ta performance headers, any difference in durability, mild steel vs ss

[haywire4130]

so i worked 56 hours straight of overtime during the blizzard wrenching on drippy salty broken snow removal equipment... decided to treat my car to a new turbo, headers, and converter... as the title says, definately buying a set of the t/a perf ones- wondering if i should plop down the extra cash for the stainless ones? i do about 15k miles per year, no rain and car is garaged all the time so i don't think corrosion would be an issue. i think my question is: is there any difference in crack/warp resistance with mild steel vs stainless? if i go with the mild steel ones they will get painted with vht flameproof black which has held up for 3 years on my hopelessly-warped poston headers (coating still looks new!). any input would be appreciated, really looking forward to half inch thick flanges!

 

[Mr.Spool]

i went with the ta ss and i am very happy with them.

 

[DSEROVY]

If cost isn't a concern - go with the stainless. Mine are 6 years old and look great.

 

[coach]

I just bought the SS ones...
Very nice. If you own the car for 15 years... You might wish you had done the SS.

 

[whitehot1]

When i bought my Kenne Bell headers in 1997 i had the same decision to make of paying $650.00 for the mild steel or $900.00 for the stainless steel. I bought the mild steel headers and for the first 6 years of use they were driven in all types of weather in a daily driven car but from that point on they have been out of the weather conditions with the car being garaged and only driven a few hundred miles a year. Going on 16 years and they are still like new.

 

[turbojoe1]

I've been wondering about these same headers from TA, I like the SS stock replacements for the sake of quick spool time vs the big race versions.

Now with that said, is there any benefit to these or others offered with the cross over pipe joining the pass side at the turbo flange?
I've really been scratching my chin about this.
sorry to butt in, don't mean to step on anyone's toes, just have some of the same questions.

Thanks Joe

 

[Mr.Spool]

i ve been in it for the long haul so stainless it was,still have the 3 single shot atr crossflow.the ta ss are really nice and i havent had them off the car since i put them on.i went 10's on the stockers but got tired of pulling them off for leaks and warped flanges.

 

[TheGovernment]

I bought the TA ones but can't say they fit worth a crap. Had to drill out most of the holes, some were out by 1/4 almost. I wasn't very happy with them but once you start drilling, they are yours. They were the SS stock replacements. We had to move the driver shaft, bend the DP all sorts of crap to get them to fit. We even went so far as to try them on another T-Type car with the same results. If I wasn't in my shop and was doing this in my driveway, it would have taken me 2 days just to get them installed lol

 

[bob86gn]

I went stainless on both of my GNs

 

[haywire4130]

Wow, i appreciate all the responses! I think im gonna cowboy up and get the ss ones, i love the car and its not going anywhere, money isnt really an issue. I already have some downpipe fitment issues but i have a nice tig welder and a lot of practice so that isnt a concern. As for the spoolup concern above, i have a friend that bought them a few yrs ago and his spoolup time was cut dramatically, he was running real good heads and a large cam, not sure what it would be like on a stock-ish motor.

 

[turbo nasty]

The mild steel cracked on the pass side on mine...i replaced with SS. The driver side and crossover are still fine in mild steel. So SS gets my vote

 

[haywire4130]

i was also wondering if you guys just bolted them on right outta the box or did any port cleanup prior to install? the first time i removed my crappy poston headers to weld a crack i couldnt believe the amount of weld that hung down into the ports and the amount of mig wire that was sticking in on the large joints where the smaller tubes meet the "log". glad none of them broke off and found their way into my turbo! my expectations of quality in the t/a ones are pretty high for $1k, i'm sure i wont be disappointed. any idea if they stock these or was there a long lead time? just wondering since its the weekend and i cant call, getting antsy-

 

[turbojoe1]

What's the difference between theses

https://www.gbodyparts.com/images/taheaders4.jpg

And these

http://www.buickgn.com/headers1.JPG

Thanks Joe

 

[bob86gn]

What's the difference between theses

https://www.gbodyparts.com/images/taheaders4.jpg

And these

http://www.buickgn.com/headers1.JPG

Thanks Joe

The TA headers are the ones the OP asked about. The other one is a GN1 headers. The connection of the crossover pipe is different.

 

[turbojoe1]

The TA headers are the ones the OP asked about. The other one is a GN1 headers. The connection of the crossover pipe is different.

Thanks I understand that, but is there a benefit of one crossover style versus the the other?

Thanks Joe

 

[bob86gn]

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/threads/gn1-headers.318990/

 

[HouTX87]

I recently replaced mine with the TA SS stock replacements. The only issue I had was that the #5 header tube was contacting the steering shaft. Had to dimple it with a ball peen hammer. Otherwise they fit perfectly.

 

[pmoore4321]

..... The only issue I had was that the #5 header tube was contacting the steering shaft. Had to dimple it with a ball peen hammer. Otherwise they fit perfectly.

Did you have to dimple the tube because of the HR poly mounts?

 

[HouTX87]

Did you have to dimple the tube because of the HR poly mounts?

I think that was probably the reason. It didn't take much to make it clear but it still rubs a little on left hand turns. I've thought about loosening the motor mounts and trying to move the engine a little for more clearance but I haven't had time yet.