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60/61 short (118"/122") WB headers
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1960fury
Posted 2021-06-03 6:58 PM (#612445)
Subject: 60/61 short (118"/122") WB headers



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I have been asked a couple of times here to post pictures of my headers and I don't think I ever posted a good one. As I pulled one side for mods I took the opportunity to make some good pictures.
To reduce weight I devided the header flanges when I build them, this made the siamesed center flange more prone to warping and thats what it did, moving the #6 pipe closer to the #6 plug wire resulting in occasional spark jump and a flange leak.

So I straightened it and welded in a reinforcement and while I was at it, I added an inch, or so, of straight pipe to the flange to improve flow and to modifie the collector. This resulted almost in a completly new build and everyone who has build headers before, knows it is extremely difficult to produce smooth, bent pipes that clear everything. Also made the heat riser adjustable, because it always stayed on a bit too long. Works great now.
Now it is just perfect, clears averything by a wide margin and takes advantage of the space in the engine bay. I did a better job on the drivers side back then, despite the fact I build it first.

I think bolting the collector to the engine is the key to header longevity. These are about 13 years old now and VERY surprisingly, as they had surface rusted, the paint I added after brushing it with rust-converter seems to stick even better now. The last picture shows it after baking and a couple of high speed runs a week after installation. I did expect the paint to flake immediatly.

Edited by 1960fury 2021-06-03 7:21 PM




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Attachments
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Attachments header1.jpg (101KB - 136 downloads)
Attachments header2.jpg (91KB - 136 downloads)
Attachments header3.jpg (91KB - 126 downloads)
Attachments header4.jpg (143KB - 135 downloads)
Attachments header5.jpg (108KB - 137 downloads)
Attachments header6.jpg (82KB - 138 downloads)
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1960fury
Posted 2021-07-25 8:20 PM (#613796 - in reply to #612445)
Subject: Re: 60/61 short (118"/122") WB headers



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Location: northern germany
A little update, after countless races the paint still looks the same. So it sticks better with rust converter under it.

Another very surprising thing, while I did the re-rebuild (headers started as hedman shorties) solely to move one pipe away from a plug wire and did the other mods (a longer straight section after the flange and smoother collector transitions) purely on principle, it seems the car picked up some power, and it wasn't a slouch before.
While that can be a misconception, my trusty old blow-by meter can't be deluded. By "Blow-By-Meter" I mean the OE oil filler cap, that always was on the brink of leaving the car after a race or high speed run (very high mileage 383). Now, after the mods, it sits not nearly as high on the oil filler neck after a high speed run!

That really surpises me, as my first mods of the hedman headers were a big improvement over the original crappy design, that features pipe bends so sharp after the header flange, that it needed big dimples to clear the flange studs und worst of all, a collector that blocked of half of the pipes that killed completetly the pipe-suction effect. These headers supported 500hp in tests! So I figured my original mods were good enough for my little old 383. Looks like I was wrong.

Lesson, always build things as good as you can, even if it seems overkill. Actually that is always my principle, but for some reason I goofed back when I build the headers the first time.

Edited by 1960fury 2021-07-25 8:33 PM
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