1/16" then the bolts should have no trouble pulling it flat against the head.

My new ATR driver's side replacement header was warped in such a manner that the front and rear of the flange were "away" from the head, a small amount, maybe 1/16" or better, but the ultra copper I use had no problems keeping a seal. The bolts pulled the ends in tight, no leaks.

And the ATR flange is a LOT thicker than the stock one's

So far so good, been over a year and a half.

Even with the warp (that small) you shouldn't need to fuss with gaskets. Just Ultra Copper.

 

[eiuskoalman]

the first header i repaired was well over 1/4" out of whack. there is a real easy way to fix the problem, bolt it on the car, take it for a drive and then re-tighten the bolts when its hot. do the same for the next few days and dont worry about it, especially since its only 1/16". good luck, aaron

 

[Phatman]

Thanks for the responses......

TurboDave....

That's about what I end up with, although not as bad as your's. If I straight edge using the #3 tube it will rocker between the other two lessing the gaps.

Picky...Picky...Picky...what a pain in the butt some people can be eh?