hey, so i had my uncle do my headers for me at his shop (well actually one of the mechanics did it ..) since it would be alot cheaper for me.. so i leave him the car at 8:30 am since he tends to get busy in the afternoon, they dont finish untill closing.. around 8pm..
once i started driving the car it sounded... wierd.. like a "chuga chuga" sound coming from under the car.. looked under and saw the flanges on the pipes connecting to my collector were bent really bad.. like if they tightend them a butt load one at a time.. so the next day i bought some extra gaskets and slipped em in.. that solved that problem but it still made noise.. i poped the hood and looked at the headers and went ... I COULD SEE THE FREAKEN GASKET!! and there was like an 1/8 inch gap between the headers and the heads!!!

has anyone had any problems with the gaskets that come with the hooker kits?? i have the super comps. i dont know whether they just did a crapy job or if its just the gaskets..

any comments/recomendations would help.. and they seemed pretty loose( the bolts i mean..oh and your mom jp.. ) but yeah its been driving me crazy.. i dont even like to drive it all that much cuz if im driving normal i can hear that crappy sounding "chugachuga" noise.. ..

imagine how you would feel if you couldnt rock your vette like you usually do... help a bro out..

thanx

 

sounds like a bad install to me (sorry to say). Maybe your uncle needs to hire a new tech?

 

You overrate alot of mechanics. I have two nephews who are both licensed mechanics and they are the worst butchers you ever saw working on cars.
No super comps are a good set of headers and the flange should fit flat against the heads.
Hope the so call mechanic didn't bend something to get them in.
I have done many vet headers and they almost fall into place.
On the passengers side the starter can cause a problem and on the drivers side the oil sending unit is in the way.
I helped carguy4sure install his super comps about 2 weeks ago. Takes no more then 1/2 hour to get both side in.
The mechanic is no mechanic if he let something like that go out of the shop.

 

I have Super Comps and the gaskets were fine.

 

header bolts do tend to loosen up a bit after a few heat/cool cycles... but sounds like your headers are almost falling off the heads. I'd say pull all the header bolts and just check to make sure you didnt blow the gasket out at any point around the ports, then re-install and tighten them up nicely. Take if for a cruise around the block, let it cool, then tighten the bolts back down.

good luck... I love my Hookers

 

does anybody use the gaskets that come with the headers? percy or some other soft aluminum gaskets. Mine aren't perfectly flush but the soft gaskets gives me a margin of error.

 

did at one time, but blew the motor... put new gaskets in with the new motor.

I think I am going to switch to some copper gaskets though.. my fel-pro's keep leaking on me.
Im also buying drilled header bolts from ARP to keep them from loosening.
ARP part #: 100-1103 (black oxide hex - drilled)

 

this is just a guess but i was thinking maybe the sliped them into place.. and instead of bolting them on right then and there they probobly tried to connect the headers to the rest of the exhaust.. causing the top side of the headers to be a little off the heads due to the narrowness of the pipes, but i dont know.. im going to take it back and have another mechanic (one that i personally know that works there) do that for me.. the guy that was gonna do it started Bitc#in as soon as he saw the headers.. saying " i dont think theyll fit, i dont think theyll fit.. " and i was like... .. dude .. they're for the dam car!! but anyways.. yeah maybe ill try that..

i got this done last friday.. you think ill need new gaskets?? guy here in san jose told me that he could fix it for 370..... on you dude.. and he said the gaskets get fried and that was the reason hed recommend replacing them.. so should i replace them?? not with him though.. my uncle is doin this for free.. well now he is

 

I put the same headers on my car. You have to ditch the gaskets that come with them and buy a premium set. Oh, and do the work yourself to make sure it is done right.

 

If your going to SJ today stop by and I'll take a look at it, won't cost you nothin....

 

Whats the benefit of copper gaskets over the hooker or say feelpro ultraseals? Hope you enjoy your new ARP bolts with your V6, that part # is a kit with only 12 bolts. Look up a bolt kit based on your engine specs, Summit has the same kit for your correct engine with hopfully 16 bolts.

 

I've found that FelPro Blue steel header gaskets last for many years without leaking if you install them with some type of device that doesn't let the nuts or bolts back off.

Hit each bolt with Permatex Red high temp after it's all put together.

Use a copper gasket on the collector. The flanges also have to be flat - They came that way out of the box.

 

Percy's tech rep told me that the soft aluminum header gaskets work just as well as the copper on mild to highly modified engines. But for race motors with monster HP/TQ, the copper can take more extreme heat conditions, and more pressure before blowing. Of coarse...are also more expensive.
Eddie