DIY Headers

Setting the expectation now: I am a shade tree mechanic. Stuff gets done but don't expect show quality. lol.

All of that is why we get $2000 for our mild steel headers with mufflers. And they are perfect in the end. We have a lot of experience that can not be shared not because we don't want to but because it just takes time to learn it.

we dont use any kind of mock up kits. we place the collector where we want it bolt the flanges on the heads and put a 6" or so piece of hose on the plugs to take up space so you don't make it hard to change plugs. then get after it.

^ agree..... Ive always put the flanges on and stuck the collector where it needed to be andgot after it.

I like to use a standup band saw to cut the tube and you should get a nice 10" or 12" disc sander to face off your tubes after cutting. That will square the faces up for an excellent fit. The better the fit, the better the weld and the better the finished product.

How would a piece of Flex tubing work to mock up a tube? would this work or no?

bbf-falcon wrote:How would a piece of Flex tubing work to mock up a tube? would this work or no?

There are any number of ways to setup a visual models such as using flex tube. The hard part is transferring it to tube length and angle of cut. I use short sections of 1/8 tig weld wire for distance and angle.
Check this out, If I did more sets of headers I might think about getting this setup.

http://www.jefflilly.com/fabrication/header-fabrication/

http://www.stainlessheaders.com/headerfabrication

bowsher21 wrote:

bbf-falcon wrote:How would a piece of Flex tubing work to mock up a tube? would this work or no?

 There are any number of ways to setup a visual models such as using flex tube. The hard part is transferring it to tube length and angle of cut. I use short sections of 1/8 tig weld wire for distance and angle.
Check this out, If I did more sets of headers I might think about getting this setup.

http://www.jefflilly.com/fabrication/header-fabrication/

That is some pretty bad ass info right there.

All great ideas. Like to idea of the 6" pieces of hose to account for plug accessibility. Neat trick. Jeff. Lolly link is awesome and the stainless headers link too. MystangBbf. I still look forward to your effort. Will be nice to see something that isn't professional just so I know I'm not alone in this hobby. In the days of Internet some days I feel like I'm the dopiest untalented auto enthusiast in the nation. Seems like everyone can weld 20 gauge aluminum and make it look like a piece of art. Maybe it's just that those who can't do that don't post pics of their work

Have to agree with the K.I.S.S. header building approach. Bolt on the flange, put the collector where you want it, & start stacking tubing to fill in the rest.

Some of the "tricks" for mocking up the header tube shape before actually cutting the first actual J-bend (like flexible tubing, welding rod, pvc tubing, etc) are pretty much a waste of time/money IMO. The flex tubing never really accurately represents a tight radius J-bend, & pvc straight's & elbows are even worse. And the welding rod trick might give you a basic idea of the bend, but not how the actual bent tubing will stack against it's neighbor. So in the end you are still making an educated guess when using the mock-up stuff.....just like you would if you just started with the actual J-bend instead.

If you absolutely can't get the header job done without using some form of tube mock-up tool, a better idea IMO is to just buy an extra J-bend & sacrifice it (by chopping it up giving you various lengths of straights & bend angles) to use as mock-up tools.


About the only "header making tool" I have ever found that really does help is using a simple hose clamp to align the weld joint between two pieces of header tubing before you tack them. Just take a regular SS hose clamp & drill 3 or 4 holes around the band. The 3-4 holes don't need to be real big, just big enough to have enough room to get a the tiny tack welds in there.

gonna have to build some new fender exits for the 632 C head deal..... is it wrong that I look forward to this??

richter69 wrote:gonna have to build some new fender exits for the 632 C head deal..... is it wrong that I look forward to this??

Headers are our favorite things to build. Each one presents a new challenge.

First of all - for a layman this process is time consuming and frustrating.

For a home mechanic I have ~20 hours into the mockup headers. 6 tubes to be precise. Pass completely mocked and 2 tubes on driver are in progress.

I choose to use an inline collector for max street clearance on a lowered car. There were significantly more bends when I tried mockup with a traditional collector.



Mockup of collector in the car:



Top view of mockup:

https://i.servimg.com/u/f18/19/29/35/79/20150812.jpg

Starting the process: MOTHER F*ing PROCESS! BASTAGES

https://i.servimg.com/u/f18/19/29/35/79/20150813.jpg

Mocked up (tacked passenger side): PS. Flanging the tubes with even a partial bend is and absolute nightmare. Tubes are not fully molded not is anything fully welded. My intent is to flare the tubes fully and tack weld the exterior more. The tig the inside tubes. Once completed mount a spare head to the welding table and fully secure flange to head and burn in outside.

https://i.servimg.com/u/f18/19/29/35/79/20150814.jpg

Driver side to crappy to show yet...

BTW - these are 1 7/8 to 2.5" collector. I will immediately transition to 3" for the x pipe.

Try not to laugh to hard. -Joe

Well, that's an interesting idea. I like it.

Jess

Never be afraid of failure with something you can do again................No Guts No Glory.

Very true, thank you for that.

When I started this I definitely did not have this picture in my head. After starting this process I ended up here.

Not pretty or completed yet but they will get the exhaust out.

Very nice.