With what zeevette said. No biggig.
LGM Pro Headers cracking at welds.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 466
Likes: 27
From: Hendersonville tn
LGM Pro Headers cracking at welds.
Recently had been noticing a tick under my '02 Z06. Thought at first it was vavletrain noise. But the more I tried to track it down I could hear it loudest under the car. Put the car up on a rack to change the oil last night at fired it up while in the air. I found a spot puffing air out near the bellhousing and upon looking closer there is a crack where the tab for the bellhousing bolt is welded to the driver side header tube. These headers only have 15,000 miles on them. Car only has 35K. I would think think a $1700 set of headers wouldn't have such problems. It's black with soot all around the weld where it's been leaking and it looks like the passenger side has been leaking and cracked too. Can these stainless header headers be repaired easily or are they junk now? Wondering if anyone else has had issues with the LG Pro headers and how they got them repaired. I thought these things should of outlasted the car.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,060
Likes: 291
From: Pasco WA
Take the bolts out; you don't need them. Have your headers repaired by a competent welder. Go on, and don't worry about them anymore. As long as they're not bolted to the bottom, they'll have room to flex, and not cause the metal fatigue.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 466
Likes: 27
From: Hendersonville tn
So others have had to do this already? I would think since everything(heads, block, bellhousing and headers) is bolted together there shouldn't be stress on those mounting tabs. I guess movment of all the mid and rear portion of the exhaust would focus on those tabs rather than the header flange at the head.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 4,394
Likes: 6
From: Melbourne FL
My first set also cracked at that same location but, they never leaked. I had them welded a couple times only to crack again a while later. I called LG and talked to them about the problem and they agreed to send me a new replacement set as long as I mailed the defective ones back. During install of the replacement set; we opened up the mounting hole a bit so there wasn't any pressure on that point after installation and I haven't had a problem since.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 466
Likes: 27
From: Hendersonville tn
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,060
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From: Pasco WA
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 466
Likes: 27
From: Hendersonville tn
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 5,393
Likes: 17
From: Belleville Mich.
LG came out with a statement early on , when this tab breakage first became an issue, to just unbolt the tabs from the bell housing,
hopefully before a weld breaking.
I've had my LG Pro's on for 8 years , with the tabs still bolted to the bell. My car is not a daily driver & usually only put around 2k miles a year on the car.
Good luck w/your fix.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 466
Likes: 27
From: Hendersonville tn
Ended up doing a cam swap and took the headers completly out of the car and had them welded up all the way around the tabs. No way they could have fixed as well if still in the car.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 466
Likes: 27
From: Hendersonville tn
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 16,253
Likes: 1,657
From: Arizona
My LG Pro LongTubes cracked twice and both times were welded with what I would deem excessive molten metal to patch it up and reinforce it. Its funny I came across this thread today because I think the crack is back. Valvetrain noise doesn't come from beneath the car..... I have no doubt that Lou will stand behind his product. Problem is, with my past experiences, I don't trust anyone but Team LG to touch my car and LG Motorsports is 13 hours away.
