Welding manifolds..so they dont crack again

[Wahoo]

Is there a reason that the factory headers/manifolds always crack?

Is there a way to weld them so they never crack again?

 

[charlief1]

The metal is over 25 years old now and GM didn't exactly use the best stainless when they designed and made the headers. If you weld the crack area up with Inconel it will hold up better, but you also need to brace the areas that crack with a bridging to keep the pipes stable. There are more than a few threads about doing something like this.

 

[TT/Ameasap]

A combination of things.
Drill holes at each end of the crack or cracks. This ensures the crack has no other place to go.
Then clean the cracked material with a die grinder and even bevel into the crack if you can. This will give clean material to start with again.
I would back purge with Argon so you dont get any sugering
Make sure tungsten is sharp as a pencil
Choose the correct type of rod and put minimal heat into the material.
Let the gas flow over the weld for about 4-6 seconds postflow
that would be a rough welding procedure without getting too specific.

 

[fastblackracing]

As said the material gm used was sub par for the beating us future owners would subject them to. The driver side is usually the first to crack and I feel this is due to the way the pipes join together......There is not any built in expansion joints or bellows if you will, the passenger side has some but even then not enough. We would take the headers to the machine shop and have them steel shot blast them and then we had a local guy that had mad welding skills fix them up,....we were also hole sawing the headers and porting them back then. I want to say he used 304 filler rod but this was a while ago......so after we got to making more power then the passenger side would start cracking all over the place....too many heat cycles and such and they just became too trouble some.......so you either have to get a low mileage set and start over or explore after-market which always have issues of there own.......I really loved the stock ported headers and would still be running them if they would hold up.

 

[1KWIKSIX]

Or, step up to the plate and buy a set of Stainless Steel TA race headers and be done!

 

[Wahoo]

I have a hot air lol

 

[fastblackracing]

Or, step up to the plate and buy a set of Stainless Steel TA race headers and be done!

Thats what I ended up doing, But they had issues as well and so did their down pipe.... but we fixed every thing and all is good I assume they have all of the bugs worked out by now.

 

[turbofabricator]

You can cut and weld in bellows in the cross over to help reduce the side load on the headers. This seems to help a lot. The material is 409 stainless and does not require back purging. I use to gas weld them and I think that worked better than MIG or TIG. I usually TIG them because I rarely gas weld anything anymore, so my set up isn't "handy". If you do buy bellows make SURE it is like this style and NOT one with outer braid. http://www.reidwashbon.com/racing_parts_racing_products/bellows.aspx

 

[Wahoo]

You can cut and weld in bellows in the cross over to help reduce the side load on the headers. This seems to help a lot. The material is 409 stainless and does not require back purging. I use to gas weld them and I think that worked better than MIG or TIG. I usually TIG them because I rarely gas weld anything anymore, so my set up isn't "handy". If you do buy bellows make SURE it is like this style and NOT one with outer braid. http://www.reidwashbon.com/racing_parts_racing_products/bellows.aspx

Do you have any pictures of these welded on factory manifolds?

 

[bison]

The stock headers will outlast just about any others. They are crack prone in between 3 and 5 but if properly welded will last a while. I've replaced just about every brand of headers with a good set of stockers over the years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Blaze]

This is what I did to prevent any further cracking of my stock headers.
After getting them welded, I installed the HR parts motor mounts on both sides.
The stock motor mounts have too much give or they crack & break. This will eventually cause the stock header to crack again.
I've had the HR motor mounts on my car for 8 years & my headers are still in good shape.
Just my personal experience. Good luck.

 

[turbofabricator]

Do you have any pictures of these welded on factory manifolds?

No, sorry. They don't go on the manifolds, just the cross over. They are not cheap Chinese pieces, either. The stock cross over pipe is very thin and at high boost cracks due to extreme heat and pressure.
I have also had to weld up TA and ATR headers, too. Nature of the beast. Flex couplings help ALOT!!!!

 

[Chuck Leeper]

A pic of the flex joint on my x over... it's just on the LS engine.
This is the double wall version. SS outer, and coiled flex ss inner. I used the accordion

style on the w/g pipe.

 

[S10xGN]

I had my factory manifolds welded, braced, and ported prolly 15 years ago by a member who no longer comes here (Dwight Hayden). Been A-OK ever since...

 

[TurboBuRick]

I'm prolly the only guy on the planet that sticks them but I have never had one re crack.

I also replaced several aftermarket headers with stock.

 

[vic86gn]

Same here .Welded,ported and braced.Lasted for years.Went 10'a with factory headers

 

[TurboTnZ06]

Even if you weld up the stockers, the stupid flanges can crack on the x-over since the metal there is thin and can be over torqued over time. My welded stockers have lasted about 10 years, still uncracked there, but the flanges were cracking and not sealing well after a while.