Resurfaced my headers

[chrisgarrett]

I had a trickle of oil run down the ds to the header. I wiped it up and didn't give it another thought. When I started the engine smoke started blowing straight up from the header. I took them in today and my buddy at NAPA resurfaced them. Judging by the first few passes, and the amount of sanding to have them come out level, they were really warped. I would have sworn that my headers were straight and did not leak. Boy was I wrong.
Anyway, I highly recommend taking your headers in for a resurfacing. I waited for them, and it took all of 15 minutes.

 

[BandAid]

what timing,I was just filing mine down tonight and thinking I should just get them resurfaced,,do all Napa stores do this????

thanks..

 

[49-blues]

couldnt you just resurface them yourself with a good belt sander?

 

[chrisgarrett]

what timing,I was just filing mine down tonight and thinking I should just get them resurfaced,,do all Napa stores do this????

thanks..

Most of them have machine shops, but not all.

 

[chrisgarrett]

couldnt you just resurface them yourself with a good belt sander?

I don't know about that. You really need to make contact with the entire surface all at once or you could end up making it worse.

 

[Rosewood T-Type]

I had a trickle of oil run down the ds to the header. I wiped it up and didn't give it another thought. When I started the engine smoke started blowing straight up from the header. I took them in today and my buddy at NAPA resurfaced them. Judging by the first few passes, and the amount of sanding to have them come out level, they were really warped. I would have sworn that my headers were straight and did not leak. Boy was I wrong.
Anyway, I highly recommend taking your headers in for a resurfacing. I waited for them, and it took all of 15 minutes.

Not trying to be an a$$ but what does oil running down the header have to do with anything? If you have oil on your headers you have an oil leak not an exhaust leak. Oh well I guess you have both Huh.

 

[chrisgarrett]

I'm supposing you didn't read what I wrote. You may not be trying, but you are coming across like an buttocks. When I revved the engine, smoke would blast upward. The more I revved the higher the blast. Blowing smoke straight up tells me it was leaking huh.

 

[1000MileStylez]

if you have a bench top belt sander you can do it yourself, start with heavy grit then with a finer grit so your gasket doesnt stick as much when you take it off

 

[CTX-SLPR]

You can also try taking a flat piece of aluminum or steel longer than the flange and taping a piece of sandpaper to it and doing it by hand. I've done this on smaller things using sharpie as a guide coat to tell if I had anymore low spots.

 

[Rosewood T-Type]

I'm supposing you didn't read what I wrote. You may not be trying, but you are coming across like an buttocks. When I revved the engine, smoke would blast upward. The more I revved the higher the blast. Blowing smoke straight up tells me it was leaking huh.

I wasn't trying to be an a$$ but apparently you are! I just wanted to know What did the oil have to do with an exhaust leak?

If you have oil coming out of an exhaust leak you have alot more problems than just a leaky header.

Doug

 

[chrisgarrett]

I guess there's a lot of choices when re-surfacing them, but NAPA only charged me $20.00. For the mess and work, I'd just as soon pay to have it done; besides, with that giant belt sander they use, it's got to be more accurate.

 

[Phatman]

I guess there's a lot of choices when re-surfacing them, but NAPA only charged me $20.00. For the mess and work, I'd just as soon pay to have it done; besides, with that giant belt sander they use, it's got to be more accurate.

I'm with you Chris, some things just require too much effort. I learned quick when I was refinishing some wheels. I ended up taking them to a shop and having them buffed out for $25 each. I had already spent a half of a day working on one...